The comparative analysis of suicides in Plovdiv oblast (Bulgaria) and in Khmelnytskyi oblast (Ukraine) and social and economic problems of suicides

Suicide is an important social problem of modern society. Every year in the world from 800 000 to one million people commit suicide. Suicides occur every 40 seconds. Suicide is the 15th cause of death in the world. The committing of suicides by people is in close connection with the social and economic problems of society. With the intensification of integration processes and the weakening of social ties, a person feels lonely and unprotected in a social environment, he/she is unable to solve problems of a different nature and is under constant stress. The World Health Organization emphasizes the suicide problem and raises the issue of its solution. The purpose of the study is to compare suicide cases in two countries, which, in our opinion, earlier developed similarly and had much in common, but they appeared on the path of democracy at different rates and methods; to analyze some social aspects of suicides and their correlation with economic indicators, such as gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and unemployment rate. CONCLUSIONS During the period from 2006 to 2015 in Khmelnytskyi oblast suicides were committed twice more than in t Plovdiv oblast. The dynamics of suicides in the Plovdiv oblast is unstable, in its turn, in Khmelnytskyi oblast there is basically a similar number of cases. When assessing suicides in age categories, a similar pattern is observed in the age groups from 0 to 18 years old and from 44 to 65 years old, with a difference in age groups of 19-43 years old with an increase in cases in Khmelnytskyi oblast and a group of over 65 years old with an increase in cases in Plovdiv In our opinion, this may be due to the economic development of the country, the young people’s inability to realize themselves and the different worldviews and difficulties in adapting to life for the elderly. The same picture is observed in the study of suicides committed by men and Men both in Plovdiv oblast and in Khmelnytskyi oblast commit the majority of suicides. It can be concluded that men are more prone to suicide. In our opinion, this is due to the inability to support the family, due to the abuse of alcohol and drugs and due to the inability to overcome the existing obstacles. There is a link between the level of economic development of the country and the rate of suicide deaths. The level of living in Bulgaria is twice higher (in terms of GDP) than in Ukraine and the mortality rate is twice lower.