Disentangling the Person and the Place as Explanations for Regional Differences in Suicide

The suicides of a region’s residents were compared with people who were temporarily visiting the region. Using American death records from 1973-2004, the focus was on states with highest & lowest suicide rates over the study period. In the high suicide region, visitors to & residents away from the region both had elevated suicide rates, to about the same extent as residents dying inside the region. In the low suicide region, the suicides of residents at home were reduced, but their suicides rose dramatically once they left the area. There was no decrease in suicide among visitors to the region. Firearm use was related to the suicide levels of each region. The authors discuss how an examination of visitors can help reearchers generate novel inferences about the causes of suicide. (40 refs.) JA