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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

#71

Post by alistairSH »

Barrin92 wrote: post #17
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.

the Israeli military did a study about ~15 years ago where they looked at soldier suicide rates after they had enacted a policy of leaving the weapons at base over the weekend and if I recall correctly it cut the rate of suicides by 40-50%.

And on the flip side, the US Sec Def recently allowed US soldiers to carry loaded weapons on base (when not in a role that required it, which was previously disallowed). I expect this will increase suicides on US military bases. All for some "rah rah, 2A, mah rights!!!" bullshit political posturing.

Re: Youth Suicides Declined After Creation of National Hotline

#72

Post by ceejayoz »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #66
seattle_spring wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Everyone is paying for these resources. It’s fair for everyone to understand why they’re worth it.

Is it? Does this same deal apply to, say, Area 51? Esoteric physics research? The details of mRNA vaccine production?

We have experts because we can't all possibly understand everything.

Re: Youth Suicides Declined After Creation of National Hotline

#73

Post by alistairSH »

mystraline wrote: post #65
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.

So yeah, why not? Choosing to end thyself IS the penultimate "my body, my choice". We have immediate "no money, lost job, destitute" (insert temporary issue). And we have chronic, everpresent, or terminal problem. We could fix the first one, but socially we choose not to. Either way, we should have the right of bodily autonomy. I guess the american answer is, for a suicide help call, show up with pigs with guns, and…

The phrase "suicide by cop" didn't create itself out of thin air.

Re: Youth Suicides Declined After Creation of National Hotline

#74

Post by keybored »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #56
hirvi74 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find something darkly depressing and comedic about how we try to prevent people from shooting themselves by sending people with guns to help them.

> how we try to prevent people from shooting themselves by sending people with guns to help them People with guns are still people. Having anyone there will reduce harm in more cases than it escalates. Suicide is usually an impulse a lonely person who is otherwise perfectly sane carries out in the absence of intervention.

Armed cops actively escalating the situation will help someone suicidal?

The cops in my country do work that is not about catching criminals, like leading search and rescure operations. Apparently not a problem. Apparently now these particular police have started carrying weapons as a matter of course. So that’s a bad development for a regular, peaceful presence. But overall we seem okay with the regime.

So I don’t have some personal feeling that violence is about to erupt because the police are nearby.

But I don’t see how this helps for those particular locales where the population (or segments of it) only associate active police involvement with escalation.

Re: Youth Suicides Declined After Creation of National Hotline

#75

Post by themafia »

euleriancon wrote: post #61
themafia wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A fact I've noticed is that suicide rates are higher in areas with lower population density. For example, Alaska's suicide rate is 4x what New York's rate is. Perhaps just human connection, even momentarily, is enough to break the pattern of behavior that has lead to the ideation. Also worth noting that suicide rates among the elderly are higher than they are for anyone other than teens. If you have someone you love…

An alternative explanation is that cold places with long winters are depressing, and because they are depressing fewer people want to live there. Alaskan winters are hard regardless of how many friends you have.

If you take a chart of population density, and overlay the chart of suicide rate, you'll see an exceedingly strong correlation. It does not follow weather patterns. Utah has 3x the problem relative to California, for example.

Re: Youth Suicides Declined After Creation of National Hotline

#76

Post by declan_roberts »

One sad fact I learned about adolescent suicide (12 to 18 years of age) is that it's seasonal. It picks up during the school year and drops precipitously during summer and winter vacations.

Being in school has a profound impact on whether or not a child wants to kill themselves.

http://basilhalperin.com/essays/school-and-teen-suicide.html

Re: Youth Suicides Declined After Creation of National Hotline

#78

Post by lamasery »

alistairSH wrote: post #71
Barrin92 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the Israeli military did a study about ~15 years ago where they looked at soldier suicide rates after they had enacted a policy of leaving the weapons at base over the weekend and if I recall correctly it cut the rate of suicides by 40-50%.

And on the flip side, the US Sec Def recently allowed US soldiers to carry loaded weapons on base (when not in a role that required it, which was previously disallowed). I expect this will increase suicides on US military bases. All for some "rah rah, 2A, mah rights!!!" bullshit political posturing.

That policy has long been a kinda funny "gee, why don't they allow it if more 'good guys with guns' make us safer?" example.

I guess at least this removes that bit of rhetorical inconsistency... at, guaranteed, a notable cost in lives.

Re: Youth Suicides Declined After Creation of National Hotline

#79

Post by tombert »

declan_roberts wrote: post #76

One sad fact I learned about adolescent suicide (12 to 18 years of age) is that it's seasonal. It picks up during the school year and drops precipitously during summer and winter vacations. Being in school has a profound impact on whether or not a child wants to kill themselves. http://basilhalperin.com/essays/school-and-teen-suicide.html

I wasn't suicidal when I was in high school, but I absolutely understand people's depression around the school year.

I actually don't hate school as much as an adult, but I really did view school like a prison when I was a teenager. I didn't like homework, I didn't like most of my teachers, I liked learning but due to the fact that schools have to go at a pace slow enough for the dumbest person they want to pass, I would get very bored during class, and so high school in general was existentially dreadful every day. Even when I got home, I would dread the fact that in about ~15 hours, I would have to go back to school again.

It didn't help that there was a dread with grades in general; I wasn't abused or anything, and I think my parents in general were pretty ok at parenting, but as report card season came nearer and nearer, I would get more and more depressed, because when I would inevitably get middling-to-bad grades, I would get a lecture and/or grounded by my parents. This meant no computer, no games, I wasn't allowed to hang out with my friends, and they hoped that it would force me to study more. It's not dumb logic, but it just didn't work. I would just be sad and angry and still wouldn't do the homework.

No doubt a large chunk of this was just hormonal, but I really think that the typical American school system is not a good fit for a lot of people, myself included. I don't think anyone has ever seriously called me stupid, but I would be in camp that endlessly frustrated teachers: I would do well on the tests, I would do well on the AP exams, no one disputed that I understood the course material well enough, but I just didn't care enough to do the homework so they would be forced to give me bad grades. I don't blame the teachers for this at all, they're just doing their jobs.

Despite being in AP classes and having skipped two grades in math, I was seriously considering dropping out of high school and just trying for the GED so I wouldn't have to go anymore, and I probably would have done that if I didn't think that my parents would freak out.

I didn't want to kill myself, but very few things brought me more joy in my life than knowing I wouldn't ever have to go back to high school again. I know a lot of people say that these are the best times of their lives, and power to them for that, but they were decidedly not for me.

Re: Youth Suicides Declined After Creation of National Hotline

#80

Post by daheza »

nyanmatt wrote: post #27

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…

Very much disagree and I am in California.

I have called this line in particular during a sever major depression episode. I tried calling my fraternities mental wellness hotline first but it went unanswered which I thought was quite funny at the time.

The rep was able to talk me down through my spiraling thoughts. Told me that "no your therapist was not egging you on when he said well why don't you commit suicide what's holding you back". He was instead trying to figure out my reasons for living.

They do not automatically call the police and telling people they do is harmful. My anecdotal evidence has been a much better experience, and others I know who have called have said the same.

I'm not sure what would cause them to send the police but having a safe line to call when you have nothing else is important. Maybe the change that should happen here is having social workers or other mental health representatives respond, not getting rid of the phoneline.

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