Lithuania’s Suicide Epidemic – Powered By Pipedija Net News

Reporter: Justin Webster Producer/Cameraman: Ivan O’Mahoney On the threshold of joining the EU and NATO, Lithuania has the highest suicide rate in the world. It’s doubled in the last 10 years, overtaking former record holders such as Hungary, and leaving other Baltic States behind. Looking at the economic figures, the country is doing very well – over 5% GNP growth – the capital, Vilnius, has become smart and chic, the country has reclaimed its language and culture since independence. But suicide indicates the hidden truth: that the transition from soviet times to the first phase of capitalism is proving deeply traumatic. At night on patrol with police we see how they rush to save a 20 year old man from trying to kill himself by jumping off a bridge in the centre of Vilnius – a popular location for suicide attempts. At the police station we talk to the man, Evaldas Kric, and to the doctor who arrives to see him. This is the second night in a row he has tried to commit suicide. The previous night he was taken to hospital, but was discharged immediately. Dr Dainius Puras, a leading psychiatrist, and co-author of Lithuania’s emergency suicide bill, describes the state of suicide in Lithuania: “It’s an epidemic,” he says. If it wasn’t suicide, but an infectious disease that was killing over 1500 people a year (30 a week, in a population of only 3.7m), the government would spend millions, he says. As it is, the suicide bill has been shelved. “There is a lot of cynical thinking …
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