Oz cities search suicide websites the most

Melbourne, May 3 : Looks like people Down Under are not that much satisfied with their lives, for according to Google Trends, Australian cities top the dubious honour of searching "how to commit suicide" on Google.

The report lists Melbourne as having the highest percentage of searches on the topic compared to total searches on the site.

Brisbane is ranked second on the list while Sydney comes in at number four.

University of Melbourne Associate Professor Jane Pirkis, who researches suicide in the media, said pro-suicide websites are banned in Australia and the reason three of its major capitals ranked so highly is unknown.

"It would be interesting to know who is searching for this information. If it is people who are physically healthy, then it is quite concerning," News.com.au quoted Pirkis, as saying.

Australia has the 44th highest suicide rate in the world according to statistics compiled by the World Health Organisation.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported 1799 deaths from suicide were registered in 2006, 78 per cent of which were males.

Suicide accounts for 1.3 per cent of all deaths in Australia but for males aged 20-25, it accounted for more than 20 per cent of deaths in 2006.

ANI