The Arctic Suicides: It's Not the Dark That Kills You • Hacker News Board

Re: The Arctic Suicides: It's Not the Dark That Kills You

#21

Post by nekopa » Fri, Apr 22, 2016, 11:22 AM UTC

Aaargh20318 wrote: post #14

dirktheman wrote: post #2

Fascinating long read, which gives a lot of insight in the struggles of daily life in these remote parts of our world. And no, it's not just the dark that makes people commit suicide. Of the top 10 countries with the highest suicide rates, only Lithuania can be considered as having a somewhat gloomy winter. The rest of the countries all get more sunlight (Guyana, Suriname and Sri Lanka for instance) than the countrie…

> Fascinating long read, which gives a lot of insight in the struggles of daily life in these remote parts of our world I find articles like this highly annoying. I see the headline, think "if it's not the darkness, I wonder what is" and click the link expecting to find the answer. Instead of the answer, however, I get a fluffy human-interest piece that I simply do not care about. How about we stop with crap like thi…

Here you go: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_in_Greenland

I suggest you just preface all your searches with wikipedia, then you won't have to hear a story.

That way, nothing needs to be stopped, and people like me who enjoy some context and humanity with their facts can continue to find excellent stories like this.

Re: The Arctic Suicides: It's Not the Dark That Kills You

#22

Post by dirktheman » Fri, Apr 22, 2016, 11:25 AM UTC

tim333 wrote: post #4

dirktheman wrote: post #2

Fascinating long read, which gives a lot of insight in the struggles of daily life in these remote parts of our world. And no, it's not just the dark that makes people commit suicide. Of the top 10 countries with the highest suicide rates, only Lithuania can be considered as having a somewhat gloomy winter. The rest of the countries all get more sunlight (Guyana, Suriname and Sri Lanka for instance) than the countrie…

That said I find it much more cheerful going off somewhere sunny when it's Jan/Feb in London. Maybe they could lay on some charter flights to Bahia or somewhere.

I live in The Netherlands. One week of sunshine in February is by far the best cure for the winter blues. It gives you something to look forward to in the darkest days, and when you return it's almost springtime. Well, psychologically at least...

Re: The Arctic Suicides: It's Not the Dark That Kills You

#23

Post by Fnoug » Fri, Apr 22, 2016, 11:36 AM UTC

nekopa wrote: post #21

Aaargh20318 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Fascinating long read, which gives a lot of insight in the struggles of daily life in these remote parts of our world I find articles like this highly annoying. I see the headline, think "if it's not the darkness, I wonder what is" and click the link expecting to find the answer. Instead of the answer, however, I get a fluffy human-interest piece that I simply do not care about. How about we stop with crap like thi…

Here you go: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_in_Greenland I suggest you just preface all your searches with wikipedia, then you won't have to hear a story. That way, nothing needs to be stopped, and people like me who enjoy some context and humanity with their facts can continue to find excellent stories like this.

It's not about advocating human stories vs facts. It's about the goals of writing a title.

The title should communicate what the reader is to expect when opening the piece.

Re: The Arctic Suicides: It's Not the Dark That Kills You

#24

Post by thaumasiotes » Fri, Apr 22, 2016, 11:38 AM UTC

dirktheman wrote: post #20

Aaargh20318 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Fascinating long read, which gives a lot of insight in the struggles of daily life in these remote parts of our world I find articles like this highly annoying. I see the headline, think "if it's not the darkness, I wonder what is" and click the link expecting to find the answer. Instead of the answer, however, I get a fluffy human-interest piece that I simply do not care about. How about we stop with crap like thi…

To be fair, the title doesn't say it will tell you why the suicide rate in Greenland is so high... Fact is, it isn't completely clear why the rate is so high. Rapid modernization, decades of Danish control, a disappearing culture/way of life and lack of mental health facilities can all be named as factors. Sorry were annoyed and feel like you've wasted your time on a well written, well researched human interest piece…

Suicidal ideation (as well as completed suicide, of course) is known to be higher in the indigenous peoples of Canada than in the white population. I have seen it advanced that the eskimo tradition of suicide by walking out into the wilderness if you're a burden on your family probably has something to do with this.

This is mildly in conflict with the finding that there's more suicide in Greenland in summer than in winter, but worth considering.

Re: The Arctic Suicides: It's Not the Dark That Kills You

#25

Post by blazespin » Fri, Apr 22, 2016, 11:48 AM UTC

exDM69 wrote: post #18

I live 60 degrees northern latitude in a country with bad suicide statistics and the winters do get pretty harsh on you mentally. And there's still millions of people living norther than I do. Highest suicide rates occur during the spring, around the vernal equinox not around the darkest time of the year. If you've never experienced the northern spring where each day is 10+ minutes longer than the previous, you'll ne…

It's coldest about 30 minutes into dawn. Spring suicides could just because the new amount of daylight has yet to have enough impact to reverse the depression of the dark winter.

Re: The Arctic Suicides: It's Not the Dark That Kills You

#26

Post by Arnt » Fri, Apr 22, 2016, 11:50 AM UTC

exDM69 wrote: post #18

I live 60 degrees northern latitude in a country with bad suicide statistics and the winters do get pretty harsh on you mentally. And there's still millions of people living norther than I do. Highest suicide rates occur during the spring, around the vernal equinox not around the darkest time of the year. If you've never experienced the northern spring where each day is 10+ minutes longer than the previous, you'll ne…

When you're deep blue in the winter, people tell you that the sun will come back. When you still feel blue in the spring things sort of fall apart.

I wish I could move back north, even so.

Re: The Arctic Suicides: It's Not the Dark That Kills You

#27

Post by Aaargh20318 » Fri, Apr 22, 2016, 11:51 AM UTC

ethanbond wrote: post #17

Aaargh20318 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Fascinating long read, which gives a lot of insight in the struggles of daily life in these remote parts of our world I find articles like this highly annoying. I see the headline, think "if it's not the darkness, I wonder what is" and click the link expecting to find the answer. Instead of the answer, however, I get a fluffy human-interest piece that I simply do not care about. How about we stop with crap like thi…

Well facts are usually more difficult to arrive at than you apparently think. Putting forward a hypothesis requires facts and a ton of "fluff." It seems to me that you're not actually interested in learning anything, you just want some factoids. Try the CIA Factbook.

I'm simply suggesting they structure the story different.

Begin with a short abstract in which you present your conclusions. Then follow up with how you arrived at that conclusion for people who want to go in-depth. Basically the way scientific papers are organised.

Re: The Arctic Suicides: It's Not the Dark That Kills You

#28

Post by dagw » Fri, Apr 22, 2016, 11:56 AM UTC

thaumasiotes wrote: post #24

dirktheman wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, the title doesn't say it will tell you why the suicide rate in Greenland is so high... Fact is, it isn't completely clear why the rate is so high. Rapid modernization, decades of Danish control, a disappearing culture/way of life and lack of mental health facilities can all be named as factors. Sorry were annoyed and feel like you've wasted your time on a well written, well researched human interest piece…

Suicidal ideation (as well as completed suicide, of course) is known to be higher in the indigenous peoples of Canada than in the white population. I have seen it advanced that the eskimo tradition of suicide by walking out into the wilderness if you're a burden on your family probably has something to do with this. This is mildly in conflict with the finding that there's more suicide in Greenland in summer than in w…

This is mildly in conflict with the finding that there's more suicide in Greenland in summer than in winter, but worth considering.

I've seen some theories that people in general don't commit suicide while under active hardship, but after the hardship lets up a bit and they have time to reflect on it.

Also relative hardship is far more important than absolute hardship. During the winter everybody is a bit miserable and under the weather so you don't stick out so much. When the summer comes and everybody but you cheer up the contrast becomes a lot more noticeable.

Re: The Arctic Suicides: It's Not the Dark That Kills You

#29

Post by dirktheman » Fri, Apr 22, 2016, 11:59 AM UTC

thaumasiotes wrote: post #24

dirktheman wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, the title doesn't say it will tell you why the suicide rate in Greenland is so high... Fact is, it isn't completely clear why the rate is so high. Rapid modernization, decades of Danish control, a disappearing culture/way of life and lack of mental health facilities can all be named as factors. Sorry were annoyed and feel like you've wasted your time on a well written, well researched human interest piece…

Suicidal ideation (as well as completed suicide, of course) is known to be higher in the indigenous peoples of Canada than in the white population. I have seen it advanced that the eskimo tradition of suicide by walking out into the wilderness if you're a burden on your family probably has something to do with this. This is mildly in conflict with the finding that there's more suicide in Greenland in summer than in w…

Maybe it has to do with the fact that people stay indoors more in the winter, thus being around other people more.

And yeah, this isn't a problem limited to Greenland. There has been a lot of news lately about the suicide strings at Attawapiskat. And Alaskan natives are twice more likely to commit suicide than non-natives.

Re: The Arctic Suicides: It's Not the Dark That Kills You

#30

Post by warfangle » Fri, Apr 22, 2016, 12:00 PM UTC

exDM69 wrote: post #18

I live 60 degrees northern latitude in a country with bad suicide statistics and the winters do get pretty harsh on you mentally. And there's still millions of people living norther than I do. Highest suicide rates occur during the spring, around the vernal equinox not around the darkest time of the year. If you've never experienced the northern spring where each day is 10+ minutes longer than the previous, you'll ne…

When people are really depressed, they don't kill themselves. Because they have no energy to.

Once they go on antidepressants, they go on suicide watch. It's the most dangerous time. Because they'll still be depressed, but they'll finally have the energy to get up. And they just might have the energy to do themselves in.