Suicide and societal culture in Brittany

Brittany presents a paradox. It is both the region of France where people are most likely to describe themselves as ‘happy’, and the one with the highest suicide rate. This contrast can no doubt be explained in part by a comparison effect: in a society dominated by a sense of well-being, those who feel excluded from it experience greater distress, which increases their risk of suicide. But other structural factors also play a significant role. Over the course of a century, Brittany has transformed from a deeply religious, rural and tightly-knit society into a secularised, urbanised and individualised one. The sudden loss of the language, the religious framework and the communal way of life has led to social disintegration, emotional deprivation and cultural trauma. Some researchers refer to an ‘identity fragility’ linked to the cultural ethnocide endured. Whilst the suicide rate now appears to be stabilising, it remains essential to take the cultural dimension of this phenomenon into account.
Please note: this paper has been translated using machine translation software and therefore contains errors.