Cultural learning transmitted a scripted suicide epidemic through Micronesian youth

Evidence

Beginning in 1960, a striking pattern of suicide rippled through the pacific islands of Micronesia for about twenty-five years. As the epidemic spread, the suicides assumed a distinct pattern. The typical victim was a young male between 15 and 24 (modal age of 18) who still lived with his parents. After a disagreement with his parents or girlfriend, the victim experienced a vision in which past victims beckoned for him to come to them (we know this from attempted suicides). In heeding their call, the victim performed a “lean hanging,” sometimes in an abandoned house. In a lean hanging, victims lean into the noose from a standing or kneeling position. This gradually depletes the victim’s supply of oxygen, resulting in a loss of consciousness and then death. These suicides occurred in localized and sporadic outbreaks among socially interconnected adolescents and young men, a pattern common elsewhere. Sometimes these epidemics could be traced to a particular spark, such as the suicide of a 29-year-old prominent son of a wealthy family. In 75% of the cases, there was no prior hint of suicide or depression. Interestingly, these epidemics were restricted to only two ethnic groups within Micronesia, the Trukese and Marshallese. — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 184

Categorization

• SEED: The ‘lean hanging’ epidemic with beckoning visions and 75% no-prior-hint cases could anchor an essay on how cultural scripts propagate lethal practices.
• QUESTION: The modal age 18, restricted to two ethnic groups, begs the developmental question about when prestige-biased learning peaks.
• XREF: connects to: Humans copy even fitness-destroying practices when prestige cues are present; Pacific high corpora-punishment rates reflect colonial-mission transmission, not Indigenous practice — , The Rod and the Child: A Global History…, 5255; Suicide attacks correlate with and spread through visible self-sacrifice cycles

Broader Connections

• Suicide attacks correlate with and spread through visible self-sacrifice cycles #expands (0.80)
• Pacific high corpora-punishment rates reflect colonial-mission transmission, not Indigenous practice #qualifies (0.75) — , The Rod and the Child, 5255