1. The word “suicide” is derived from these two
Latin words, “sui”(of oneself) and “cidium”(killing
or slaying).
2. China accounts for most suicide deaths around
the world with between 250,000 to 300,000
suicides per year. That is about a quarter of all
suicide deaths.
3. Many famous and notable people in history
actually commited suicide they include: Sigmund
Freud, Cleopatra, Mark Anthony, Dennis Brutus,
Hannibal, Adolf Hitler, Ernest Hemmingway,
Vincent Van Gogh, Rudolf Hess, Pontius Pilate,
Socrates e.t.c.
4. Across the world an estimated 2,000 people
commit suicide everyday.
5. French philosopher Albert Camus made a
famous quotation about suicide when he said,
“What is called a reason for living is also an
excellent reason for dying”.
6. There is a common perception that suicide is
more common among the young, but the truth is
that the elderly have the highest suicide rates.
7. Some evidence suggest that suicide attempts
by women during the first week of menstrual
cycle may be associated with low oestrogen
levels.
8. Among the Hindus, a Hindu wife is expected to
throw herself on her husband’s burning body on
the funeral pyre so that she can enter the next
life with him. This practice was abolished by
British in India in 1829. But it still persists till
today in some places.
9. The Japanese practice “Seppuku”(stomach
cutting),a ritual suicide practiced by warriors who
were about to get captured. The warrior would
cut open his own abdomen and stretch out his
own neck and then one of his own comrades
would cut-off his head in one stroke.
This practice has persisted till today despite
attempts to stop it.
10. The Greek philosopher Hegesias (320-280
B.C) gave lectures which prompted so many
listeners to commit suicide that he was forbidden
from public speaking. He is also known as the
“Death Persuader”.
11. The Bible does not specifically prohibit suicide
and there is no particular reference to it inside
the Bible, but Christians generally condemn the
practice as stated by St. Augustine. In A.D 563
suicide was officially condemned by the Council
of Braga.
12. In Islam, the Quaran actually forbids suicide
refering to it as the gravest sin, even more
serious than homicide. But killing oneself as an
act of Jihad(Holy War) is not considered suicide.
13. The only acceptable method of suicide in the
Mayan culture was by hanging and everybody
who commited suicide this way was guaranteed a
place in the afterlife.
14. The most common method of suicide world
wide is by hanging.
15. Women attempt suicide three times more
often than men, but men complete suicides three
times more often than women.
16. Research have found that people with low
serotinin levels in their brains are six to ten times
more likely to commit suicide than people with
normal levels.
17. Prolonged exposure to very low-frequency
electromagnetic fields such as those emitted by
large powerlines may increase the risk of suicide
by as high as 100%.
18. No suicides have been reported in the several
small South Sea islands and the Hindu Kush
Mountains of India.
19. The world’s highest female suicide rates is
among the Fijian Indians.
20. The number one spot for suicides in the world
famous Golden Gate Bridge. More than 1,200
people have jumped to their deaths on that
bridge. Others are Beachy Head in England and
Aokigahara Forest in Japan.
21. The greater the elevation of a person’s home,
the higher the risk of suicide.
22. Two out of every three people who commit
suicide are depressed at the time they took their
life.
23. Only 1 out of every 25 suicide attempts
actually results in deaths.
24. Japanese police often declare murders they
cannot solve as suicides in order to save face and
also to keep crime statistics artificially low.
25. One suicide victim who died by jumping off
the Golden Gate Bridge left a note saying, “I am
going to walk to the bridge. If one person smiles
at me on the way, I will not jump”.
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