Why the Happiest States Have the Highest Suicide Rates

@jayfuerstenberg They don't touch the Japan issue because there are traditions, viewpoints and religious believes connecting the need to commit suicide in case of failure to restore family honor especially in old established families. On the other hand suicide rates are almost close to zero in societies that are very religious and their religion forbids suicide by banning them from a proper burial.

A) I have lived in Sweden for some months, and I have some conclusions (just my personal opinion). People while caring for community are more independent than most other nations at a truly admirable level. They close in to themselves and deal with their own problems, they won't easily bother you with them. If they feel lonely for example they won't pester other people until they become accepted, they are proud and conscious (except when they are drunk). They are like fully autonomous units functioning in a coordinated society. Furthermore they usually don't blame their mistakes on others and because their society functions relatively well they cannot blame the system.

So maybe it is a mixture of self-awareness, pride and loneliness.

B) If you are fighting for survival, you don't have time to reflect on your problems. Everyday issues occupy your thinking time. Imho it is dangerous to prescribe inequality as a remedy for suicides, the goal (from a social standpoint) is to reduce despair not suicides. A U.S. citizen cannot afford to suicide and leave the rest of his family to a living hell, a Swede can.

C) The green box at the end gives another excellent point there are no miserable beings to look down to and feel better.

D) Something that is wrong in the article is about the research on the baboons. If I remember correctly (i have affiliation to the field) the alpha male has very high levels of stress hormones as do the low tier counterparts - because he needs to be on the lookout for possible usurpers, the best place to be is 2nd or 3rd, not first if you are a baboon concerning about your health.

Odd that Japan got no mention in this article.

Japan is ranked 5th worldwide for most suicides per 100,000 people according to Wikipedia.

( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_ra... )

because all the sad people are dead?

This study doesn't seem to compare it to anti-depressant use. I wonder what the average percentage of people in Utah and Hawaii that use anti-depressants vs New York is.