Russia second on world list for suicides

The World Health Organization, which is marking Suicide Prevention Day, reveals that Russia has the world's second highest suicide rate after Lithuania. And according to some estimates, it is close to being the first.

Tania is 20 years old. She studies at the university, is financially secure, and has a boyfriend who loves her. She also wants to kill herself before she is 30 years old. She has already attempted it twice.

“Why am I still alive? Because I want to find a meaning. I’m giving life a last chance,” Tania explained.

Suicide surrounds her. Her best friend shot herself.  Her ex-boyfriend tried to end his life by injecting drugs.

She is now part of a growing online community of suicidals. The Internet has proved to be a buzzing medium for those who want to share their obsessions with killing themselves

Tragically, online suicide clubs sometimes offer more than a chance to talk. People also exchange methods, suggesting different techniques of dying as less painful, or more stylish.

But there is little style in what the ambulances find. A typical aftermath of a Russian suicide is something like a middle-aged man with a belt over his neck, leaving behind an empty bottle of vodka, and a family who cared for him but who he could not support.

Some 60,000 people in Russia end their life in a similar way every year. The numbers are slowly falling but many are skeptical that the trend is reliable.

Suicide attempt

The country’s population is shrinking at a dramatic pace, the birthrate is still too low to compensate for the deaths and according to the statistics, twice as many people kill themselves in Russia every year that die in car accidents or from alcohol poisoning. A real threat to Russian demographics, suicide is one cause that remains largely overlooked.

There is no state-level suicide prevention program in Russia today. While other problem countries like Hungary and Finland have reduced their numbers dramatically over the years through designated programs, Russia seems to have no such schemes yet.

“Unfortunately, the Soviet system of institutions dealing with suicide has collapsed but we continue dealing with the same issues: Russians are mostly drawn to suicide out of fear, loneliness, physiological pressure. Most are looking for a way out of their socio-economic and domestic problems,” Vladimir Voyzekh, Head of the Federal Suicide Center, comments.

One man who tried to make a difference is clergyman, father Grigoriy. He says he talked dozens of people out of suicide and even rented two flats for the most desperate. But his experience has been controversial, some accused him of running a sect – worse still, 4 out of 5 he cared for went on to kill themselves anyway.

“When you are dealing with chronic suicides it is like dealing with cancer, they needed psychiatrical help but they wouldn't go to the clinic. So I did what I could to help but I couldn’t be with them 24/7. Suicide prevention is not a one person's job,” father Grigoriy said.

Father Grigoriy has not given up, but his experience has convinced him the government needs to move in to tackle the suicide epidemic. Still, it takes more then institutions to help those like Tania, so set in their ways.

She doesn’t know who or what would talk her out of suicide.

“Who would convince you out of this? No one. Not the Tsar, Lenin or Larochefoucault. My life is mine to live, or to take away,” Tatiana said.