Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to D Lester.
In 1980, suicides in the United States that occurred outside the victim's home state were most often committed by young single or divorced men. Hanging was the most common means of suicide. Homicide victims who were killed outside their home state were usually male, black, divorced, young, and killed by unusual (other) means or by law-enforcement officers.
People who completed suicide in West Berlin and left suicide notes were found to differ in sex, age, method used for suicide and the reason for suicide, compared with those not leaving notes. These results suggest that conclusions from research into the psychodynamics of suicide based on suicide notes may be biased.
A study of suicide among the nonnomadic Gypsies in three counties in Hungary revealed that they had a lower completed suicide rate but a higher attempted suicide rate than ethnic Hungarians. The rate of attempted suicide appeared to be higher in the younger, partially assimilated Gypsies as a result of the conflict between the traditional values of their parents and the pull of the larger Hungarian culture.
An examination of suicide rates in Switzerland during the period when domestic gas was detoxified indicated that, not only did the use of domestic gas for suicide decline, but so did the overall suicide rate, indicating that people did not switch to alternative methods for suicide, contrary to a claim made by the late Erwin Stengel.
Based on the theory of Henry & Short, it was predicted that suicide rates should be higher and homicide rates lower in countries where the quality of life is better. In 1980, for a sample of 43 countries, this prediction was confirmed for some components of the quality of life (psychological well-being) but not for other components (political stability, defense and economy, and cultural diversity). However, changes in the quality of life from 1970 to 1980 were not related to changes in suicide or homicide rates.
The availability of firearms in a country was measured by noting the percentage of homicides committed using a firearm. This measure of gun availability was found to be positively associated with the suicide rate using firearms and negatively associated with the suicide rate using all other methods. The implications of these findings for suicide prevention are discussed.
Suicide rates by each major method of suicide are presented for 16 countries in 1960-1964 and in 1980. The overall suicide rate rose during this period in the sample countries. Suicide rates by motor vehicle exhaust, hanging, firearms and other methods rose during this period, suicide rates by domestic gas fell, and suicide rates by solids or liquids, drowning and cutting did not change. It is suggested that the changing availability of methods is probably responsible for these changes in the suicide rates by each method.
As domestic gas was detoxified in the United States, the rate of suicide by domestic gas decreased. During this time period (1950-60), there was a parallel increase in the per capita ownership of cars and an accompanying increase in the rate of suicide by motor vehicle exhaust. However, displacement of suicide method from domestic gas to car exhaust occurred only for males and not for females.
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The seasonal variation in suicide in the USA was not more pronounced in 1980 in northern regions but was more clear for married people than for those with other marital statuses. The seasonal variation in suicide was not associated with the gross domestic product of the region.
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Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Data available from certain areas of Mainland China show higher suicide rates for females than for males in both rural and urban locales. Rates for rural areas were higher than for urban areas.
Using a different test (number of spinning phrases chosen and the Beck Depression Inventory) and sample (201 undergraduates), data confirmed an observation by Thomas and Duzynski, as chosen spinning phrases were correlated with prior suicidal ideation. However, the numbers of phrases were not correlated with depression scores.