MOSCOW, December 11 (RIA Novosti) – Nearly a million people in Russia have committed suicide during the last two decades, an eminent psychiatrist said Wednesday, but the national suicide rate is falling.
The majority of people who killed themselves between 1991 and 2012 were working-age adults or teenagers, said Boris Polozhy, an expert with the state-run Serbsky psychiatric institute.
Russia’s suicide rate of about 20 people per 100,000 has nearly halved since 2001, but is still about double the world average, according to statistics from the World Health Organization.
The proportion of children and teenagers killing themselves is also comparatively high in Russia compared to other countries. Russia’s consumer rights and health watchdog said in March that Russia holds first place in Europe for the number of suicides among children and adolescents.
Hanging is a common national method of ending life, but jumping from apartment buildings is becoming increasingly popular.
Russia banned all web content deemed to be promoting suicide this year as part of a broad Internet blacklist also targeting child pornography and drug use advocacy.
