Suicide Rates Increase as Homicide Rates Decrease?

It's hard to say from just eye-balling his US data. Kind of looks like it, though.

My posts from last Thursday and Friday featured negative correlations between national suicide and homicide rates in two samples of countries: 1) the 20 most populous (r = -.17); and, 2) 24 of the richest and most livable (in my estimation) (r = -.24). Both posts also suggested that combining those two rates might give a better idea of a nation's general level of psychopathology, as opposed to looking at either in isolation. In fact, I raised the troubling idea that reducing homicides might have the unintended effect of increasing suicides, and vice versa.

Here's another way to look at the US data shown above. The blue line is the cause of all the headlines screaming about a "suicide epidemic." The red line is being used to justify cutting state budgets for police and prisons. But the green (combined) line seems relatively steady, increasing only gradually. So fie on those who say things have never been better, and also on those who are proclaiming the end days.

I wonder if some of this is a cohort effect. Perhaps it reflects the spawn of the Baby Boomers (i.e., those born between about 1965 and 1983) passing from their Age of Murder (18 to 29) to their Age of Suicide (34 to 64). People born in 1974 would be committing homicide in 1992-2001 and suicides starting in 2008. If so, settle in for another quarter-century of higher than usual suicide rates.

Erich Fromm on Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud "led us to the top of the volcano and made us look into the boiling crater."
-- Erich Fromm, Escape from Freedom (1941/1969, p. 23)

Tea for Two -- Beverly Kenney (1956)

On April 13, 1960, Miss Kenney died by suicide (an overdose of alcohol and Seconal). She was 28 years old. I am glad to have learned that her work is still much admired in Japan.

I'm discontented with homes that I've rented
So I have invented my own.
Darling, this place is lovely oasis
Where life's weary taste is unknown

Far from the crowded city
Where flowers pretty caress the stream
Cozy to hide in, to live side by side in,
Don't let it apart in my dream

Picture me upon your knee
Just tea for two
And two for tea
Just me for you
And you for me alone

Nobody near us to see us or hear us
No friends or relations
On weekend vacations
We won't have it known
That we own a telephone, dear

Day will break and I'll wake
And start to bake a sugar cake
For you to take for all the boys to see

We will raise a family
A boy for you
And a girl for me
Can't you see how happy we would be

Picture you upon my knee
Just tea for two
And two for tea
Just me for you
And you for me alone

Nobody near us to see us or hear us
No friends or relations
On weekend vacations
We won't have it known
That we own a telephone, dear

Day will break, you'll wake
And start to bake a sugar cake
For you to take for all the boys to see

We will raise a family
A boy for you
And a girl for me
Can't you see how happy we would be

Suicide and Homicide Rates are Negatively Correlated!

I'm pretty sure I could talk my wife into moving here. I probably wouldn't even need to cite the country's low combined suicide-homicide rate.

Here's a list of some the world's richest countries (based on Gross National Income per capita and Purchasing Power Parity). I only included countries that I could imagine living in myself (sorry, Bahrain). I omitted the USA because I already live here.

Rank	Country	Population	GNI PPP
1	Singapore	5,535,000	76,850
2	Norway	5,205,434	66,520
3	Luxembourg	562,958	59,750
4	Switzerland	8,279,700	56,580
5	Sweden	9,828,655	44,760
6	Germany	81,197,500	44,540
7	Denmark	5,699,220	44,460
8	Austria	8,623,073	43,840
9	Netherlands	16,929,000	43,210
10	Canada	35,851,774	42,610
11	Australia	23,964,700	42,540
12	Belgium	11,280,134	40,280
13	Iceland	331,310	38,870
14	Finland	5,492,404	38,480
15	Japan	126,890,000	37,630
16	France	67,107,000	37,580
17	United Kingdom	64,800,000	35,760
18	Ireland	4,635,400	35,090
19	Italy	60,725,000	34,100
20	Spain	46,439,864	31,850
21	New Zealand	4,632,640	30,750
22	Malta	445,426	28,030
23	Greece	10,846,979	25,630
24	Portugal	10,374,822	25,360

Here's the same list, sorted by Homicide Rate:

Rank	Country	Homicide
1	Malta	2.8
2	Norway	2.2
3	Greece	1.7
4	Belgium	1.6
5	Finland	1.6
6	Canada	1.4
7	Ireland	1.2
8	Portugal	1.2
9	Australia	1.1
10	France	1.0
11	United Kingdom	1.0
12	Austria	0.9
13	Netherlands	0.9
14	Italy	0.9
15	New Zealand	0.9
16	Luxembourg	0.8
17	Germany	0.8
18	Denmark	0.8
19	Spain	0.8
20	Sweden	0.7
21	Switzerland	0.6
22	Iceland	0.3
23	Japan	0.3
24	Singapore	0.2

And sorted by Suicide Rate:

Rank	Country	Suicide
1	Japan	18.5
2	Finland	14.8
3	Belgium	14.2
4	Iceland	14.0
5	France	12.3
6	Austria	11.5
7	Sweden	11.1
8	Ireland	11.0
9	Australia	10.6
10	Canada	9.8
11	New Zealand	9.6
12	Germany	9.2
13	Switzerland	9.2
14	Norway	9.1
15	Denmark	8.8
16	Luxembourg	8.7
17	Portugal	8.2
18	Netherlands	8.2
19	Singapore	7.4
20	United Kingdom	6.2
21	Malta	6.0
22	Spain	5.1
23	Italy	4.7
24	Greece	3.8

Here's the Combined Homicide-Suicide Rate:

Rank	Country	Combined
1	Japan	18.8
2	Finland	16.4
3	Belgium	15.8
4	Iceland	14.3
5	France	13.3
6	Austria	12.4
7	Ireland	12.2
8	Sweden	11.8
9	Australia	11.7
10	Norway	11.3
11	Canada	11.2
12	New Zealand	10.5
13	Germany	10.0
14	Switzerland	9.8
15	Denmark	9.6
16	Luxembourg	9.5
17	Portugal	9.4
18	Netherlands	9.1
19	Malta	8.8
20	Singapore	7.6
21	United Kingdom	7.2
22	Spain	5.9
23	Italy	5.6
24	Greece	5.5

And the correlation between suicide rate and homicide rate in these countries is -.24! Once again, we find that as the suicide rate decreases, the homicide rate increases, and vice versa. (Yesterday's post found the same effect for the 20 most populous nations.)