Why are atheists at more of a risk of commiting suicide or becoming depressed?

amp

If there is a link between atheism and suicide/depression then I would speculate that the atheist's in question have trouble coming up with an alternative belief system. Religion provides a system with which is used to answer the hard to answer questions about life and death in a social way. Finding an alternative way of answering those questions can be difficult.

Vangelis

Tar.Aldarion wrote:

I think it has got to do with your personality and how well you hold up to things.If intelligence comes into it,meh.
I havn't actually given much thought to committing suicide no matter how depressed I have been,I think it is pointless,selfish and I would rather just suffer.Other people might be different and just choose to end it.

Yes, I read once that intelligent people are better at thinking themselves out of a problem. But someone with a lower intelligence can absolutely get help and recover from a depression. Of course, it may depend on what kind of problem that causes a depression. You might have lost your husband or children and some suffer from depression after they have given birth(there is a name for that). And this can happen to anyone.

savoyard

The suicide / religion theory, afaik, originated with Emile Durkheim who's considered the founding father of sociology, writing in the late 19th century.

He conducted many studies on religion and suicide and one of his conclusions was that catholic societies have lower suicide rates than protestant ones. He saw Protestantism as being a less strongly integrated religion than catholicism. (Catholic suicides weren't allowed be buried in church grounds until recently, which must also have had a huge effect on rates). He also found that unmarried people have higher suicide rates than married, the larger the family the smaller the chance of suicide and he also found that suicide rates drop in times of war as society is more integrated and people feel more 'needed'. The poor were also less likely to commit suicide than the well to do and men more likely than women.

His work on suicide is really interesting and although the data and societies he were analysing are way out of date now, you can look at it in terms of societal integration rather than religion these days. Basically if you're individualistic, with few links to society (through religion, family or if you feel society won't miss you), you are more likely to commit suicide than someone very active in society, whether it's through religious ties or not

Dades

Just dropping this in here for some coverage...

Have posted a suggestion for an atheism/agnosticism forum in the "new forum" section. I know we have some interested parties, so anyone who is - drop by and give their two shekels worth of support.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=318765

Ag marbh

Being an atheist myself a doctor told me during my height of anxiety/panic disorder that I was missing religion in my life. I guess it's a security blanket for alot of people.

lostexpectation

Ag marbh wrote:

Being an atheist myself a doctor told me during my height of anxiety/panic disorder that I was missing religion in my life. I guess it's a security blanket for alot of people.

what exactly did he mean, what were you lacking that only religion could provide?

Dave!

Yeah I suppose if you believe in God, then there's always someone there, you're never alone, always loved, etc etc. -- but unfortunately, you (or at least, I) can't force yourself to believe in it. You either believe or you don't (or you're in between ), depending on your outlook on life.

Myself, I'm hung up on the whole "it's too easy", and it seems illogical, argument. It'd just feel like I'm being tricked, or I'm deluding myself, if I start praying to God.

But, at some point something had to come from nothing... so that takes me right back to the start again. Where did the universe come from? The big bang, yeh, but where did all the gases and crap come from?

If I were to believe in a God, I'd probably go with the one where it created us, and then left us to our own devices (anyone able to give me the name of this line of thinking? ), cos of the whole evolution thing.

Vangelis

DaveMcG wrote:

Yeah I suppose if you believe in God, then there's always someone there, you're never alone, always loved, etc etc. -- but unfortunately, you (or at least, I) can't force yourself to believe in it. You either believe or you don't (or you're in between ), depending on your outlook on life.

That I can agree with. Believing is a choice each and everyone has to make for themselves. You can't force yourself to be undepressed, but I experience that if I pray to God that I need rest and stop worrying or being sad, I do stop worrying, being sad and I can rest. It's a question of seeking it out, not expecting it to come to you by itself. To have something you must ask for it.
That was my response to that as a Christian.

Hobbes

annR wrote:

you have to wonder how athiests get through really hard times without faith in some higher purpose.

They have faith in themselves.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

or whatever crutch they choose to lean on, drugs and sex would be fairly popular.