Alarming news about the Suicide Rate in Russia
There's an interesting story on Yahoo News today regarding suicides in Russia. According to this article, Russia's suicide rate is second in the world (Lithuania was first), and many of those suicides are of adolescents. Even though I know adolescents are a high-risk group in America as well, I can't help but wonder how many of those Russian adolescents were children who had once lived in orphanages. My kids' birth mother was raised in an orphanage, as were all her siblings, and her life upon leaving the orphanage has not been a happy one. Fortunately, her two sisters have fared better since going out into the real world, but her brothers are still living in an orphanage in St. Petersburg. I wonder about them often - what they are like and how their life is going. Stories like the Yahoo article also make me wonder what their quality of life will be upon leaving the orphanage.
I know I'm rambling a bit, but this article just made me think.
I know I'm rambling a bit, but this article just made me think.
Jenni
This is so sad. I heard somewhere, might have been on the FRUA board that there is a 25% suicide rate of orphans in EE. Now, this could be wrong, but the message was it was very high.
It is so sad isn't it? Just melts my heart that systems, policies and people make it so hard for children to be adopted or that situations exist in the first place where so many children can not remain in their birth homes.
It's heartbreaking. According to Kidsave (the agency I hosted my Russian "son" through) these are some statistics:
One in three former orphans in Russia is homeless; one in five commits a crime, and even more shocking — one in ten commits suicide.
The stat that's glaringly missing is how many emancipated females enter the sex trade industry. I wouldn't be surprised if that was high, too.
Those statistics are defintiely disturbing. And I would be willing to bet that a lot of girls do enter the sex trade inductry upon leaving the orphanage. With the social prejudices in Russia against orphans, it must make it difficult for them to get a decent job and build a happy life.
I am so torn about the situation in Russia right now. I'm thankful that my children were made available for adoption and that we have had the privledge of bringing them into our family. However, I am also sadden by the situations which made it necessary for them to be put up for adoption in the first place.
I have to wonder how much the horribly cold weather might affect the collective morale in Russia. I know that winter can really get me down and the combination of being really cold and really poor at the same time sounds like a recipe for disaster.
I know that Alaska’s suicide rate is double the national rate and suicide is Alaska’s fifth leading cause of death. The suicide rate for Alaskan youth age 15-24 is almost 5 times the national rate. Is it the Weather???? Just a thought.
Actually Jen, you make a good point. Our translator told us that in Murmansk (where our kids are from), suicides go up dramatically in the winter. Since Murmansk is above the Arctic Circle, it is dark nearly 24 hours a day during the months of December and January. That could definitely affect people's moods.