Suicide increase

Republicans

R1 Trump has created a constant feeling of futility.

Contagion.

Source, OP?

I find Thomas Joiner's interpersonal theory of suicide rather convincing. He argues that suicide is hard, and that not everyone can follow through with it. Two factors have to combine to produce a "successful" suicide: 1. Desire to die 2. The ability to kill oneself.

He argues that people can acquire the ability to kill themselves through a variety of painful experiences -- drug use, child abuse, eating disorders, combat, illness. These events habituate the body to pain.

He also posits thwarted belongingness -- ie, not being close to anyone -- increases one's risk of suicide. Interestingly, women with many children are much less likely to kill themselves than women with no kids or only one or two.

Young people don't know how to handle stress and pressure anymore. They feel killing themselves is the only way out.

Newsflash, r5: older white men are the demographic most likely to kill themselves.

And people have *always* committed suicide.

Stagnant wages and little job security (the rise of contract employment).

I wonder if the Lasik eye surgery that seemed to be making her go blind had anything to do with her killing herself? Probably not, since nobody has mentioned it yet.

Passive aggression. Or rampant depression.

White fragility

Middle-aged people don't feel wanted.

Economic rationalism.

Let's see....grim predictions for the future (climate change etc) , stagnant wages, the probability of being old and sick with no insurance, the loss of the "American Dream", people in general being more (openly) viscous and hateful, depressing news being made available 24/7...

OH DEER, met vicious!!

MEANT vicious...

People are more frequently admitting when a deceased person suicides, especially obits acknowledging losing fights with depression. I agree it's increasing in general as it seems to spread like a viral idea, and this is the age of viral ideas, but I don't know how to gauge its increase it as previous metrics are probably inherently flawed.

Personally, I think it's worth differentiating between the perennial teen-angst they'll miss me when I'm gone suicides, suicides from depressed adults, and the terminally ill and elderly choosing not to suffer. It'd be interesting to track how those categories have changed over time.

R13 and R16 nailed it.

For older adults, it is just a grim outlook. No pensions, laid off at moment's notice, employers just do not want to hire older workers (not matter how illegal that may be - I'm "fairly" young - 40's, and I have seen this with my bosses. They feel older adults just won't fit in - read between the lines), they didn't save enough (which is all on them), etc.

Plus, I would bet suicides were vastly underreported in the past.

The better question is why has the rate increased only 30%.

Where is this 30%??

I think the internet broadcasts suicides to a wider net- 20 years ago, I only knew of local and big celeb suicides. And people are being more honest about it.

RIP Jessica Starr. She had a very nice and easy demeanor. Not wooden or bland like most people on TV news.

People don't learn how to deal with their problems on their own when they're children anymore. All the over-protective helicopter parents don't allow kids to work through things. Life is full of issues we need to get through. If people don't learn coping skills starting in early childhood, they don't know how to deal with adversity in life and when something happens they may not see any options and just give up.

Also all those antidepressants that are over-prescribed.....many of them have "increased risk of suicidal thoughts" as a possible side effect. That could be a factor.

I get it R17.....but for perspective, people had to survive much more serious issues in, let's say, the Great Depression. People figured it out. I'm sure it wasn't fun and horribly depressing and scary, but people found ways to adapt and survive.

Since no one supplied a link, the suicide rate is has indeed increased by 30% within the last 20 years.

It tracks with the rise of the internet in society...

This story was very heartbreaking. Good looking, young kid who seemed to have everything to live for.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

That is a good point R23, but I have to bring up again, how many were underreported?

I also wonder (not to get overly morbid here), but if it is "easier" now to commit suicide. Medications are easily available now to do it, and though I don't know this as fact, I would imagine guns weren't as accessible either (because of cost, not laws - no Walmart back then to go down to and drop $75 for a cheap rifle). I would imagine a gun was kind of a luxury item.

And yes, one could hang oneself, but that is pretty "hardcore". I doubt many people these days choose that method.

I believe we are exposed (via BREAKING NEWS) to much more human misery than ever before...(children starving, animals being tortured, beheadings, the environment being decimated, ignorant deplorables) and like (r24) mentioned, the Internet has helped us along. I do not have much hope for the future. The younger people are bombarded by various media CONSTANTLY and casually told to 'kill themselves" because they are ugly/fat/whatever as opposed to what I experienced, the bullies at the local school. I hated junior high and was tormented (who wasn't) constantly but I didn't have a worldwide audience for it.

A friend of mine hanged himself a few years ago. He didn't have a gun.

[quote]I wonder if the Lasik eye surgery that seemed to be making her go blind had anything to do with her killing herself? Probably not, since nobody has mentioned it yet.

It's being mentioned, though I don't know if in an official way. Inside Edition covered her suicide today and they mentioned her surgery and her lengthy recovery. I can't help but wonder if she got some added bad news from her doctor about her eyesight and that put her over the edge.

I've read that she hanged herself.

Yeah R30, I'm sure it happens still. I had a childhood friend's older brother shoot himself, then my grandfather, then my brother (no, I'm not going for a pity party), so just in my experience, guns seems to be a prevalent factor (but of course I could be wrong, not like I have done a lot of research).

R32 No, you are correct: for men, firearms are by far the most common method; and for women, firearms and poisoning are the top two methods. Hanging isn't even listed as one of the top methods.

Figure 5 at link

Thanks, Obama.

When I was a teenager, I am now older, I thought depression and feeling not apart of anything meaningful was a normal thing. I wasn’t given any special attention because of depression. When the antidepressant commercials appeared on T.V. I knew I needed them and it helped.

Suicide research

R23 people back then had a sense of community and family that we no longer have, so dealing with the horrors of life is lonlier and harsher now.

Going with R27, I'm not sure if it's easier, but there's definitely more how-to available on the internet. You can learn to off yourself in a myriad of ways that the average suicidal person might not have ever come up with in the past. And the right-to-die movement's work would, however inadvertent, suggest the idea. That's not mentioning organizations that help people find their final frontier.

On Inside Edition they said quite a few people had committed suicide after have Lasix, makes me scared to get it