Suicide is the thirteenth highest cause of death in the world today. Worldwide, 850,000 suicides were recorded in 2000 and the global suicide rate is 16 per 100,000 people, an increase of 60 percent over the past 45 years. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for men and women aged 15–44 years and it is estimated that attempts at suicide or incidents of self-harm are up to 20 times more common.

The quantification of suicide and analysis of its causes are problematic processes. The World Health Organization (WHO) collects statistics on suicide rates according t…