A recent news item discussed serious pessimism in France leading to fears of mass suicide in the country, perhaps in connection with fears over the Mayan “prophecy of doomsday” in 2012. CNN reported:

Paris (CNN) — The specter of a mass suicide tied to the widely predicted end of the world in December 2012 has prompted a warning from a government official in France, where people are already gathering at a place believers predict may provide the only escape from the apocalypse.

Georges Fenech, president of French government agency Miviludes, which observes sect movements and warns the public of potential risks, told CNN that he had alerted French public authorities, including the prime minister, to the issue.

“We fear that this message of fear could have serious consequences on fragile members of the French population,” he said.

The Next Big Thing also commented on this phenomenon in connection with new religions in the past:

The most recent involving France was a series of 74 suicides in the late 1990s in France, Switzerland and Canada by devotees of the Order of the Solar Temple.

The fascination for Apocalypse theories fits with the mood of gloom that has engulfed France over the past decade. Opinion polls regularly highlight the country as one of the most pessimistic in the world.

Radio and television  preacher Harold Camping’s failed prophecy of the end earlier this year (revised to October 2011) gained an international following and interest. It may be that given the the fascination with ancient civilizations, prognosticators, the alleged “Mayan doomsday prophecy,” connected with a lingering global recession, that we may see international fears and fervor surrounding alleged Armageddon as the calendar ticks closer to December 21, 2012.

Related posts:

“2012 and Mayan Calendar of the End”

“Doomsday America: The Pessimistic Turn of Post-9/11 Apocalyptic Cinema”

“Pop Culture Explores the Apocalypse”

“LiveScience.com: A Brief History of Doomsday”

“Horror, Sci-Fi, Taboo and Suicide”