Both long-term residents and visitors to Las Vegas are at significantly greater risk of suicide. Why might this be? Perhaps a combination of ‘gambler’s dispair’ and the fact that suicide is, in its way, contagious. But the researchers also suggest that Las Vegas’ is—or perhaps was—one of the fastest-growing metropolitain areas in the US. Lots of new residents equals not a lot of strong social networks. The good news: rates have been going down in recent years; and for a quick-fix, well, you can always go somewhere else
Also noteworthy, according to Wray, is the finding that if you live in Las Vegas, but travel away from home, your risk for suicide decreases. “So, one conclusion we might draw from this fact is that something about the place is toxic or ‘suicidogenic,’ and that there is something about reduced exposure to Las Vegas that is beneficial,” said Wray
from “What Happens In Vegas? Place As A Risk Factor For Suicide,” Science Daily, 12 November 2008