Apparently suicide is higher in rural areas

[returntothevoid]

I find this really surprising because I always thought the more nature you were surrounded with the better off your mental health would be? Does anyone know why suicide rates are higher in rural areas?

 

[Argo]

That surprises me too, because I have lived in New York City all of my life. That means that tons of people have surrounded me for as long as I've been conscious, and that hasn't really helped, as far as the whole "humans are social creatures" problem goes. But... maybe I underestimate it, and maybe when you're just at a point of real despair, out there in the middle of nowhere, and there's truly no one around, no one to call, no letter, no sign of any kind-- maybe that really is worse than simply being surrounded by people who you know don't give a shit about you(which is clearly bad too).

It really goes against one of my favorite quotes, from some Robin Williams movie, where his character says,

"I used to think that the worst thing in life was to end up alone. It's not. The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel alone."

I've been returning to that one for years telling myself, "Yeah, that really nails it". But maybe not? Or maybe it's not really a "one is worse" kind of thing, and both forms are terrible and isolating in their own way.

Thought provoking, thanks.

 

[cryone]

prehaps because it is just so isolated. I remember I watched a video about a town with the highest suicidal rate. it was in a beautiful place, i think iceland or greenland, but a quiet town. i doubt there were mental facilities either.

 

[Sleeper System]

Living in the countryside is desolate. Imagine feeling the same way you do now living in the city and subtract the possible distractions that you can engage. You'd surely feel more alone and with all the time spent with your own thoughts... you'll probably reach the conclusion of suicide faster and coincidentally be in the perfect location to attempt it. No one around. No one to stop you if you really wanted to make a go of it.

I'm not surprised at all. People who live in the city long to escape it. People who live in rural areas long for the urban life. It's all the same idea. Being bored of your surroundings and the repetition. As humans we always search for something MORE than what we have. Never content. It's a double edged sword in any case.

 

[Leavesfromthevine]

As someone who's lived in both cities and rural areas I must say I always felt most suicidal when in rural areas. The nature is wonderful and probably the best thing about it but the silence is also deafening.
I've always felt so out of place when in rural areas. I can't connect with anyone because it's so much cultural differences. I have the same issue when in cities but not as extreme.

There's also the issue of lack of opportunity. Where I currently live I'm 3 hours away from any city. It makes finding a decent job nearly impossible and similar issues with housing. Education is severely lacking too since it's hardly used in comparison to cities.

I understand why people love small towns but they're just not for me at all. Suicide is always logical to me but when you feel so trapped like in small towns it makes even more sense.

 

[Manfrotto99]

I'ts the isolation and also lack of choices, like job opportunities etc. I've lived in the city most of my life but I've also spent time living in the country. I worked in the environment and I loved being close to nature, but it can be very isolating especially you don't have a supportive family and don't fit in. Studies have shown that loneliness is one of the biggest contributions to suicide. Plus in some rural towns everyone knows everyone elses business and this can make it very hard.

 

[Linda]

I live in a very rural area, and though in my case it doesn't affect my attitude to suicide, I can think of reasons why it might in some cases. Fiirst is the problem of isolation; you may have no close neighbors who you can turn to if things get difficult. Second is the fact that services, including medical services, may be much harder to access simply because you have to travel further. (I have to travel over 100 miles to get regular treatment for a serious medical condition. Each time wipes out a full day.) Third is the fact that rural living can be much harder than living in an a apartment in a city. Our only heating is from a wood stove, and my husband and I have to cut all our own firewood and carry it - physically carry it - to the house. We wage a permanent war against wild pigs. In winter, snow can bring down tres and cut our phone cable. In a dry summer. our water supply can dry up. If a job needs doing that is beyond the skills of me or my husband, it can be difficult to get a tradesperson to come all the way out here from the nearest town. We have to prepare for the danger of a wilfire every summer. And so on ... The hassle and stress of all those kinds of things can become too much for someone who is already near the edge, and can push them over the edge.

 

[Superdeterminist]

There is an association of rural living and poverty. Poverty often makes people miserable, especially when they are aware how much better off others elsewhere are.

 

[mortuarymary]

I lived city and rural and definitely city is more.
Rural was definitely higher when we had foot and mouth and lots of farmers were killing the selves because they'd lost their hopes, money, buisness. Awful time for the rural communities

 

[Forever Sleep]

I know suicide rates are quite high amongst farmers. They may well have access to firearms also. Plus, the isolation I suppose- although, if they grew up in that setting, they may not have known anything else. Money and health worries affect all of us though- no matter where we live.

 

[AllAlone]

Perhaps gun ownership has something to do with it. People in rural areas are more likely to have a gun which makes it easier to kill yourself. People in cities are more likely to use methods which are not as effective.

 

[Tokugawa_Yoshinobu]

I have lived in a rural area all my life and have never lived in a city before. The thing is this place is rather poor and very quiet. The nature is beautiful but you don't have a lot of things to do here. It's a very small world.

This leads to frustration if you're poor, have no place to leave and don't wanna indulge in that conformism you naturally get because you are stuck with very few other people in the same place. If you aren't suicidal and grew up in a rural area it's pretty nice but if you are it's worsethan otherwise.

 

[Quiet_Cricket]

Rural areas can be isolating, you get less life opportunities as well unless you have reliable means of transport.

 

[Chocomel]

For me it's the opposite. I live in rural areas most of my life. I do have suicidal thought there but it's not worse than in the city. I only live in the city for at least one year and it's driving me crazy to the point I really want to CTB. When I live in rural area sure I want to do it too, but the urge is never ?real? or big. Maybe it's because for the fact that living there is not that complicated compared to the city. If I fail in the city, I can just go back to my home in rural area. My future wouldn't be the one as successful as in the city, but at least I can get inner peace.

 

[thinvy]

as someone who has lived in the middle of nowhere US, it doesn't shock me at all to know. the area I live in now feels massive to me (30k population somehow), and back home, where the total population was just over 1000 when I first moved there.

small towns in rural America can be brutal. there weren't many woods I could go and relax in, just my grandparents's house (before they found boars anyways), we didn't live near any geological wonders, the coast was too far for us to afford to go to, and the lakes and rivers and ponds were usually not safe to swim in.

if there is anything "wrong" with you at all, and people find out, everyone will know. I was accused of "performing witchcraft and hexing" students at my school with friends because a singular friend of mine and I had began learning asl together. he and I were happy to tell others, and he liked showing off and explaining to everyone he met, so it was no secret.

I was told to my face that my "stupid ugly" friends should "just go ahead and kill themselves like they wanted to because they're useless tranny faggots". I wanted to never come out and I wanted to scream it out loud so that they'd beat the shit out of me instead. I nearly killed myself in highschool and had a note calling them all out for being backwards idiot hicks.

similarly, being poor in rural areas (as most people in rural areas tend to swing) prevents you from being able to go and do so many things that would otherwise be wonderful for mental health. I've never had any music artists I liked preform within 45 minutes of my hometown. I had to go two states over usually if they were anyone with any sort of notability outside of a niche. there were no third spaces. I couldn't even go to a proper bar when I turned 21 because I lived in a dry county.

the only places for teenagers and young adults to hang out were our own yards, our rooms, fast food chains. the one Mexican restaurant. maybe the library if it were open, but you couldn't hardly talk.

there also are less opportunities for friendship in smaller rural communities. less connections overall. I had a rather large group of friends somehow, id say a good 10 or so people I genuinely cared for. now I have one's contact info and we haven't spoken in God knows how long, and the other I can't even think about talking to without wanting to cry because we drifted hard apart. those ten were about the only tolerable people back home, and everyone else my age left too, or is just kind of awful.

for all the negatives, I do kind of miss my small home town. I miss being able to drive 15 minutes and be in another town. I miss the much emptier highways. I miss the coast. I miss the small town silence at night. I miss driving down dark back roads, listening to my music with the moon as my only company. god do I miss fucking waffle house, and my little Mexican place.

I don't miss the isolation and the overwhelming boredom. I couldn't buy my preferred alcohol, weed was super illegal (and now it's keeping me alive), rent was out of control and minimum wage was keeping me from being able to do literally anything. I lived in a shoebox. my family breathed down my neck for every little thing.

I'm still sad, I still want to die (obviously, I'm here), but it's better here. There's different weather. I can drive to go see mountains, or a capital city where people are thriving. I can go to any number of cool touristy things now. my public library actually has funding. there's 2 local farmers markets!

I think if I hadn't been fucked so hard mentally as a kid, I could've genuinely been happy here. My brain is broken beyond repair, so now I'm just living quietly and a bit more comfortably. If I were more "okay", I have more assets at hand here to actually thrive, and I think that's why I see so many transplants like me. (though they're far more 'local' than myself. it's not like how many people move to NYC. think like 2k "new" people over 5 years, most coming from the south of the state)

 

[Slow_Farewell]

It's actually way higher than reported, because of a combination the posts above.
In the rural areas of the province where I am we have more access to sharp implements compared to firearms so it's not just that.
Unfortunately, people are social creatures. There's no getting away from it. Areas with geographically less people per square meter often have less options from their perspective, and also follow a more rigid social structure.
This means there's less empathy/sympathy leeway for things or small mistakes, and at worst, the possibility to spin a story out of context to move a group against an individual is easier.

 

[evenkeel27]

I find this really surprising because I always thought the more nature you were surrounded with the better off your mental health would be? Does anyone know why suicide rates are higher in rural areas?

maybe something to do with how in spite of the inherent nature in rural areas and all it's beauty, they've received less and less attention as the world transitioned into one of financial services and software, instead of mining and agriculture. in the 20th century when government funding would make or break communities, a lot of rural communities were broken since at least the 80s. Also depends how you define "rural", in the uk, the north-west and east have higher suicide rates but it's not really countryside as much as it is dystopian post-thatcher wasteland with no financial activity compared to the south.