This makes me sad

[FakeNews]

It seems that we are picking up steam as a species to self destruct.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health...numbers-of-kids-and-teens-at-risk-for-suicide

 

[FullFat]

Something is definitely wrong. There are a million different explanations under the sun for why suicide is becoming more common, but none are very convincing to me. Do you have any theories?

 

[Caerula]

Sorry I didn't read thw entire article but I don't understand how "children ages 5 to 17 visited children's hospitals for suicidal thoughts or attempts about twice as often in 2015 as in 2008" shows "the number of kids who struggle with thoughts of suicide or who attempt to kill themselves is rising".

It is totally possible that suicide is becoming less stigmatized and people are more willing to seek help. When suicide is viewed as a crime parents must be less willing to send their suicidal children to the hospital.

 

[FakeNews]

FullFat - I don't have any profound insights but I think that the disappearing middle class and their hope that the future will be better than the past might be correlated.

Caerula - I agree that it might be difficult to find statistical relevance on the correlation because there are many factors at work. But, I think that an increase of 200% in a 7 year period can be used as anecdotal evidence of an increase.

I did find this article in the NYTIMEs that references the National Center for Health Statistics showing an increase in successful suicide in the US among every age group except those over 75. And one could argue that this isn't even perfect — maybe how we determine what constitutes a suicide rather than an accident is changing. So, nothings perfect.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/22/health/us-suicide-rate-surges-to-a-30-year-high.html

 

[millefeui]

Something is definitely wrong. There are a million different explanations under the sun for why suicide is becoming more common, but none are very convincing to me. Do you have any theories?

Really? What about the world being a shitty overpopulated and overcompetitive place? Too many people is a thing, but most people don't realize that and keep making babies like there is no tomorrow. Babies that will suffer more than anything in their lives. It is bad for me who was born in 1990, it is even worse for younger people and it is not going to get better, unless the population is heavily reduced, but for that some kind of disaster is necessary (since reducing the population isn't of the interest of powerful, rich people).

Also, another reason: With the blooming of social media, it became more common for people to come out about who they are. Sexuality, gender, etc. And with that, the prejudice became even louder. Not only the poor people who had to live their whole lives hiding who they were can now express who they are, but the shitty people who hate others because of sexuality, gender and stuff also get to voice their vile opinions all the time, loudly and without punishment (unless it is racism, of course — most sites don't give a damn about expressions of sexism, homophobia, transphobia, etc). As someone who is part of a minority, well, two technically, let me tell you: The world fucking sucks. Too much hatred towards myself and others for what we didn't choose to be.

Guess who are the people who use internet the most? Teenagers.

 

[HangInThere]

but the shitty people who hate others because of sexuality, gender and stuff also get to voice their vile opinions all the time, loudly and without punishment (unless it is racism, of course — most sites don't give a damn about expressions of sexism, homophobia, transphobia, etc). As someone who is part of a minority, well, two technically, let me tell you: The world fucking sucks. Too much hatred towards myself and others for what we didn't choose to be.

Good point.

 

[FullFat]

Really? What about the world being a shitty overpopulated and overcompetitive place? Too many people is a thing, but most people don't realize that and keep making babies like there is no tomorrow. Babies that will suffer more than anything in their lives. It is bad for me who was born in 1990, it is even worse for younger people and it is not going to get better, unless the population is heavily reduced, but for that some kind of disaster is necessary (since reducing the population isn't of the interest of powerful, rich people).

Also, another reason: With the blooming of social media, it became more common for people to come out about who they are. Sexuality, gender, etc. And with that, the prejudice became even louder. Not only the poor people who had to live their whole lives hiding who they were can now express who they are, but the shitty people who hate others because of sexuality, gender and stuff also get to voice their vile opinions all the time, loudly and without punishment (unless it is racism, of course — most sites don't give a damn about expressions of sexism, homophobia, transphobia, etc). As someone who is part of a minority, well, two technically, let me tell you: The world fucking sucks. Too much hatred towards myself and others for what we didn't choose to be.

Guess who are the people who use internet the most? Teenagers.

EDIT: My first take was snippy for no good reason.

At what time in history would you have been better off? As a woman, I feel like I only have the last few decades to choose from, tops.

The world has improved in many ways too both technologically and socially. For instance, the only reason we're even talking about discrimination is because we recognize it as bad, and that's a new idea. I wouldn't go back in time for anything. My lifelong waffling on the suicide question would end in an instant if I were asked to live in an earlier era

 

[JSRF]

Something is definitely wrong. There are a million different explanations under the sun for why suicide is becoming more common, but none are very convincing to me. Do you have any theories?

Smartphones and the "Connectivity" they bring with them seem to play a significant role:

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazin...the-smartphone-destroyed-a-generation/534198/

 

[Sonnenblume]

I think more people see suicide as an option now since we aren't as tied to tradition, family, and religion. I don't think it's because people are unhappier than they used to be. Humanity has always been a bunch of miserable fucks lol.

 

[deadpixels]

There's another factor, the progress of medicine, making people much less likely to die from natural causes, possibly creating an apparent increase in suicides.

 

[Arrow]

There's another factor, the progress of medicine, making people much less likely to die from natural causes, possibly creating an apparent increase in suicides.

yeah that probably has something to do with it. that and loneliness, of course.

 

[Iamnotperminant92]

It probably is a mix of what Others have said here (and on another recent thread regarding why people are traumatized by dead/damaged bodies)

People have expectations of other people to fit a certain mold or series of molds. This is particularly true with gender (which has especially been apparent towards women.) There is a bias for having expectation that someone who doesn't fit some mold is capable of changing (bootstraps) into said mold. Then there is Darwinism (The perfect Man/Woman/Employee/Slave)
At some point it's not about self improvement anymore it becomes about how much you can perform for society. Nothing is good enough or ever could be good enough. This is why I'm a postmodernist.

As far as medicine and overpopulation - I agree with this somewhat. The more people there are the more detached you can be from your neighbors or the laborers that produced the things you use. If we were, say, in 1700s Appalachia or the middle of Pre-Christian Scandinavia then there would be a strong incentive to value your neighbors and family even if they are different from you.

 

[noaccount]

The world is not overpopulated, class-stratified societies based on economic exploitation destroy the environment at any population level, mothers with many children in high-population-growth third-world countries aren't the ones destroying the earth, wealthy people in zero-to-negative-population-growth countries are.