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Youth Suicides Declined After Creation of National Hotline

nytimes.com

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Re: Youth Suicides Declined After Creation of National Hotline

#21

Post by sandy_coyote »

Alupis wrote: post #7
ceejayoz wrote: post #5

About a year ago: https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/trump-shuts-down-lg... > The Trump administration on Thursday afternoon officially terminated the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s LGBTQ Youth Specialized Services program, which gave callers under age 25 the option to speak with LGBTQ-trained counselors. As with the USAID cuts, this killed people.

[flagged]

What is this assumption based on? It sounds political.

Are LGBTQ people at a higher risk for suicide? Could hotline staff reduce suicide attempts with special training? Seems like you could measure this.

Thinking about other groups with a higher risk--veterans, abuse survivors, gambling addicts--are there suicide prevention programs for these groups and are they effective?

Re: Youth Suicides Declined After Creation of National Hotline

#22

Post by skylerwiernik »

bombcar wrote: post #3
marojejian wrote: post #2

gift link: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/22/science/988-youth-suicide... I bet there is so much more we could do to reduce suicides, which are a massively big problem. I wish we paid as much attention to suicide as we do to very rare mass shootings, which kill a tiny fraction of the people.

It's important to remember that the majority of gun deaths are suicides. It's also important to remember that any blocker between a potential suicide victim and the weapon of choice reduces rates greatly. A gun locked in a safe where the potential suicide knows the code - reduces rates.

Interesting. What causes this? Could it have to do with the type of person to keep a gun in a safe (has kids, is more cautious in general, etc) or have studies shown that this minor friction is actually enough?

Re: Youth Suicides Declined After Creation of National Hotline

#23

Post by shevy-java »

Personally I never called any such hotline; my assumption was that suicidal thoughts originate from one's own brain and way of thinking - adjust that and these issues would go away. Unfortunately, while this can work (for me it worked extremely well, though I should also say, I don't have suicidal thoughts to begin with, even more so as one's lifespan is finite anyway - but I do understand those who have a terminal illness, to not have to go through more suffering when something is uncurable), there are people for whom it can not work, often in the way how their brain works. Just like some people have seizures, brains are different too.

It puts some responsibility on those who receive such calls, because the caller may be in a state where any additional negative input could push that caller over the edge, due to their current state of mind. So this kind of requires more training even of casual people, just as people are expected to know the basic steps necessary for first aid (on a fresh accident site, for instance). It seems pretty clear that those on the national hotline, must have had professional training too. So if there is a decline of suicides, this is most likely - and logically - due to the work by those who take up the phones.

Re: Youth Suicides Declined After Creation of National Hotline

#24

Post by seattle_spring »

Alupis wrote: post #7
ceejayoz wrote: post #5

About a year ago: https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/trump-shuts-down-lg... > The Trump administration on Thursday afternoon officially terminated the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s LGBTQ Youth Specialized Services program, which gave callers under age 25 the option to speak with LGBTQ-trained counselors. As with the USAID cuts, this killed people.

[flagged]

That decision should be left to the people who study and understand psychology, not laymen, podcast hosts, and politicians.

Re: Youth Suicides Declined After Creation of National Hotline

#25

Post by ceejayoz »

skylerwiernik wrote: post #22
bombcar wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's important to remember that the majority of gun deaths are suicides. It's also important to remember that any blocker between a potential suicide victim and the weapon of choice reduces rates greatly. A gun locked in a safe where the potential suicide knows the code - reduces rates.

Interesting. What causes this? Could it have to do with the type of person to keep a gun in a safe (has kids, is more cautious in general, etc) or have studies shown that this minor friction is actually enough?

Suicide tends to be impulsive. Any friction, even brief, can give an opportunity to think twice.

Re: Youth Suicides Declined After Creation of National Hotline

#26

Post by bombcar »

ceejayoz wrote: post #25
skylerwiernik wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. What causes this? Could it have to do with the type of person to keep a gun in a safe (has kids, is more cautious in general, etc) or have studies shown that this minor friction is actually enough?

Suicide tends to be impulsive. Any friction, even brief, can give an opportunity to think twice.

That was the general conclusion as I recall it. Originally it was thought to be "someone else has the key" kind of things - which of course, does limit it - but even controlling for "I have to walk downstairs and find the key" reduces it.

Re: Youth Suicides Declined After Creation of National Hotline

#27

Post by nyanmatt »

I don’t see how. Have you ever tried calling one of these lines in a suicide emergency? Things I’ve learned in California:

- an ambulance will not be dispatched unless you physically witness someone trying to kill themselves

- otherwise, they send the police

- the police arrive without training and severely escalate the situation

- the person having an emergency will be taken into custody and stripped of rights until being medically evaluated (not arrested)

This is the program of an allegedly progressive state. After 2 experiences like this, adding trauma to already traumatic situations, I would never recommend these hotlines.

Re: Youth Suicides Declined After Creation of National Hotline

#28

Post by zeech »

sandy_coyote wrote: post #21
Alupis wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

What is this assumption based on? It sounds political. Are LGBTQ people at a higher risk for suicide? Could hotline staff reduce suicide attempts with special training? Seems like you could measure this. Thinking about other groups with a higher risk--veterans, abuse survivors, gambling addicts--are there suicide prevention programs for these groups and are they effective?

> Are LGBTQ people at a higher risk for suicide?

There was actually a study done on this [0] that found LGBTQ youth are around four times as likely to attempt suicide compared to their non-LGBTQ peers.

[0] https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/su/su6901a3.htm

Re: Youth Suicides Declined After Creation of National Hotline

#29

Post by jasonmp85 »

pfannkuchen wrote: post #13
ceejayoz wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By that logic, pediatricians and gynecologists shouldn't exist. > A national hotline that can handle anyone is clearly the right way. Absolutely. That describes this setup. You call the number. You get help. Sometimes that means a person trained in, say, talking to rape victims. (If you go to the ER, they'll have a nurse trained in it too!) Per the article: "Also known as the 'Press 3 option,' the program gave 988 ca…

> pediatricians and gynecologists Those are physical differences. Which isn’t to say that you’re wrong, but we could easily have different things for physical differences and not for mental differences. Should we have different prisons for gays? Same logic, no?

[dead]

Re: Youth Suicides Declined After Creation of National Hotline

#30

Post by Forgeties79 »

shevy-java wrote: post #23

Personally I never called any such hotline; my assumption was that suicidal thoughts originate from one's own brain and way of thinking - adjust that and these issues would go away. Unfortunately, while this can work (for me it worked extremely well, though I should also say, I don't have suicidal thoughts to begin with, even more so as one's lifespan is finite anyway - but I do understand those who have a terminal i…

This is bootstraps by another name. “Just (don’t) do it” belongs in nike commercials, not in discussions surrounding behavioral health. If it were that simple then we wouldn’t have these issues at this scale in the first place.

Nancy Reagan “just say no” comes to mind.

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