Re: Happiest Places and Highest Suicide Rates: not so paradoxical? [1 Attachment]

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the paper. Question for the mathematicians out there. Is correlation of .355 statistically significant for  just 21 samples? (I need to go back to school!)

 

[Attachment(s) from frank included below]

Hi! It recently emerged that Happiest Countries also have the Highest Suicide Rates (paper attached). Even keeping it in prospective for regional variations within the countries, etc. is this one more evidence which supports acceptance? What about the effects that giving so much prominence to self-esteem/self-love/self-developmenet etc. has on suicidal behaviour? In Western psychology, it was often postulated that one needs to develop self-esteem in order to properly relate with the world.

Understanding the value and values of all beings is certainly necessary to interact with the word; however, what happens when we give to one own esteem a kind of priority on the rest? Focusing on self-esteem may result in the vicious circle: self-esteem, self, self-interest, greed, feeling disconnected from other people, need to reinforce self-esteem, etc. What about leaving self-esteem (which is strongly conditional) and moving towards acceptance (unconditional), appreciation and embracing? Would this have a beneficial impact and lower suicide rates in the happiest countries? With acceptance, instead of self-esteem, people in happiest countries would not feel the pressure of constant comparing to the ones who appear to be even luckier than them (in relationship, financially, healthy, career-wise, etc.).

Thanks! Peace and metta,

frank