SUICIDE IN URBAN AND RURAL SOUTHERN GREECE

The annual suicide rate in southern Greece, the Peloponnese, from 1979 through 1983 was 5.0/100,000. This indicates a remarkable stability o f a low suicide rate over the last half century. With the exception of the age group 15-24, males committed suicide significantly more frequ ently than females. Females of 45-64 in the rural areas showed the gre atest suicide rate (7.8), whereas in the urban/semi-urban they showed the lowest (1.5). The suicide rate increased with advancing age, parti cularly among males in rural areas. The maintenance of a low suicide r ate, regardless of major changes in customs and values, may be attribu ted partly to the availability of Greek people to others and the easy discharge of anger and aggression.