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Greenland has the highest suicide rate in the world
– Reported, February 18, 2012
For several years suicides have been a big and serious problem in Greenland. This is very different to earlier times when suicide was uncommon and mainly took place among elderly people who, in periods of famine, did not want to be a burden on the community any longer. Following the massive modernisation process that took place in the period after World War II, there has, however, been a rise in the number of suicides ? first a gradual and later an almost explosive rise. This increase in the number of suicides peaked in the 1980s and then the number stabilised at around 50 suicides a year in the 1990s. This corresponds to a suicide rate of about 100 per 100,000 inhabitants, which means that Greenland has one of the highest suicide rates in the world.
The suicide rate in Greenland and the other Arctic areas is particularly high among young people under the age of thirty. The population group accounting for the highest rate of suicide in Greenland is the group of young men aged 15-19. In addition to the human tragedy behind any suicide, suicides are a major loss to society as a whole. According to a report on health and demand issued by the Department of Health in 2001, suicides are the most important reason for lost years of life in Greenland.
Though suicide is considered to be one of the most complex problems in the healthcare sector, international research shows that suicide can be prevented through coordinated, well-supported initiatives carried out at several levels in the societal, social and cultural sphere as well as in the fields of healthcare and education. The World Health Organisation has formulated a set of guidelines for the preparation of national strategies for suicide prevention. Though many different initiatives have been taken over the years, no such initiative has been taken in Greenland before.
General prevention: Various supportive and remedying initiatives of a psychological, educational and social nature with the purpose of increasing people?s quality of life and ability to control their own lives, the focus being on strengthening individuals? resources and ability to manage life crises and tackle the problems that inevitably occur in a person?s life. Another aspect of general prevention is to change the attitude of individuals, society and public authorities to suicidal behaviour.
These general overall directions serve as guidelines for the levels at which the preventive work is to take place. In addition, the terms of reference for the drafting of proposals for a National Strategy for Suicide Prevention in Greenland include the following part-objectives, which are to contribute to ensuring the desired reduction in the number of suicides:
– To ensure that people at risk of committing suicide are identified.
– To give people at risk of committing suicide and people belonging to the known risk groups opportunities to seek advice and receive treatment, in particular the group of very young men that statistically represents the highest suicide rate.
– To enhance the professional competence of relevant professional groups in terms of working with people at risk of committing suicide.
– To work against the perception of suicide as a way to solve problems encountered in life, in particular among young people, and to propagate the attitude that its is worthwhile to help.
– To contribute to increasing the well-being of young people and people in general as well as their ability to tackle conflicts and the challenges they encounter in life.
– To strengthen the possibilities of local communities and voluntary organisations of carrying out suicide preventive work.
– To generate research-based knowledge about suicides in Greenland.
– To ensure evaluation of initiatives taken and of the action plan as a whole.
A proposal for a national strategy for suicide prevention must contain a number of specific initiatives and focus areas that can reasonably be expected to contribute to reducing the number of suicides.
Research shows that broken relationships with girlfriends often precede suicide committed by young boys or men and are therefore given as the reason for the suicide . However, this is not a sufficient explanation in itself. Broken hearts are a naturally occurring experience in the years of youth. Why, then, are modern-day Inuit men apparently so vulnerable to being rejected by a loved one? And why has suicide become such a frequently used ?strategy? to tackle the pain that follows from being deserted?
Credits: Siku News
More Information at: http://www.sikunews.com/In-focus/Greenland-moves-to-lower-its-suicide-rate%3A-the-highest-in-the-world-49
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