There are two recurring points among all the suicide thread OPs that we've seen recently:
1) I feel like the world is going to shit and there's nothing I can do about it.
2) I feel very alone.
Both of these things may be at least somewhat affected by trends on this forum.
#1 is likely excaberated by the endless stream of depressing news on the OT forum. There are a lot of threads that go something like "shitty person says/does shitty thing" or "something horrible happened", and there is no real discussion to be had on those threads besides raging at the people in question, or grieving at what was lost. This is exactly why threads reporting particularly bad news like a murder or plane crash or something are often locked in short order, which is a decision I agree with - there's not much discussion to be had about that news, and all they do is rile up negative emotions like anger, grief, despair, and so on.
While I believe there is value in keeping up with news to see what people are saying and doing, I also feel like there's been too much depressing news on this forum lately. You can load up the OT at any time of the day and there will always be at least two or three such threads, and that can wear on one's mental health, especially when they're already feeling down. So I think maybe it may be worth considering cracking down a little more on the endless stream of depressing news threads, or closing them after discussion peters out (which happens very quickly) to diminish their constant presence on the main page. Alternately, loop them into a continuous thread to again make them less dominant on the main page.
#2 may be related to how angry people are becoming, and how quickly they become incredibly hostile to each other at the slightest provocation. This one is IMO more of a general internet thing, and is related to how so much relationship advice is stereotypically "break up with that person", family/friend advice is "cut that person off", and so on, when such things are typically last resorts rather than the first thing you do.
Online, a very "it's us or them" mentality is encouraged, and whenever you're not 100% in agreement with someone or have the slightest issue with what they said, then sometimes people will instantly decide that you should be attacked just as hard as someone who 100% disagrees with them. The problem with this black-and-white mentality is that it's very isolating, because it encourages people to attack, burn bridges and shun each other first and ask questions later, if at all. It discourages people who want discussion on a discussion board, and instead fills it with people basically itching for a fight. It makes people afraid to ask questions or speak up about anything that is not already clearly in consensus. There is a real fear of being dogpiled on here, and that may be contributing to why people feel very alone, with no one to talk to.