
Suicide prevention: large scale and small details - DanBC
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(17)30193-1/fulltext
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DanBC
People on HN who disclose suicidal intent are frequently told, on HN and
elsewhere, to seek help.

That's correct, it's a medical emergency and those people deserve help.

But it's also important to remember that suicide prevention is struggling to
find effective evidence based interventions, and that some interventions may
increase risk of harm.

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flukus
> But it's also important to remember that suicide prevention is struggling to
> find effective evidence based interventions, and that some interventions may
> increase risk of harm.

Do we know that for sure? Is it possible that suicide rates would have
exploded without current intervention methods?

~~~
Can_Not
One major issue with suicide prevention is there is a lot of focus on "don't
do it" and too little focus on "let's fix the cause". So for a lot of people,
the cause might be their local communities' religion, which may also mean that
the only available solution is not evidence based, let alone a solution.

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kough
> The Lancet Psychiatry aims to avoid the excess of certainty currently
> afflicting the world.

Awesome opening line.

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tomjen3
Maybe instead of physically trying to stop these people from killing
themselves, we should try to make them want to live. It is the only humane
answer anyway.

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ianai
Society needs to be more inclusive. People aren't problems that need to be
treated. They need to feel a part of a large, functioning whole.

~~~
dwaltrip
I have a similar view, but with a slightly different angle. This is largely
conjecture, but it seems to me that in the modern age, as our vantage point
has expanded due to cultural and technological development, the bonds between
individuals have become diluted, and we haven't figured out how to fully
respond to that.

I would also make a case for a bit of a global existential crisis, as humanity
has begun to finally understand the true vastness of the universe, in which we
are an infinitesimally small flicker.

~~~
csydas
Heh, so the planet is having a quarter life crisis?

I'm not making fun of this it just sounds funny, and I'm sure the always
connected nature does have a large impact. Before, "keeping up with the
Joneses" meant a fairly small neighborhood community. Now you can see how you
stack up globally instantly to people world wide and I imagine it's hard to
not feel a bit lost in the face of everyone looking like they're living the
life, constantly one post at a time.

Consolidating that without there being a backdrop of "it's a magazine" or
"it's just advertising" probably has some sort of significant impact. It's
amazing people can browse Facebook endlessly without feeling a little like
they're missing out on something.

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metastart
This is untested to my knowledge, but I feel like the best prevention for
suicide is mentorship...that every teen has someone they're attached to.

~~~
mistermann
Talking to someone _that understands where you 're coming from and what you're
feeling_ I think is helpful.....the feeling of being utterly alone and
completely misunderstood in the universe can weigh heavily on the depressed
psyche.

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shams93
We are also seeing the longest extended economic depression now this has
lasted longer than the Great Depression of the 1930s, we have no WPA nothing
to soft the economic blows, foodstamps are being eliminated so that poor
people will be forced to steal to survive and risking landing in a Jeff
Sessions owned private prison, the level if stress we are placing on working
people is historically unprecedented.

~~~
bigbugbag
> the level if stress we are placing on working people is historically
> unprecedented.

Ever heard of that thing called slavery ? it was quite popular for while until
not so long ago.

