Fantastic solution. Another way would be to remove students' heads, which would be equally effective.
To reduce student suicides by hanging to fans, institute in India removes fans
71–80 of 146 posts
Re: To reduce student suicides by hanging to fans, institute in India removes fans
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
What I am wondering: Will these obstacles reduce overall suicide rates or just local ones? Hard to measure I guess.
The claim is that they do reduce overall suicide rates. They are not offseted by more suicides at other places or later on. Generally, as far as I can tell from reading about suicides and mental health, this is largely settled research. I dont understand why there is so much opposition to it on HN as if it was something new or controversial.
> I dont understand why there is so much opposition to it on HN as if it was something new or controversial.
The HN crowd likes to question everything because this is one of the ways we learn. Being unfamiliar with well settled research on the subject is a contributing factor. Few would question the Earth is round por that birds aren't robots because we all know that, but when it comes to niche knowledge, the questioning is more frequent.
Re: To reduce student suicides by hanging to fans, institute in India removes fans
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
However making suicide harder, does reduce the suicide rate. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/means-matter/means-matter/saves...
It's a boondoggle. With a bonus effect of increasing deaths from extreme heat. Now, it might seem rude of me, but I am against killing people that want to live in order to maybe save people that want to die. edit In addition, 88 per cent of students said they did not think that “replacing ceiling fans with wall-mounted fans in all IISc hostels (would) help curb student suicide”. Read more at: https://www.deccanherald…
Bangalore has fairly moderate climate, and also, they are providing wall mounted fans instead of ceiling fans.
Re: To reduce student suicides by hanging to fans, institute in India removes fans
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, but has the number decreased because of some fancy fences at the Last Exit Caltrain or because of a whole program of measures? https://evolvetreatment.com/blog/palo-alto-teen-mental-healt...
Suicide isn't logical or rational. It's almost always the result of a temporary state of mind, therefor it matters how accessible the means of ending one's life is. Easy and instant access to firearms for example leads to way more successful (and even just attempted) suicides because it takes less time to take out a gun and shoot than virtually anything else.
Unless you think hope is always logical or rational, then there are some situations in which suicide can be logical or rational. Or maybe simply humane, if you want. While reducing impulse suicides (and all suicides) is a noble goal, saying suicide isn't logical or rational to me is downplaying and disconnecting from the suffering of those that need the support (and not the judgement) the most.
Re: To reduce student suicides by hanging to fans, institute in India removes fans
#75Thi 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…
I remember a story about an army that had a lot of suicides when soldiers would go home and take their gun with them. Not allowing them to take their gun home apparently really cut down on the suicides. Having a bit more time to think about it can save lives. But of course they should still address the underlying reasons that make people consider suicide.
It used to be the case in the US that women attempted suicide at a higher rate than men, but men succeed at a higher rate. The difference was said to be the method, and of course guns were a favored method with men.
Re: To reduce student suicides by hanging to fans, institute in India removes fans
#76I wish the article had dwelled into IISc a bit more. It is one of the most sought after research institutions in India. Those who enter it are primarily motivated by an opportunity to advance their field. Though I haven't studied there I have interacted with those who have and have been to the campus on quite a few occasions.
IISc is very different from IITs other much talked about institution. While latter is full of students from poor/middle-class trying to break out of their economic situation IISc is purely about research. Few understand the pressures a researcher at IISc goes through. Research is hard, more so in India and it takes its toll on some of the finest minds.
Re: To reduce student suicides by hanging to fans, institute in India removes fans
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
It’s a good point. There are places / mechanisms that become iconic and if you remove that or make it harder, people don’t necessarily move to something else. Palo Alto had a spate of suicides at a particular crossing, so they added guards and fences, and the suicides did not significantly move to other stops.
Yes, but has the number decreased because of some fancy fences at the Last Exit Caltrain or because of a whole program of measures? https://evolvetreatment.com/blog/palo-alto-teen-mental-healt...
Probably the fencing. We have enough pseudo-experiments now that we can say the fencing makes a difference. There's a carpark in the UK that had trouble adding fencing, so they closed the top level.
Re: To reduce student suicides by hanging to fans, institute in India removes fans
#78Thi 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…
Right, but it is really important that you follow up with psychological help. Sometimes I wonder if suicide prevention measures like this just remove the last bit of agency that people have, and while they will live on, they will just suffer silently. Maybe suicides are not thoughtfully planned out, but they are often preceeded by a very long phase of suicidal thoughts and rumination, and sometimes fixation on specif…
Being a student can be especially depressing, odds are that people will get better once they have that phase behind them.
Re: To reduce student suicides by hanging to fans, institute in India removes fans
#79Some context that is missing in the article: this university has about 4000 students. [1]
So those 4 suicides this year represent 0.1% of the student population. For comparison, the suicide rate for the Indian population in general is closer to 0.01%. [2]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Institute_of_Science
Re: To reduce student suicides by hanging to fans, institute in India removes fans
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, but has the number decreased because of some fancy fences at the Last Exit Caltrain or because of a whole program of measures? https://evolvetreatment.com/blog/palo-alto-teen-mental-healt...
Suicide isn't logical or rational. It's almost always the result of a temporary state of mind, therefor it matters how accessible the means of ending one's life is. Easy and instant access to firearms for example leads to way more successful (and even just attempted) suicides because it takes less time to take out a gun and shoot than virtually anything else.
> Suicide isn't logical or rational.
This is bullshit. It may or may not be depending on individual conditions. If someone knows that they will suffer significatly for the rest of their lives, then it's entirely logical ans rational for them to end their life. It would be irrational to continue living if the cons were guaranteed (or even had a high likelyhood) to outweigh the pros.