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>One of the reasons the suicide rate is so high in the US is because of how easy it is to access firearms. Is this actually true? I know it's said quite often,

>One of the reasons the suicide rate is so high in the US is because of how easy it is to access firearms. Is this actually true? I know it's said quite often, but there are countries with much much higher suicide rates where firearms aren't nearly as ubiquitous. Eg Lithuania.

xdfgh1112 5y ago
Or Japan...
- bildung 5y ago
  Japan has a bit lower rates than the US. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.SUIC.P5?most_recent_value_desc=true https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.SUIC.P5?most_rec... In general one usually gets more meaningful results when a) comparing geographically and/or culturally similar countries for things like these. E.G the UK has half the mortality rate of the US, Canada and the EU have 2/3 of the US rate. And b) compare trends, not single values. E.G. US rates are rising (which I as a layman would interpret as speaking against the firearms thesis), while the rates of Lithuana and Japan are falling.
DanBC 5y ago
> I know it's said quite often, but there are countries with much much higher suicide rates where firearms aren't nearly as ubiquitous. Eg Lithuania. The rates in the US are high because of access to guns. It's well understood in public health that easy access to means and methods is one of the factors driving high rates of death. The rates in Lithuania are high because of a number of other factors -- high alcohol misuse probably being important. Also, there are plenty of guns in Lithuania, and firearms are one of the most frequently used methods.
NineStarPoint 5y ago
The suicide attempt rate is only marginally higher in the US than in other developed countries (something that can be explained by other factors much easier than access to guns) The amount of people who die to suicide is higher in the US because you are much more likely to actually die if you use a gun to commit suicide than other common methods. Higher access to guns increases the rate of people who successfully kill themselves. (Which is probably a bad thing. In general those who survive suicide attempts are happy that they lived.)

xdfgh1112 5y ago

Or Japan...

bildung 5y ago
Japan has a bit lower rates than the US. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.SUIC.P5?most_recent_value_desc=true https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.SUIC.P5?most_rec... In general one usually gets more meaningful results when a) comparing geographically and/or culturally similar countries for things like these. E.G the UK has half the mortality rate of the US, Canada and the EU have 2/3 of the US rate. And b) compare trends, not single values. E.G. US rates are rising (which I as a layman would interpret as speaking against the firearms thesis), while the rates of Lithuana and Japan are falling.

DanBC 5y ago

> I know it's said quite often, but there are countries with much much higher suicide rates where firearms aren't nearly as ubiquitous. Eg Lithuania. The rates in the US are high because of access to guns. It's well understood in public health that easy access to means and methods is one of the factors driving high rates of death. The rates in Lithuania are high because of a number of other factors -- high alcohol misuse probably being important. Also, there are plenty of guns in Lithuania, and firearms are one of the most frequently used methods.

NineStarPoint 5y ago

The suicide attempt rate is only marginally higher in the US than in other developed countries (something that can be explained by other factors much easier than access to guns) The amount of people who die to suicide is higher in the US because you are much more likely to actually die if you use a gun to commit suicide than other common methods. Higher access to guns increases the rate of people who successfully kill themselves. (Which is probably a bad thing. In general those who survive suicide attempts are happy that they lived.)