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National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

suicidepreventionlifeline.org

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Re: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

#41

Post by ScottBurson »

rdl wrote: post #11

The one at MIT, Nightline, was smart because it pitched itself as a general "call for any reason at night" number -- I called a couple times to get urgent help (after someone tried unsuccessfully to mug me, and I needed to figure out who to report to) -- not just for suicidal people. I suspect there are depressed people who may ultimately kill themselves who, if there were some number solely for "suicidal people", wo…

It's apparently closed permanently, but there is some prospect that something will replace it: http://tech.mit.edu/V131/N58/nightline.html

The biggest problem seems to have been that word got out about it outside the MIT community, so that they were getting many calls from non-MIT people. But, their policy was to try to help anyone they could: http://tech.mit.edu/V130/N43/nightline.html

Maybe it would have been better to change the policy than to scrap the whole service.

(BTW I was one of the first Nightline staffers back in 1978.)

Re: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

#42

Post by wissler »

pfortuny wrote: post #37
wissler wrote: post #36

"Please don’t pathologize this story." -- Aaron's friend, Lawrence Lessig http://lessig.tumblr.com/post/40347463044/prosecutor-as-bull...

Well, with due respect, we are as entitled as Lawrence to give an explanation and try to find an answer. What to Lawrence may be 'a reason' to many of us is not: you are valuable even in jail. So we try to find a better explanation than 'as he did not want to go to jail, he decided to kill himself', which is quite simplistic.

With all due respect, I think your interpretations are inane, but if Lessig can't convince you of that, I'm sure there's nothing else I can say that will help you understand.

Re: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

#43

Post by rdl »

ScottBurson wrote: post #41
rdl wrote: post #11

The one at MIT, Nightline, was smart because it pitched itself as a general "call for any reason at night" number -- I called a couple times to get urgent help (after someone tried unsuccessfully to mug me, and I needed to figure out who to report to) -- not just for suicidal people. I suspect there are depressed people who may ultimately kill themselves who, if there were some number solely for "suicidal people", wo…

It's apparently closed permanently, but there is some prospect that something will replace it: http://tech.mit.edu/V131/N58/nightline.html The biggest problem seems to have been that word got out about it outside the MIT community, so that they were getting many calls from non-MIT people. But, their policy was to try to help anyone they could: http://tech.mit.edu/V130/N43/nightline.html Maybe it would have been bette…

I lost most of my faith in the MIT administration in the 1990s when I was a student; they're basically a bunch of BU/small liberal arts college grad professional administrators of colleges running the institute into the ground. That's the biggest failure of the MIT model vs. a place like Stanford; there's not much chance MIT grads will eventually want to be university administrators.

Re: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

#44

Post by riffraff »

tomjen3 wrote: post #39
ameen wrote: post #38

I've always wondered why suicide is so common among us young programmers. (Ilya, Bill Zeller, etc) As programmers we're able to control how our code behaves, but life on the other hand has too many variables, most of which are beyond one's control - and the only thing one can control is their lives. The will to live can do amazing wonders, but when that will fades -- life doesn't make sense, its just a waste of time…

Suicide is extremely common among males (compared to women, men end up killing them at self at something like a 10:1 ratio, even though more women than men try to kill them self), particularily young males. Guess who is most likely to be a programmer?

are you sure about that 10:1 figure?

Looking at the available UE data from eurostat[0] the ratio would seem more 4:1, which obviously still confirms your point, I am just curious about your source.

[0] http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/refreshTableAction.do?t...

Re: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

#45

Post by vik1211 »

britta wrote: post #6
fourstar wrote: post #2

Not trying to be facetious here, but are there some kind of statistics somewhere out there that show how effective suicide hotlines are? I always hear about them, but have yet to hear about someone who used one successfully. E.g. X% of people have been dissuaded by suicide attempts after speaking to a suicide hotline.

I just tried searching Google Scholar, and it turned up studies showing effectiveness: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1521/suli.33.4.400.252... - "Independent raters measured callers' suicidality and mental state at the beginning and end of 100 taped counselling sessions. Changes in suicidality and mental state were measured using a reliable rating scale developed for the study. Significant decreases in suicid…

I volunteer as a crisis and suicide counselor for Didi Hirsch (a national suicide line branch) in Los Angeles. Thanks for posting these studies and validating the important work.

Re: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

#46

Post by SoftwareMaven »

CoryG89 wrote: post #26
fourstar wrote: post #2

Not trying to be facetious here, but are there some kind of statistics somewhere out there that show how effective suicide hotlines are? I always hear about them, but have yet to hear about someone who used one successfully. E.g. X% of people have been dissuaded by suicide attempts after speaking to a suicide hotline.

I would imagine that in reality the percentage of callers that actually intend to commit suicide is probably pretty low, regardless of 'studies'. How are you going to really study something like that objectively? I can't imagine that anyone would ever hear about someone who used one successfully. Only the actual suicides are going to make the news like this, which is sad. However, I would think it would be worth it e…

Even if the same amount of money could save five lives elsewhere? As a person who continually deals with depression, I'm glad the hotlines exist and absolutely think they are worth it; but I cringe every time I hear, "if it only saves one life" regardless of the cost (which is usually billions of dollars and a few civil rights when the government is involved).

Re: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

#47

Post by Permit »

rdl wrote: post #43
ScottBurson wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's apparently closed permanently, but there is some prospect that something will replace it: http://tech.mit.edu/V131/N58/nightline.html The biggest problem seems to have been that word got out about it outside the MIT community, so that they were getting many calls from non-MIT people. But, their policy was to try to help anyone they could: http://tech.mit.edu/V130/N43/nightline.html Maybe it would have been bette…

I lost most of my faith in the MIT administration in the 1990s when I was a student; they're basically a bunch of BU/small liberal arts college grad professional administrators of colleges running the institute into the ground. That's the biggest failure of the MIT model vs. a place like Stanford; there's not much chance MIT grads will eventually want to be university administrators.

>They're basically a bunch of BU/small liberal arts college grad professional administrators of colleges running the institute into the ground.

Your arrogance is truly breathtaking. I can't believe people shit on other's majors and college choices like this.

Re: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

#48

Post by navs »

I know it doesn't seem feasible but I do wish we could have an "International Suicide Prevention lifeline". When I lived in Fiji, I would often look on the web for some place to call. I often settled for irc chatrooms. It's sad that my first ever foray into irc was because I was lonely and wanted company. I'm lucky that New Zealand, where I live currently, has great support.

Re: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

#49

Post by navs »

fourstar wrote: post #2

Not trying to be facetious here, but are there some kind of statistics somewhere out there that show how effective suicide hotlines are? I always hear about them, but have yet to hear about someone who used one successfully. E.g. X% of people have been dissuaded by suicide attempts after speaking to a suicide hotline.

Possibly inconsequential but you have one right here. I've called a suicide hotline more times than I can remember. They don't tell you something resulting in some great epiphany. What they do is talk to you. Simply talk to you, hear what you have to say, keep you on the line and make you feel heard. That's all I needed to calm down. Maybe that's what most people need. No suicide line has ever sent me a form asking if they've done a good job. I imagine they are constantly swamped.
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