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The causes of changing suicide rates
1Psychology Program, The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, P.O. Box 195, Jimmie Leeds Road, Pomona, NJ 08240-0195, USA.
Psychological Reports
|September 25, 2007
Summary
English suicide rates declined between 1960-1975. This trend aligned with reduced gas toxicity, more suicide prevention centers, and rising social stress, though the exact cause remains unclear.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Epidemiology
- Sociology
Background:
- The period 1960-1975 saw a notable decline in the suicide rate in England.
- Several potential contributing factors have been proposed to explain this demographic shift.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the consistency of the declining suicide rate with proposed explanatory factors.
- To evaluate the plausibility of reduced domestic gas toxicity, increased suicide prevention services, and social stress as causes.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of historical suicide rate data for England (1960-1975).
- Qualitative assessment of the alignment between observed trends and proposed causal explanations.
Main Results:
- The observed decrease in suicide rates was consistent with all three proposed factors: reduced domestic gas toxicity, increased availability of suicide prevention centers, and rising social stress.
- No single factor could be definitively identified as the primary driver of the decline.
Conclusions:
- The reduction in English suicide rates during 1960-1975 was multifactorial.
- Attributing the decline to a single cause is not supported by the available evidence; a combination of factors likely played a role.
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