Shocker: Most of world's "happiest countries" have suicide rates higher than the USA

Boffins at the University of Leicester have apparently gazed into their navels and constructed a set of heavily vetted, peer reviewed, comprehensive bullshit "criteria" as to what constitutes that "elusive notion of contentment" known as happiness.

Feeling sad? Researchers at Britain's University of Leicester reckon you might just be in the wrong country. According to Adrian White, an analytic social psychologist at Leicester who developed the first "World Map of Happiness," Denmark is the happiest nation in the world.

White's research used a battery of statistical data, plus the subjective responses of 80,000 people worldwide, to map out well-being across 178 countries. Denmark and five other European countries, including Switzerland, Austria, and Iceland...

...The U.S. came in at 23...

Perhaps when socialistic societies rid themselves of misfits, malcontents, and the chronically depressed through high suicide rates, the survivors realize that means more government bling for them and their moods uptick accordingly? In a twistedgreeddrivendon'tgivearatsassabouttheotherguy kinda way it might make sense.

Oh, BTW, the US suicide rate is somewhere around 11/100K [2005] (at the height of BDS and the "worst economy since the depression" according to John Kerry).

Denmark? 10.6/100K [2006]
Switzerland? 15.1/100K [2007]
Austria? 12.7/100K [2008]
Iceland? 12.2/100K [2008]

Back in 1997, when the world economy was booming at the zenith of the tech bubble, Denmark's suicide rate was 14/100K, so maybe they have spent the past 13 years weeding out the unhappy ones?

posted by Purp at 02:03 AM

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