RAMROD 117,004 Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 Think of New Zealand and what likely comes to mind is beautiful nature - fjords, mountains and magnificent landscapes, vast, empty and endless. But for years already, the country has been struggling with another form of isolation - depression and suicide. A new report by Unicef contains a shocking statistic - New Zealand has by far the highest youth suicide rate in the developed world. A shock but no surprise - it's not the first time the country tops that table. The Unicef report found New Zealand's youth suicide rate - teenagers between 15 and 19 - to be the highest of a long list of 41 OECD and EU countries. The rate of 15.6 suicides per 100,000 people is twice as high as the US rate and almost five times that of Britain. The high suicide rate ties in with other data, showing for instance child poverty, high rates of teenage pregnancies or families where neither of the parents have work. New Zealand also has "one of the world's worst records for bullying in school", says Shaun Robinson of the Mental Health Foundations New Zealand. He explains there is a "toxic mix" of very high rates of family violence, child abuse and child poverty that need to be addressed to tackle the problem. New Zealand's own statistics also reveal that suicide rates are highest for young Maori and Pacific Islander men. It's not that there's no support system to address the issue but the problem is that it's completely over-stretched. Demand for services has shot up by 70% over the past decade, explains Mr Robinson, while the number of suicide-related callouts by police have gone up by 30% in the past four years alone. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-40284130 (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ✧*:･ﾟ ᶠʳᵒⁿᵗ ᵗᵒʷᵃʳᵈ ᵉⁿᵉᵐʸ (*´艸｀*) ♡♡♡ 3 5 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
onTheBrink 1,224 Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 Everywhere you look in this world, the hospitals or mental health services seem to be overstretched. It's never just going okay. Why? 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucas 31,097 Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 This is so sad... when I was 15/16 I genuinely considered it myself. Listening to the Born This Way album every night before sleep truly helped me going and maybe even saved my life... This reminds me of the story of this gay boy in my school, he was quite popular and always smiling and looking happy, and yet when he was 17 he hang himself in a hotel like 1 hour away from our city... A good friend of mine who was best friend with him said that his family was very religious and rejected his homosexuality and that he couldn't stand it. Even after he hang himself, his family wasn't sad but they were ashamed that he commited suicide because that's a sin in christianity, and they refused to have a ceremony for him in a church... His mother died the following year I believe... 1 5 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
onTheBrink 1,224 Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 4 minutes ago, Lucas said: His mother died the following year I believe... Good riddance 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
VelvetVenus 157 Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 I considered it everyday when I was 14/15. Glad I didn’t do it! Life is hard but it’s beautiful 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlepotter 76,610 Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 I always thought NZ was like peaceful and chill chaeri pls 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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