11,000 commit suicide in Germany each year

[000]

11,000 commit suicide in Germany each year
11 September 2006

BERLIN - Outside Berlin's main memorial to war and suffering, the ruined Gedaechtniskirche, 11,000 tiny candles were lit Sunday to commemorate the same number of people who commit suicide in Germany every year.

The country's annual suicide toll exceeds the total number killed in road accidents, murders, by drugs and HIV-AIDS. The World Health Organization has said that someone takes their own life in Germany on an average every 47 minutes.

The ecumenical service was held to mark World Suicide Prevention Day. The venue is a downtown church wrecked by World War II bombing and only partly reconstructed as a monument.




DPA

Subject: German news
http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=26&story_id=32973

[Lenny]

That's a rate of 13.3 per 100,000, not overly high. The US white rate is higher, so are many other countries:

Suicide rates by country (http://www.fathersforlife.org/health/who_suicide_rates.htm#Table_B)

[Felix the Cat]

These statistics are unreliable: Suicide is still a strong taboo in many countries, so you would expect relatives and doctors to misreport suicide deaths as due to other causes