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Washington Post: Suicide rates rise sharply across the United States
- Thread starter Orayn
- Start date
I think the current stat is, you are more likely to witness someone commit suicide by gun than you are either see or yourself die in a car crash.
I wonder how social media affects this.
Is the added 'life expectation' of social media emphasizing the idea of inadequacy in a sensitive and struggling generation's collective mindset?
Is the added 'life expectation' of social media emphasizing the idea of inadequacy in a sensitive and struggling generation's collective mindset?
OP
OP
They're increasing the rate by being extremely deadly and easy to get. It's a multiplier.
Financial or medical trouble in US? You're probably screwed. Acting different than you're supposed to? Prepare for harassment in-person and especially online. Going online and seeing people who apparently are living these great lives (whether it's real or not) while you grind out day to day garbage? Makes you feel bad. Online dating where you could be getting rejected hundreds of times a day? Gee, I wonder why people might get depressed and need help. And none of that is even dealing with the news on a daily basis.
But they're not a new factor in the equation. If guns had been legalized just 20-30 years ago, then we could say they are the primary reason for the increase. The story is about the rise and to explain the rise you need to figure out what's changed, not just point at something that's always been around. In fact guns generally used to be easier to get the farther back you go.
(And please nobody try to say I'm defending guns. That's lazy and ignoring the point, which is the sharp recent rise the story talks about)
If anyone in this thread, or just lurking through it, is thinking of hurting yourself, then please call the crisis line from this that matches up with your area : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suicide_crisis_lines
They can and will help you with any issue that you're having.
And just a friendly reminder that anyone who is having a hard time should feel free to drop by our Mental Health thread over here : https://www.resetera.com/threads/mental-health-era-ot-you-are-not-alone.408/
We're not professionals, but we care about you and we'll do our best to help you however we can! If that's too public for you, then my PM's are always open to anyone just looking to talk or vent!
Speaking as someone who suffers from severe depression I can confirm the last few years have not exactly improved my overall state of mind. When you are already suffering in your own head your first instinct is to look out into the world to find something to hold on to. But when you look out at the world the past few years you see problems everywhere and it just seems to get worse in some way every passing week. It doesn't inspire much confidence and doesn't exactly help with your state of mind. So this kind of news about rising suicide rates these past few years is hardly surprising to me sadly.
Luckily I have close family and good friends that keep me above where I used to be. Not sure I would still be here without them.
Luckily I have close family and good friends that keep me above where I used to be. Not sure I would still be here without them.
Definitely a sizable piece of it. You see folks living a curated version of their lives and it drives you to dark places.
Social media has done more harm than good IMO. We're sacrificing real relationships.
CFB thread would miss you :(
I get it buddy. Trust me, I do.
Why doesn't this affect other countries? Seems like an argument a pro-gunner would use.
We're increasingly depressed, lonely, isolated people. Depression is running roughshod over the entire country. A whole lot of people can't get access to mental health care, and a lot of those who are able to get it still aren't able to beat depression. I have no idea how the current way of treating it could be improved.
More than people would like to admit. We hear so much about how social media effects mental health but everyone is walking around thinking "but not me!" without addressing any potential issues.
If not you then who?
I've long noticed how staring at Instagram and facebook affects my mental health. I only use Insta on weekends and limit my facebook consumption. It helps but I need to get out completely.
It is interesting to see how the rural mountain west is plagued by high suicide rates.
The economy was in much worse shape a decade ago. Yet the trend in suicide rate is up.
The economy was in much worse shape a decade ago. Yet the trend in suicide rate is up.
OP
OP
The data used cover 1999-2016, which includes the financial crash.
I always think social media contributes to this a lot. Even as an adult, and someone who only marginally participated, it had a detrimental effect on me. I'm generally much happier with my life when I'm not constantly comparing it to others. Social media had a weird way of making me think I was worse off than everyone else on my friends list. Then again, people said the same thing about tv, video games, comic books, etc. Maybe I'm just an old man yelling at clouds.
Could be cultural maybe the US has bigger social issues as far as wealth , relationships with one another,inequality in all forms etc that social media makes worse.
I think guns make it easier to kill oneself but I think if a person really wants to commit suicide nothing will stop them
This WAPO graphic clearly shows change over time. 2005-2015. You can see it is worse today than 2008-2010. I would post the gif but my phone is not letting me copy it.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wa...e-of-suicide-deaths-across-the-united-states/
Gun sales famously went up through the roof during the Obama years for *some reason*
Not surprised, America is on such a downward spiral, and there's no real hope in sight as far as long-term. There's nothing to live for and the future of humanity is looking so bleak and hopeless.
While this definitely an issue, it's insanely ignorant to out full blame on it when there is so much going on
While this definitely an issue, it's insanely ignorant to out full blame on it when there is so much going on
No universal healthcare, student loans, other capitalist policies.
WHO has reported that suicide rates have increased 60%WW in the last 45 years.
Yeah, if you're not in the top 20% or so, you're basically getting squeezed out of existence. No real increase in wages for the average person in 30-40 years? The lack of good full time jobs even in a "good" economy probably doesn't help. Universal basic income would help a lot, especially for rural areas.
Lack of proper universal healthcare and debt are some elements to what caused my younger brother to kill himself 4 weeks ago
There are hundreds of ways to kill yourself, if a person is depressed and/or has suicidal tendencies the lack of a gun wouldn't stop them of killing themselves
People should blame capitalism more than guns in this particular case
People should blame capitalism more than guns in this particular case
It literally does though. See the link in Nivash 's post:
The England gas anecdote is a perfect example of this.
Well, when 99% of the citizens are living in shit while the 1% are living lavishly, I guess this would be correlated. I don't know anyone who is living great and has no stress or worries at all that isn't rich.
Exactly, this is more of an sociological and economic problem rather than psychological.
Exactly, this is more of an sociological and economic problem rather than psychological.
Interesting! Thank you for linking that research article, I'll give it a read later this weekend.
I also blame easier avenues for confirmation bias. Feeling depressed is one thing, going on the Internet and social media to deliberately seek validation for those dark thoughts and reaching a fatal acceptance based on such confirmations...that is something that needs to be researched.
If you got something to add, the just add it. That's too serious and real of a post for troll bait bullshit
We're to atomized as a society. Guns don't help either. But I think the culprit is lack of community and relationships.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/america-has-a-big-loneliness-problem-2018-05-02
Life is hard. Doing it alone isn't fun.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/america-has-a-big-loneliness-problem-2018-05-02
Life is hard. Doing it alone isn't fun.
It's Trump's response to every line in your post. Plus what he thinks of this "study"
I personally agree with what you wrote *shrugs*
Weird way to show that by posting that totally without any context
This should be obvious what the main reason is. Cost of living has been high for a long time and stagnant wages keep under-skilled people living lives of hopelessness. Suicide is where they turn to. And yet, many people in the US foolishly reject socialist policies, and champion low-skilled, and low-paid work, as if it's a badge of honor. I wonder how much more the poor will take before social unrest intensifies against the government and the wealthy.
Social media and internet isolation
Poor job outlook and economy
Oppressive pessimism and constant exposure to bad news
There's LOTS of factors that lead to this increase. I attribute a good chunk of the blame to the internet. Since the mid 00s, pretty much everyone has had online access. We're in the growing pains of a world society that has to get used to knowing everything about everyone. It's not too surprising to see self destruction rates rise like this in such a chaotic time.
Poor job outlook and economy
Oppressive pessimism and constant exposure to bad news
There's LOTS of factors that lead to this increase. I attribute a good chunk of the blame to the internet. Since the mid 00s, pretty much everyone has had online access. We're in the growing pains of a world society that has to get used to knowing everything about everyone. It's not too surprising to see self destruction rates rise like this in such a chaotic time.
I'm sure many are out there like me, who has lost someone to suicide. It's a big problem and I don't have an answer other than letting people know there are places to go to get help or will listen to you.
https://afsp.org
https://afsp.org
You're wrong about guns not being a big issue, as shown by multiple studies here. Mental health care is important, so is removing access to weapons that give you nearly instant death without time to reconsider.