Did you know that on any given day throughout the world, one person commits suicide every 40 seconds? That's more than all the annual victims of wars and natural disasters combined!

The AFP is reporting on a new report on suicide, the first of its kind ever issued by the United Nation's World Health Organization (WHO), which gave at least part of the blame to the way the media hypes celebrities who commit suicide.

"Suicide is an amazing public health problem. There is one suicide every 40 seconds -- it is a huge number," said Shekhar Saxena, director of WHO's mental health department, at the presentation of the report in Geneva. "Suicide kills more than conflicts, wars and natural catastrophes. There are 1.5 million violent deaths every year in the world, of which 800,000 are suicides."

Suicide rates are highest in central and eastern Europe and in Asia, with 25 percent of these avoidable deaths occurring in affluent countries.

There also seems to be a gender factor involved with men being almost twice as likely as women to take their own lives.

In 2012, high-income countries had a slightly higher suicide rate (12.7 per 100,000 vs. 11.2 in low- and middle-income nations), but the latter category's higher population makes them account for three-quarters of the global total.

The Southeast Asian nations of North Korea, India, Indonesia and Nepal, make up over a third of the annual figure. These nations are followed by Sri Lanka (28.8), Lithuania (28.2), Suriname (27.8), Mozambique (27.4), Nepal and Tanzania (24.9 each), Burundi (23.1), and South Sudan (19.8). Next were Russia and Uganda (both with 19.5), Hungary (19.1), Japan (18.5), and Belarus (18.3).

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that in 2011, which is the most recent year for which data is available, 39,518 suicides were reported in the U.S., making it the 10th leading cause of death. This equates to one person dying by suicide every 13.3 minutes. The highest suicide rates are among Americans aged 45-64 (18.6%), followed by those 85 years or older (16.9%) and adolescents and young adults (11.0%).

The youth statistic is particularly troubling because it has been on the rise in recent years making it the  second leading cause of death for persons age 10-24 and the third leading cause of death for college-age youth and people between the ages of 12-18. There are an estimated 5,400 suicide attempts made by children in grades 7-12 every year in the U.S.

However, the WHO cautions that these numbers, as horrendously high as they are, are often incomplete with many countries failing to keep proper tallies.

It's also important to remember that for each suicide death, there are many unreported suicide attempts.

The most common methods are hanging, gunshots and, particularly in rural areas, the use of poisonous insecticides.

"Globally, suicide rates are highest in people aged 70 years and over. In some countries, however, the highest rates are found among the young," the WHO report stated. "Notably, suicide is the second leading cause of death in 15-29 year-olds globally."

Alexandra Fleischmann, one of the report's co-authors, gave part of the blame to the kind of publicity given to suicides of famous people, such as Hollywood's Robin Williams, who hung himself on August 11 after suffering depression for many years.

"Suicide should not be glamorized or sensationalized," Fleischmann told the AFP and urged news outlets not to mention suicide as the cause of death at the start of reports, but only at the end, "with a mention of where (the reader) can find help."

The president of the International Association for Suicide Prevention, Ella Arensman, told the AFP that after news broke of Williams' death she received "five emails of people who had recovered (from a) suicide crisis and saying that they are thinking again about suicide. . . . These overwhelming reports can have a contagion effect on vulnerable people."

In 2009, shortly after the suicide death of German football player Robert Enke in 2009, there was a sharp increase in suicides.

The WHO has set a goal to cut national suicide rates by 10 percent by the year 2020.

"The impact on families, friends and communities is devastating and far-reaching, even long after persons dear to them have taken their own lives," said WHO chief Margaret Chan.

The saddest part of all, is that "suicides are preventable," she said.

The Catholic Church teaches that suicide is a sin against the fifth commandment.

"Everyone is responsible for his life before God who has given it to him. It is God who remains the sovereign Master of life. We are obliged to accept life gratefully and preserve it for his honor and the salvation of our souls. We are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to us. It is not ours to dispose of," we read in No. 2280.

"Suicide contradicts the natural inclination of the human being to preserve and perpetuate his life. It is gravely contrary to the just love of self. It likewise offends love of neighbor because it unjustly breaks the ties of solidarity with family, nation, and other human societies to which we continue to have obligations. Suicide is contrary to love for the living God."

However, "grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish the responsibility of the one committing suicide."

We are also taught never to despair of the eternal salvation of a loved one who has taken their own life. "By ways known to him alone, God can provide the opportunity for salutary repentance. The Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives" (No. 2283).

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