Made happy: Finland is struggling with the problem of suicide
The World Happiness Report ranking has once again declared Finland the happiest country in the world — for the eighth time in a row. The Finns themselves were largely sarcastic about this news, because the situation in the state is not conducive to collective happiness — an economic recession, an increase in the number of bankruptcies and the unemployed, constant mass strikes by workers in various industries. But the last thing that fits into the concept of happiness is the increase in the number of suicides. After a slight decrease, the suicide rate went up again, and this completely negates speculation about the "happiest country in the world." The details are in the Izvestia article.
Why are suicides popular in Finland?
Questions about the world happiness rating have arisen before, but now they have only become even more relevant, including due to the number of suicides in Suomi. "It is true that there are significantly fewer people taking their own lives in Finland now than there were a few decades ago. According to Finnish statisticians, the peak in this indicator was reached in the country in 1990 (over 1,500 cases per year). For a country with a population of less than 5 million people at that time, this was a very alarming indicator. Well, since life in Suomi in the 1980s was quite stable and serene, such a high number of suicides seemed like some kind of terrible anomaly. It got to the point where people started talking about suicide being "sewn" into the cultural and even genetic code of the Finns," political scientist Maxim Reva told Izvestia.
At some point, the Finnish authorities caught themselves and declared war on suicides. The number of suicides has more than halved in 30 years. Erkki Isomet, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Helsinki, explains: "Finland was the first country in the world to develop a national suicide prevention program in the 1980s. It began with a study that examined the types and causes of suicide in the country. Our psychiatric system has received comprehensive data, which we have started working with."
Nevertheless, this problem has not been completely overcome to this day. Moreover, what is especially frightening is that representatives of the younger generation are susceptible to suicidal moods. In Suomi, suicide is the most common cause of death for young people aged 15 to 24. In 2019, a survey was conducted, during which it turned out that one in three Finns between the ages of 18 and 34 thought about killing themselves. If we take all Finns of working age, then every fifth person has considered suicide. Depression is extremely common in Finland, and a significant part of the population is on antidepressants. According to figures published last year, one in five Finns of working age is currently experiencing "significant psychological stress" — and most people in this condition are either thinking about passing away or trying to put it into practice.
Where is the highest suicide rate in Europe? Young people are in a zone of special vulnerability
Recently, the number of suicides in Finland has remained at a fairly high level. In 2016, 792 such incidents occurred in the country, in 2017 - 826, in 2018 - 806, in 2019 - 742, in 2020 - 722, in 2021 - 747, in 2022 — 746, in 2023 - 751 (data not yet available for 2024). At the same time, approximately two thirds of suicides are men and only one third are women. It turns out that the female psyche is more stable than the male. The country's population now slightly exceeds 5.6 million people.
Moreover, in 2024, Finland, according to Eurostat, ranked fourth in Europe (after Iceland, Poland and Austria) in terms of suicide rates among young people aged 15 to 19 years. Aliisa Kukkola, a psychologist at the Mieli ry Suicide Prevention Center, explains the reasons why young people are the most vulnerable group in this regard — "society demands and expects a lot from them, for example, regarding studies and financial situation." The psychologist explains: "Finding your place and path through failures, mistakes, and growing up is part of youth. In my opinion, there is less room for this in modern society than before." According to Kukkol, "constantly comparing yourself and your life with others on social media causes tension and anxiety, as the number of objects to compare is infinitely large."
In 2021, the government began financing four suicide prevention projects in those regions where suicide rates are highest. The choice fell on the regions of Southern Savo, Central Finland, Satakunta, Kainuu and Kymenlaakso. However, this does not help much - the number of suicides remains stable and does not go down sharply. "There are definitely traces of the coronavirus pandemic here. In addition, global issues such as the military crisis, inflation, and climate change can have an impact. In other words, the accumulation of various negative factors," suggests Annamarie Lundqvist, an expert at the Healthy Finland project.
Last summer, the Finnish state broadcaster Yle reported that police officers in the country were increasingly responding to calls related to suicidal behavior. According to Inspector Marko Savolainen, last year there were an average of 40 calls per day, which were registered as suicide or its threat. In fact, there were even more such cases, since many of these calls fall into a different category in the documents. "If not on every call, then at least on every second one you can see the poor condition of people," says Savolainen.
For example, in the Oulu region (in the northeast of the country), the number of such incidents has increased by 30% over the past ten years. Senior Police Inspector Janne Koskela reported that in 2023, the Oulu police recorded 2,100 cases of destructive behavior. According to Koskela, there used to be 1,400-1,500 such calls per year in this region. Their number began to grow during the coronavirus pandemic, and then the situation worsened even more. Although, as Koskela notes, there are differences between cases, but they all require an immediate response. For example, someone may threaten to jump off a roof or do something to themselves because of a quarrel with a loved one or a divorce - and now the police rush to help. Immediately upon arrival, you should try to establish contact and convince the person to stop. However, the capabilities of the police are limited — according to the law, they do not have the right to hold a potential suicide bomber for more than a day.
Who is more likely to die of suicide? Even the cops are depressed.
Inspector Savolainen emphasizes that when a person is released, he must immediately be provided with the necessary psychological help, otherwise he will most likely return to his intention. "You can't just tell them, 'Contact your doctor in a couple of weeks.' It's like giving aspirin in a case where long—term surgical treatment is required," warns the policeman. Moreover, Savolainen testifies that often the police arrive at the same suicide victim several times, even though the person is already working with a doctor. Inspector Koskela considers it important that such people are not thrown "from one instance to another" and that they are given the opportunity to immediately receive the help they need.
The problem, however, is that police officers have been taking their own lives more and more often lately — last year there were four such emergencies in Finland. Each such case became the subject of a detailed investigation, but this did not help prevent new tragedies. Moreover, as it turns out, even employees of those departments who undergo a particularly thorough mental stability check are not immune from this. So, in November last year, one of the employees of the presidential security service, Alexander Stubb, committed suicide — he did it right at the presidential residence in Helsinki's Munkkiniemi district. And in early February, a policeman working in the city of Espoo took his own life at his workplace at the police station. Moreover, it was not an ordinary employee, but one of the heads of the local police department.
Finnish researchers have long attributed the high number of suicides to the peculiarities of local geography and nature. Finnish nature is certainly beautiful, but the country is not very lucky with the climate: winter lasts for almost six months — from November to April. The light day during this period lasts only from four to six hours. A lack of sunlight disrupts the production of the hormone of happiness, serotonin. The production of melatonin, a hormone responsible for sleep and good mood, also slows down in winter. A long, dark winter provokes a melancholic mood in most people, and in those who are particularly sensitive, this can trigger seasonal affective disorder.
Maxim Reva emphasizes that, although there is a reason for these arguments, it should be taken into account that in recent years nervousness has been added to the problems of Finns due to the situation in the country, fear for their own workplace and for future prospects. The state has been experiencing an economic downturn for several years, which has borne fruit in the form of a deterioration in the financial situation of many Finns. People are forced to switch to austerity, and the popularity of second-hand stores is growing. In 2024, about 3,100 companies were declared bankrupt in Suomi, which is 12.4% more than the year before last. Those enterprises that are still afloat are massively reducing staff. In conditions of budget deficit, the state is forced to cut social programs and cut benefits, and some Finns have to lose their homes because of this. Last year, for the first time since 2012, the number of people without housing increased in Suomi. There are 3,806 homeless people in the country, which is 377 more people than a year earlier.
Strikes are rocking the country one after another. "Since the beginning of this year alone, Finnair pilots, employees of the local technological and chemical industries, employees of the commercial sector, employees of ski resorts, bakeries (which led to a temporary shortage of bread in the country's stores) and breweries, and police officers have been on strike in Suomi. Everywhere there are complaints about low salaries, difficult working conditions, and cuts in social benefits by the authorities. In short, it doesn't look much like the happiest country in the world," concludes political analyst Reva.
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