Might as well live

摘要

Conventional wisdom suggests that more Britons ought to be ending their own lives. Divorce rates among the middle-aged have been climbing for the past three decades. Hospitals report rising levels of drug and alcohol abuse, together with other kinds of self-harm. Add to that familiar drawbacks of modern life such as work-related worries and social isolation, and a rise in suicide might be expected. Yet clifftops like Beachy Head (pictured above) have never been quieter. Last year, the rate of suicides and unexplained deaths fell to 84 per million-the lowest since the middle of the second world war. Figures from the World Health Organisation show that Britons are less likely to take their own lives than Americans or anyone else in Europe, excepting the famously sanguine inhabitants of Greece, Italy and Portugal. And those countries may be under-reporting, reflecting stronger taboos: striking increases in recorded suicides have been noted in nations such as Ireland and Spain, where religion and tradition are losing their grip.