Discussion NYT Article: "The Empty Promise of Suicide Prevention"

[About_to_Go]

What are your thoughts on this article? I find it a breath of fresh air to see that an expert is acknowledging the limitations of medication for treating the suicidal.

Opinion | The Empty Promise of Suicide Prevention (Published 2019)

Many of the problems that lead people to kill themselves cannot be fixed with a little extra serotonin.

www.nytimes.com

 

[WaterUnder]

First of all, thanks for posting this. I hadn't read it.

"Initiatives like crisis hotlines and anti-stigma campaigns focus on opening more portals into mental health services, but this is like cutting doorways into an empty building." <--That rings true

"And yet there are things we can do to prevent suicide. One of the few tried-and-true strategies is reducing people's access to lethal tools, so that if they do sink into hopelessness, any attempt they make most likely won't be fatal." <-- This is the arrogant, controlling shit that makes me angry. Why? Because it does nothing to help a person, it only leaves them trapped in their hopelessness.

The statistics about anti-depressants are pretty well known. What was surprising was the mention of only lithium and
clozapine as show showing any effect on reducing suicidal behavior (not sure if it also affects suicidal ideation).

What I really liked was that it admitted that medicine is pretty ineffective at helping people who are in dire circumstances. All they can do is house them temporarily, write a script, and send them on their way with platitudes and admonishments.

 

[lululoo]

It had some good aspects. Nice that it pointed out how circumstances, not brain chemistry, often drive people to suicide, and that pills can't fix circumstances. (Though it overstated antidepressants as helping 40-60% of people... it is not that high). My bigger problems with the piece were:

• It focused just on poverty and homelessness, leaving out other major drivers such as isolation, lack of meaning, and chronic pain/illness
• It proposed that treatment beyond just pills (i.e. inpatient or outpatient psychotherapy) is needed... but these approaches are still targeted at the individual's psyche and ignore their circumstances and societal factors
• As @WaterUnder said, it proposed taking away lethal tools while also admitting there aren't resources to get better. So she's okay with people suffering with no way out.

 

[Ruffian]

Yes, thank you for posting this. WaterUnder I agree with your comment about the aggravating, controlling shit that people assume about suicide. My favorite is that suicide is a "permanent solution to a temporary problem." It sounds good, but stfu. Chronic pain, terminal illness, and for the most part, mental illness are lifelong conditions that most people on the outside can't deal with. The sufferers are often isolated and alone, and in my case, feel utterly, utterly trapped and desperate. What makes it even worse is when you have spent YEARS trying to make your life better, change your self-destructive behavior, go to therapy, whatever, and you still have a job you are mountains in debt for and you absolutely hate going to every day.

It had some good aspects. Nice that it pointed out how circumstances, not brain chemistry, often drive people to suicide, and that pills can't fix circumstances. (Though it overstated antidepressants as helping 40-60% of people... it is not that high). My bigger problems with the piece were:

• It focused just on poverty and homelessness, leaving out other major drivers such as isolation, lack of meaning, and chronic pain/illness
• It proposed that treatment beyond just pills (i.e. inpatient or outpatient psychotherapy) is needed... but these approaches are still targeted at the individual's psyche and ignore their circumstances and societal factors
• As @WaterUnder said, it proposed taking away lethal tools while also admitting there aren't resources to get better. So she's okay with people suffering with no way out.

YAS.

 

[lululoo]

Yes, thank you for posting this. WaterUnder I agree with your comment about the aggravating, controlling shit that people assume about suicide. My favorite is that suicide is a "permanent solution to a temporary problem." It sounds good, but stfu. Chronic pain, terminal illness, and for the most part, mental illness are lifelong conditions that most people on the outside can't deal with. The sufferers are often isolated and alone, and in my case, feel utterly, utterly trapped and desperate. What makes it even worse is when you have spent YEARS trying to make your life better, change your self-destructive behavior, go to therapy, whatever, and you still have a job you are mountains in debt for and you absolutely hate going to every day.

Yes! People cannot accept that sometimes people try for years and it doesn't help.

 

[Youthanasia]

It seems to me that people got carried away by the idea that medication can cure disease

As someone with 11 years suicidal intent I say you can't cure a shitty life with pills. Only a better life fix that

 

[WaterUnder]

I hope the article will be as a serious discussion starter. All of you are making very good points. I hope other journalists pick up the conversation. We deserve to be respected, rather than dismissed out of hand and treated like children.