Finno-Ugrian suicide hypothesis

Suicide rate in Hungary (1950–2005), 1983: 45.3 suicides per 100,000 people, it was the second highest rate (after Lithuania, 1995: 45.6 ) of an independent state in recorded human history. Higher rates were only measured in regions like Greenland or the Canadian territories.

The Finno-Ugrian suicide hypothesis proposes to link genetic ties originating among Finno-Ugric peoples to high rate of suicide, claiming an allele common among them is responsible.

Mari and Udmurts have been found to have a three times higher suicide rate than Finns and Hungarians. It has been thus theorized that such a possible allele may have arisen in those populations.^{[ citation needed ]}

However, contrary to the hypothesis, available contemporary (1990–1994) suicide rates in the United States were uniformly negatively associated with the proportion of the population comprising people of self-reported Hungarian, Lithuanian, Polish, Russian, Slovakian, or Ukrainian descent. The findings of this first test outside Europe are therefore conflicting. A proposal based on the geographical study approach is offered to further the progress of investigations into the genetics of suicide. ^[2]

See also

• Human genetic variation
• Finnish heritage disease
• Gloomy Sunday
• List of countries by suicide rate

References

1. Suicide rate in Lithuania (WHO)
2. Voracek M (2006). "Ancestry, genes, and suicide: a test of the Finno-Ugrian Suicide Hypothesis in the United States". Perceptual and Motor Skills. 103 (2): 543–50. doi:10.2466/pms.103.2.543-550. PMID   17165419. S2CID   13377495.

• Voracek M, Loibl LM, Kandrychyn S (June 2007). "Testing the Finno-Ugrian suicide hypothesis: replication and refinement with regional suicide data from eastern Europe". Perceptual and Motor Skills. 104 (3 Pt 1): 985–94. doi:10.2466/PMS.104.3.985-994. PMID   17688155. S2CID   19673570.
• Voracek M, Fisher ML, Marusic A (October 2003). "The Finno-Ugrian suicide hypothesis: variation in European suicide rates by latitude and longitude". Perceptual and Motor Skills. 97 (2): 401–6. doi:10.2466/pms.2003.97.2.401. PMID   14620226. S2CID   35277725.