Dude. make a mobile web app. Hook up with a clinical psychologist. Also focus on a target age / market. Get some data going. Hit me up i can see what to do about a clinical psychologist hook up in NYC. There are several scales psychologist use to narrow down a specific condition and you can incorporate those scales into the app via logic tree / branching based on the input a user submits to the Q&A. you can hit me on twitter @adamqureshi
Ask HN: I'm 15, won a grant to develop a suicide prevention app, what next?
141–150 of 161 posts
Re: Ask HN: I'm 15, won a grant to develop a suicide prevention app, what next?
#142Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Not all people who attempt suicide have the same mindset. I know people who have attempted suicide (one guy's face is disfigured due to a self-inflicted gun shot) and they do not even remotely suggest that suicide could possibly be anything but bad. Yes, that's a great point. There are a variety of viewpoints to consider, and it's important to understand the context in which they all occur. I'm sure the person you'…
> I'm sure the person you're referring to did not have that opinion a few moments before pulling the trigger, otherwise he wouldn't have done it But I think that's exactly where suicide and euthanasia are different, where you claim they are synonyms. Euthanasia is for people that are suffering, in pain, and cannot get better . Suicide, in the context of depression and other mental illnesses, is for people that are su…
> But I think that's exactly where suicide and euthanasia are different, where you claim they are synonyms. Euthanasia is for people that are suffering, in pain, and cannot get better. Suicide, in the context of depression and other mental illnesses, is for people that are suffering, in pain, and can get better.
I'm sorry, but where did you find the Guidebook To Life that lays out the precise rules of what is and isn't an acceptable time for suicide? And what is the reason we should follow the advice in this book as opposed to some other book that says the exact opposite?
Regarding mental illness, that is in fact some of the worst type of illness you can get (I personally feel it is the worst type). You can carry on just fine without an arm or a leg (or no arms and no legs![1]), but mental illness is a monster that will truly crush the very core of your being and make life agony 24/7.
Now you come along and say, "But wait! It Gets Better™!"
Except that's not true.
What you mean to say is: "Wait, it might get better!"
Except, depending on the mental illness, the chances of it getting better in any meaningfully amount of time can be zero.
There are different levels of depression, for example, and many people who say they've been depressed haven't actually experienced depression at its worst. Depression is one of the worst "illnesses" that can happen to you (at its extreme), and it _will_ kill you if it's severe enough (by getting you to kill yourself).
The type of agony associated with such a disease is unimaginable to someone who hasn't experienced it, and isn't even necessarily recallable to someone who experienced it in the past, but it is real, and you'd better respect the person who tells you that they want to kill themselves.
In such situations, I believe that the "right answer" (if there is one), is the one the person chooses to make, whether it is to kill themselves, or not. The possibility of their situation improving is not in any way a justification for them to continue the very real and immediate torture that they're going through.
At that point it's up to them whether there is anything left that they want to continue staying alive for or not. That's a decision that they have to make, and I respect it, regardless of what they choose.
Re: Ask HN: I'm 15, won a grant to develop a suicide prevention app, what next?
#143The response to this post surprises me a bit. Suicide prevention is a great idea. But as described, it really isn't explained well enough to capture my imagination. There's very little description of what it would do beyond that it's an app and it prevents suicide. And that it's a social network. That really isn't enough to describe the idea. I can see the possibility of a social network site for depressed people. Du…
My initial thought: I could imagine a Facebook or Twitter app that analyses posts of all your "friends"/"followed" to establish the mood of the post and to highlight a trend that may look depressive giving a person a suggestion that their acquaintance might be having problems. This may relate well to suicide prevention. Getting people to sign up for a social network because they're depressed seems like an impossibili…
I don't think it's entirely impossible.
On Reddit, they have a somewhat popular depression forum which is rather depressing (a typical post is something like, "I managed to shower today" or "does anyone else feel life is meaningless?") but people seem to benefit.
A service that helps people who feel down cheer up could be quite useful if done right.
Re: Ask HN: I'm 15, won a grant to develop a suicide prevention app, what next?
#144Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is one of the most common misconceptions in my opinion of depression. Depression is not caused by self absorption. Depression is not vanity, imagine someone who has been rejected by a loved one. A depressed person might think, "I was never good enough for them," while a person who is not depressed might think, "I learned a lot and will do better next time." Viewing them as selfish or self absorbed is completely…
> "I was never good enough for them." > "I learned a lot and will do better next time." Both of those are pretty self-absorbed (which is not the same as vane). In both scenarios you are seen as the person responsible, even though the rejection came from someone else.
What if our theoretical person is responsible? Everyone is going to view any event like this with some sort of "self-absorbed" (I disagree with your definition of self absorbed here, but lets continue) response because they had some part in it (by your definition). The difference between a Depressed person and a non depressed person's response is the self deprecating thoughts. "Self Absorbed" has nothing to do with it.
Re: Ask HN: I'm 15, won a grant to develop a suicide prevention app, what next?
#145Earlier quoted context omitted.
As someone who has read "Feeling Good" and is married to a therapist, I can not suggest this book enough. The general method is called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_behavioral_therapy The key idea is that our thoughts control how we feel, not the events or surroundings of our lives. A person who is considering suicide often has a very different view of events because of th…
I would recommend Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) over CBT. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialectical_behavior_therapy As I understand it DBT is better at validation of emotions than CBT.
That is likely because CBT attempt to focus on your emotions, but rather on your thoughts that cause your emotion. I have not heard of DBT though honestly, and I am far from an expert on CBT, but will have to read more on both now.
Re: Ask HN: I'm 15, won a grant to develop a suicide prevention app, what next?
#146Im not sure if it would be helpful for your exact vision, but there are several open source social network platforms like www.elgg.org which could give you a jumpstart on the backend to get underway.
Re: Ask HN: I'm 15, won a grant to develop a suicide prevention app, what next?
#147I'm not sure what exactly your idea is, but may I suggest you partner with experts in the field?
I'd recommend you ping Prof. Joshi at Stanford, who was involved with a suicide prevention program in Palo Alto. And if only to run your idea by him and solicit some feedback.
This is a video of him talking about suicide risk factors in teens: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lIqp6odvp0
Good luck!
Re: Ask HN: I'm 15, won a grant to develop a suicide prevention app, what next?
#148Step 1: Get help. Start figuring out what you don't know.
An app like this, especially if it were wildly successful in attracting users, could do a lot of harm if the underlying idea isn't thought out well and based on good ideas. You're 15. You love your idea and the competition judges did too. Great! Are you or them experts on suicide prevention?
Fortunately, your goal isn't to make money or something similarly self-serving. You're trying to save lives. That opens up tremendous resources to you what would be denied to most trying to make their first app. Psychologists, doctors, professors, etc. will all be happy to help you get the idea right, free of charge, because it could save lives.
If you see a psychologist, ask them for their input and ask them for contacts. Go to your local university and knock on doors. Find people who teach or do research in the field and ask for their input. Make some phone-calls. Email professors at other universities.
I know your instinct is to immediately try to advance your idea towards a working app, but a great app based on a faulty idea is usually pretty useless and this one could actually be dangerous. Get help immediately.
Re: Ask HN: I'm 15, won a grant to develop a suicide prevention app, what next?
#149You are working on something important, and I was glad to read (and upvote) a lot of the other comments you received, and especially the offers for pro-bono help. One comment below suggested that you read the literature (I presume that means the literature about suicide prevention) and I would second that advice. To expand that advice a bit, I'll note that Martin E. P. Seligman and some other psychologists who have s…
I second the advice to familiarize yourself with the literature, and would like to add a strong word of caution at the same time. A disclaimer: I speak out of personal experience with this topic, and I did not read most of the comments that you've already received (sorry, wish I had the time). So here's my word of caution: You must be aware that you are intentionally brainwashing yourself into a biased worldview by r…
The thought of suicide does not usually arise "rationally", but usually due to anxiety created by the context/environment/society. There is no rational argument that ends with "Therefore, die" just like there ain't any that says "Therefore, live". Rationally, living on and "fixing things" seems like a better way to alleviate the suffering, suicide is a very crude and dumb measure, eliminating any possibility of suffering and "non-suffering".
If it was a purely random or logical decision how can you explain the differences in suicide rates among different groups (e.g. males)?
> you have to understand wanting to kill yourself
I 'm willing to bet that everyone has had that thought at least once in their life.
Re: Ask HN: I'm 15, won a grant to develop a suicide prevention app, what next?
#150Earlier quoted context omitted.
I second the advice to familiarize yourself with the literature, and would like to add a strong word of caution at the same time. A disclaimer: I speak out of personal experience with this topic, and I did not read most of the comments that you've already received (sorry, wish I had the time). So here's my word of caution: You must be aware that you are intentionally brainwashing yourself into a biased worldview by r…
The thought of suicide does not usually arise "rationally", but usually due to anxiety created by the context/environment/society. There is no rational argument that ends with "Therefore, die" just like there ain't any that says "Therefore, live". Rationally, living on and "fixing things" seems like a better way to alleviate the suffering, suicide is a very crude and dumb measure, eliminating any possibility of suffe…
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