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To reduce student suicides by hanging to fans, institute in India removes fans

deccanherald.com

11–20 of 146 posts

Re: To reduce student suicides by hanging to fans, institute in India removes fans

#11
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

However making suicide harder, does reduce the suicide rate. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/means-matter/means-matter/saves...

and people who wanted to kill himself will eventually do it regardlessly

That is a common meme, but it’s wrong. For every ten people who attempt suicide and fail, only one will eventually die by suicide[0]. 70% of survivors will never even reattempt suicide, and only 7% or so of suicide survivors will eventually successfully commit suicide.

Furthermore, I’m disturbed by the cavalier attitude here. Suicide isn’t a predestined thing that we’re helpless to prevent as a society. There is real suffering and we can do something about it in aggregate. Framing it as something “they’ll do anyways” is both factually incorrect, and absolves society of any responsibility to help prevent suicide.

0 - https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/means-matter/means-matter/survi...

Re: To reduce student suicides by hanging to fans, institute in India removes fans

#12
post #7

Thi will never cure the underlying cause of suicides, of course, but adding even slight obstacles has proven to have an effect on suicide rates. Many suicides aren't thoughtfully planned out, but are just a combination of motive and easy opportunity. Even adding something as seemingly silly as a moderately difficult to climb fence to a bridge can reduce suicide rates. This is a fine measure, assuming that it's follow…

"mEnTAl hEAlTH" is like patchwork of an overflowing bursting pipe in most cases. Problems related to jobs, poverty, competition are not "mental health" issues but economic and state issues.

Re: To reduce student suicides by hanging to fans, institute in India removes fans

#13

Blame the fans, so what is the next thing they will remove, floors above 2nd, sharp objects, electricity? Everything else but not the cause ...

> The institute is also said to have started to restrict student access to terraces and rooftops

Apparently, they already thought about that.

Re: To reduce student suicides by hanging to fans, institute in India removes fans

#14
post #9
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

However making suicide harder, does reduce the suicide rate. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/means-matter/means-matter/saves...

However removing the fan ostensibly makes the room warmer, which increases the suicide rate. https://news.stanford.edu/2018/07/23/warming-temperatures-li...

From the article, the data is muddy and cause-effect is not claimable:

> For example, the effects in Texas are some of the highest in the country. Suicide rates have not declined over recent decades, even with the introduction and wide adaptation of air conditioning. If anything, the researchers say, the effect has grown stronger over time.

Re: To reduce student suicides by hanging to fans, institute in India removes fans

#16
post #3

Blame the fans, so what is the next thing they will remove, floors above 2nd, sharp objects, electricity? Everything else but not the cause ...

However making suicide harder, does reduce the suicide rate. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/means-matter/means-matter/saves...

As there are many ways to commit suicide, school could equally tie everyone in padded cells, and tube feed students in order to avoid any suicide.

Be careful when using such studies, as future AI may use those and similar - to remove all freedoms from humans, arguing that humans are dangerous for themselves, thus creating new Matrix?!

Root cause can be maybe a terrible education system and society that is fit more for robots then humans. It just feels wrong blaming individuals for not wanting to participate in it.

Re: To reduce student suicides by hanging to fans, institute in India removes fans

#18
post #7

Thi will never cure the underlying cause of suicides, of course, but adding even slight obstacles has proven to have an effect on suicide rates. Many suicides aren't thoughtfully planned out, but are just a combination of motive and easy opportunity. Even adding something as seemingly silly as a moderately difficult to climb fence to a bridge can reduce suicide rates. This is a fine measure, assuming that it's follow…

[deleted]

Re: To reduce student suicides by hanging to fans, institute in India removes fans

#20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

and people who wanted to kill himself will eventually do it regardlessly

That is a common meme, but it’s wrong. For every ten people who attempt suicide and fail, only one will eventually die by suicide[0]. 70% of survivors will never even reattempt suicide, and only 7% or so of suicide survivors will eventually successfully commit suicide. Furthermore, I’m disturbed by the cavalier attitude here. Suicide isn’t a predestined thing that we’re helpless to prevent as a society. There is real…

> Furthermore, I’m disturbed by the cavalier attitude here. Suicide isn’t a predestined thing that we’re helpless to prevent as a society.

That wasn’t the point that people were making. The point they were making is that removing fans doesn’t address the underlying mental health issues. If anything, arguing that everyone is ok now because fewer people are dying is the cavalier attitude because it overlooks the daily struggles that many will still be having.

Thus regardless of the points you’ve put excellently in your first paragraph, the students mental health issues do also need to be addressed too.

So I see your rebuttal as complimentary to the other points rather than fully dismissing them (ie it shouldn’t be “either/or” but rather “both things needs doing”).

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