and the highest among those who are divorced. Further, the suicide rates for single and widowed or divorced men are about twice those for women of similar marital status. In other words, the gender effects continue to be strong, overriding even the effects of marital status.
Regarding religious affiliation, although the United States suicide rate is 12.2 per 100,000, in countries where Catholic Church influences are strong (e.g. Italy, Latin America, Ireland, etc.), the suicide rate is relatively low---less than 10 per 100,000. Also, Islamic countries have low suicide rates. On the other hand, in countries where the church is weak (Scandinavia, Czechoslovakia, Hungary), the rates are much higher, averaging around 35 per 100,000.
Profession is another demographic factor that has been found to be associated with suicide. Wexler, Weissman and Kasl (1978) have reported that physicians, lawyers, and dentists have higher than average rates of suicide. Among medical professionals, psychiatrists have the highest rate of suicide and pediatricians the lowest.
Also, it has been found that suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students. Yearly more than 10,000 students attempt suicide and about 1,000 succeed. Indeed, the suicide rate for college students is twice as high as that for people who are not in college.
Why do people knowingly and deliberately end their own lives? According to Bongar (1992), many facts about suicide are
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