Working Paper: NBER ID: w21279
Authors: Anne Case; Angus Deaton
Abstract: Suicide rates, life evaluation, and measures of affect are all plausible measures of the mental health and wellbeing of populations. Yet in the settings we examine, correlations between suicide and measured wellbeing are at best inconsistent. Differences in suicides between men and women, between Hispanics, blacks, and whites, between age groups for men, between countries or US states, between calendar years, and between days of the week, do not match differences in life evaluation. By contrast, reports of physical pain are strongly predictive of suicide in many contexts. The prevalence of pain is increasing among middle-aged Americans, and is accompanied by a substantial increase in suicides and deaths from drug and alcohol poisoning. Our measure of pain is now highest in middle age—when life evaluation and positive affect are at a minimum. In the absence of the pain epidemic, suicide and life evaluation are likely unrelated, leaving unresolved whether either one is a useful overall measure of population wellbeing.
Keywords: suicide; wellbeing; mental health; self-reported wellbeing; physical pain
JEL Codes: I12; I3
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| physical pain (I12) | increased suicide risk (I12) |
| age (J14) | suicide rates (men) (I12) |
| gender (J16) | suicide rates (I12) |
| life evaluation (C52) | suicide rates (I12) |
| positive affect (E71) | suicide rates (I12) |