On: The Ripple Effect of Death in a Hotel

[shard972]

I'm curious how you think the industry should be treating suicide? I'm not sure if the hotel of death is the right way to go about things, and checking up on every guest from in-town to see if they are going to kill themselves doesn't seem very practical.

> Instead we prefer to sweep away the deaths of people because it's bad for business. Because it's gruesome and the reality is too much to bear.

I assume the "we" here refers to society? If so, I don't really see the issue of not announcing to everyone that there is a dead guy here and parading them around or something.

The issues behind suicide are quite complex and even if we are talking about suicide driven by a disconnection from all aspects of society, i don't see how hotels can even hope to help fix this problem.

[slededit → shard972]

I find people need someone to blame for things. It makes the world seem more manageable. It’s not really a rational reaction to the situation.

[DanBC → shard972]

There are some quick easy things hotels can do.

They can sell only small quantities of medication commonly used in suicide attempts.

They can make it harder to access the rooftop of buildings.

They can put small signs giving contact details for a suicide prevention organisation in key places.

These aren't going to end suicide, but they do help reduce the numbers.

[EmpirePhoenix → DanBC]

They do already, even without any goodwill, a suicide costs north of a few thousand, so it makes sense to try to reduce them.