Journal of Socialomics

Abstract

What Accounts for the Differences in Suicide Trends Across Countries of the Former Soviet Union?

Razvodovsky YE

Suicide is a major public health problem worldwide . The Slavic countries of the former Soviet Union Russia, Ukraine and Belarus retain one of the highest suicide rates in the world, despite a gradual decline over the past decade. Since the early 1980s, suicide mortality in these countries has undergone sharp fluctuations . In general, the temporal pattern of suicide mortality fluctuations was similar for three countries: sharp decrease in the mid of 1980s, dramatic increase in the first half of 1990s followed by a decline. While the trends in suicide mortality have been similar in three countries during the Soviet period, there was significant discrepancy after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.