Suicide rates tied to happy places
Source: Agencies |
April 26, 2011, Tuesday
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DOES misery really love company?
An intriguing new study suggests that may be the case.
Researchers who study how people's sense of well-being varies from place to place decided to compare their findings with suicide rates.
The surprising result: The happiest places sometimes also have the highest suicide rates.
"Discontented people in a happy place may feel particularly harshly treated by life," suggested Andrew Oswald of the University of Warwick in England.
Or, said co-author Stephen Wu of Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, those surrounded by unhappy people may not feel so bad for themselves.
But Wu urged caution in drawing conclusions, saying: "I don't think that means if you are unhappy you should be around others who are unhappy."
Their study ranked Utah as the No. 1 US state for residents' sense of well-being, but it also scored a high No. 9 in suicide rate. By contrast New York State ranked a low 45th in well-being, but an even lower 50th in suicides.
The researchers came up with their rankings from a federal survey of behavioral risk factors and US Census Bureau numbers on suicide rates.
Sonja Lyubomirsky, a psychology professor at the University of California, Riverside, who wasn't involved in the research, agreed that living around people who are, on average, pretty satisfied with their lives, when you are not, can make you feel more miserable.
In an interview by e-mail, she said the findings remind her of an effect researchers have discussed in cases where a city with a reputation for being a good place to live also has a high suicide rate.
The idea is, "If you're unhappy there, you conclude, 'something must be really wrong with me,' or 'nothing will make me happy,' so you're more likely to get depressed and take your life," said Lyubomirsky, who researches happiness and well-being.
However, she added, other factors may be involved. She suggested there may be other factors that states with high life satisfaction have in common that could be associated with high suicide rates. For example, if they are more likely to be rural, it could mean people also are more isolated. Varying religious beliefs among states may also have an effect, she said.
John F. Helliwell of the University of British Columbia, who has studied well-being and suicide rates internationally, said suicides tend to peak when days are longer.
An intriguing new study suggests that may be the case.
Researchers who study how people's sense of well-being varies from place to place decided to compare their findings with suicide rates.
The surprising result: The happiest places sometimes also have the highest suicide rates.
"Discontented people in a happy place may feel particularly harshly treated by life," suggested Andrew Oswald of the University of Warwick in England.
Or, said co-author Stephen Wu of Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, those surrounded by unhappy people may not feel so bad for themselves.
But Wu urged caution in drawing conclusions, saying: "I don't think that means if you are unhappy you should be around others who are unhappy."
Their study ranked Utah as the No. 1 US state for residents' sense of well-being, but it also scored a high No. 9 in suicide rate. By contrast New York State ranked a low 45th in well-being, but an even lower 50th in suicides.
The researchers came up with their rankings from a federal survey of behavioral risk factors and US Census Bureau numbers on suicide rates.
Sonja Lyubomirsky, a psychology professor at the University of California, Riverside, who wasn't involved in the research, agreed that living around people who are, on average, pretty satisfied with their lives, when you are not, can make you feel more miserable.
In an interview by e-mail, she said the findings remind her of an effect researchers have discussed in cases where a city with a reputation for being a good place to live also has a high suicide rate.
The idea is, "If you're unhappy there, you conclude, 'something must be really wrong with me,' or 'nothing will make me happy,' so you're more likely to get depressed and take your life," said Lyubomirsky, who researches happiness and well-being.
However, she added, other factors may be involved. She suggested there may be other factors that states with high life satisfaction have in common that could be associated with high suicide rates. For example, if they are more likely to be rural, it could mean people also are more isolated. Varying religious beliefs among states may also have an effect, she said.
John F. Helliwell of the University of British Columbia, who has studied well-being and suicide rates internationally, said suicides tend to peak when days are longer.
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