http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/abs/10.1176/appi.ajp.162.7.1373?journalCode=ajp
OBJECTIVE: Previous studies have found associations between poor
fetal and infant growth and the risk of suicide. The authors’ goal was
to investigate the association between height—a measure of childhood
growth—and suicide risk.
METHOD: The authors conducted a record
linkage study of the birth, conscription, mortality, family, and census
register data of 1,299,177 Swedish men followed from age 18 to a maximum
of age 49.
RESULTS: There were 3,075 suicides over an average
follow-up period of 15 years. There was a strong inverse association
between height and suicide risk. In fully adjusted models, a 5-cm
increase in height was associated with a 9% decrease in suicide risk.
CONCLUSIONS: The
strong inverse association between height and suicide may signify the
importance of childhood exposure in the etiology of adult mental
disorder or reflect stigmatization or discrimination encountered by
short men in their adult lives.
Yeah, this study is about a correlation, not a definitive cause. Don't worry, I know. Very strong percentages though. Researchers also ruled out factors such as socioeconomic status, psychiatric diagnoses, etc. More here:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/height-and-suicide/
What's also interesting are the responses whenever someone is confronted with these statistics. They'll say things like, "It's short men's fault for committing more suicide due to not enough therapy, a lack of confidence, caring too much about height, etc." Nothing about height discrimination.
But when women develop mental issues, such as eating disorders, everyone is encouraged by the mainstream to blame society's body shaming and beauty standards. In fact, when any politically protected group has higher suicide rates (such as transgenders), people use that as a sign of prejudice.
Of course, just like how male suicide rates in general are ignored despite being astronomically high, it's doubly so for short men. Must be that male privilege again.
