Occupation and suicide - back to the drawing board

A study 67,095 people in Denmark between 1991 and 1997 looked at the links between people's occupation and their propensity to commit suicide. Motor mechanics and fitters, and primary school teachers had an average risk of suicide and were given a risk score of 1. In general lower socio-economic groups were - perhaps unsurprisingly - more likely to kill themselves but doctors (2.73 times as likely as primary-school teachers) and nurses (2.04) also scored highly perhaps because these professions have ready access to lethal drugs. The professions least likely to commit suicide were architects and engineers who both had a mere 0.44 times the risk of infant teachers. So for a happy career choice it's throw away the stethoscope and get back to the drawing board !