Suicides are up this year, but why?

[Syzygys]

I will look up the official numbers later, but several official people (policemen, firefighter,etc) have noticed an uptrend in suicides. The question is why?

http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/wm35b/cop_here_i_have_seen_a_large_increase_in_suicides/

My answer is that the economy isn't improving and young adults are having trouble finding a first job. Now if we add that this new generation has had the easiest childhood EVER, where they can not be failed in school (everybody is a winner!) and generally pampered with technological advantages, it is not a surprise that when life comes at them fast and hard, they can not cope with it...

There could be other reasons, but this is my explanation...

Edit: The trend is also up in Europe although through all ages:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/w...icides-by-economic-crisis.html?pagewanted=all

 

[KilljoyKlown]

I will look up the official numbers later, but several official people (policemen, firefighter,etc) have noticed an uptrend in suicides. The question is why?

http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/wm35b/cop_here_i_have_seen_a_large_increase_in_suicides/

My answer is that the economy isn't improving and young adults are having trouble finding a first job. Now if we add that this new generation has had the easiest childhood EVER, where they can not be failed in school (everybody is a winner!) and generally pampered with technological advantages, it is not a surprise that when life comes at them fast and hard, they can not cope with it...

There could be other reasons, but this is my explanation...

Edit: The trend is also up in Europe although through all ages:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/w...icides-by-economic-crisis.html?pagewanted=all

Your answer is as good as any I can think of. Are you hoping someone else will have a better answer?

 

[Read-Only]

I will look up the official numbers later, but several official people (policemen, firefighter,etc) have noticed an uptrend in suicides. The question is why?

http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/wm35b/cop_here_i_have_seen_a_large_increase_in_suicides/

My answer is that the economy isn't improving and young adults are having trouble finding a first job. Now if we add that this new generation has had the easiest childhood EVER, where they can not be failed in school (everybody is a winner!) and generally pampered with technological advantages, it is not a surprise that when life comes at them fast and hard, they can not cope with it...

There could be other reasons, but this is my explanation...

Edit: The trend is also up in Europe although through all ages:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/w...icides-by-economic-crisis.html?pagewanted=all

I agree with your answer. Plus, some middle-aged people who are out of work, loosing their homes, etc. are feeling like giving up on life too.

 

[Jeeves]

Suicides increase as hope decreases.
Nothing better for quite a long way ahead. Politicians are helpless; bankers and CEO's run amok; weather, bosses and fellow citizens are equally treacherous; food prices go up; the sun can kill you, just by shining and we're about to lose our pensions... better go out while there's still an ice-floe to share with the last polar bear.

 

[Syzygys]

Are you hoping someone else will have a better answer?

Better than mine? Not very likely... But I think the issue deserves attention and discussion...

Now to go deeper, I have this personal theory about living spaces. The more people you jam together, the more stress they have, just like rats in a lab. I forgot the exact number but in NYC a huge % of people seeking shrinks. Not necessary for suicide but problems with their lives. Generally the population is growing everywhere, so the stress is increasing. If we add a big problem in society as recession or inflation, that sure won't help...

Going back to the original explanation, if we stopped treating children as prized horses and protect them from everything, they would grow up tougher and more ready for life's challenges....

 

[spidergoat]

Free market policies tanked the economy and now you want to blame young people? That's pretty low.

 

[scheherazade]

Better than mine? Not very likely... But I think the issue deserves attention and discussion...

Now to go deeper, I have this personal theory about living spaces. The more people you jam together, the more stress they have, just like rats in a lab. I forgot the exact number but in NYC a huge % of people seeking shrinks. Not necessary for suicide but problems with their lives. Generally the population is growing everywhere, so the stress is increasing. If we add a big problem in society as recession or inflation, that sure won't help...

I tend to agree that population density is a problem. Our species is very wasteful of resources so I am not suggesting that we cannot live in relatively small confines, merely that we need some 'breathing space' as well. Not talking about only parks. I mean that we absolutely require adequate nutrition and sufficient rest yet the competition for jobs, a place to live and future opportunities precludes many of us from getting these.

Individually, we have a sense of having no control over the politically manipulated price of resources and our changing monetary system, which has been evolving away from a cash based system for some time now. (Latest move is to on-line pay stubs at my place of employment, soon pending.) With technology, the pace of change seems ever more rapid and I sense that this also is a factor in the sense of depression and hopelessness of many, as they feel doomed never to 'catch up' or even maintain their footing on a treadmill gone out of control. Rather than get dragged down into the gearbox, some would elect to 'choose' to get off, as it may be the only decision they feel that they have any control over.

Going back to the original explanation, if we stopped treating children as prized horses and protect them from everything, they would grow up tougher and more ready for life's challenges...

Use of a horse analogy is almost guaranteed to draw my attention if I am in the neighborhood, lol....

Actually, prized horses are prone to far more physical and psychological problems than horses that are permitted to live in as natural a habitat as possible. My 'prized' ponies are expected to be able to largely look out for themselves save that I am responsible to provide adequate availability to food and water. I do take your point though, in that we are not doing the children any favors if we do not teach them that life comes without a safety net. :bugeye:

 

[Syzygys]

Free market policies tanked the economy and now you want to blame young people? That's pretty low.

Whiner... There were recessions before. Hell, in the 1800s there was a bank panic in every decade. Do you think people committed suicide that often???

By the way I didn't blame them (I blame their parents) I just stated the fact/my opinion. So before you cry, refute my opinion, then you can feel superior...

 

[spidergoat]

Yes I do.

 

[youreyes]

rise in men unemployment at a statistically high probability of suicide age corresponds to higher suicides. With all this "equality" of wages, the young adults who just come out of colleges can't find a job and are drowning in debts...for some of them the stress and the un-attained American dream brings to the path of self-destruction.

 

[KilljoyKlown]

Interesting Suicide Statistics in the U.S.

At least I have another 20 years before I end up in the white men over age 85 group.

Suicide

In 2006, 33,300 (approximately 11 per 100,000) people died by suicide in the U.S.
More than 90 percent of people who kill themselves have a diagnosable mental disorder, most commonly a depressive disorder or a substance abuse disorder.
The highest suicide rates in the U.S. are found in white men over age 85.
Four times as many men as women die by suicide; however, women attempt suicide two to three times as often as men.

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publ...count-mental-disorders-in-america/index.shtml

 

[Jeeves]

Whiner... There were recessions before. Hell, in the 1800s there was a bank panic in every decade. Do you think people committed suicide that often???

Yes. Happens in every financial crisis, when men of substance and property are ruined.
Historically, women are more likely to kill themselves when they see no way out of continued abuse.
Women also have a higher rate of severe depression, which often drives people to suicide, (Very young people may be inflating their share in the statistics by taking medications that push them over the edge.) while men are more likely to act out as aggression ... indirect suicide by automobile, brawl or police.

ETA: that last group should have been men between 18 and 60. The old ones are mostly sick and prefer to choose a less undignified exit. I suppose they're more successful than old women, because they're choosing messier but more reliable methods.

Population density is a factor, certainly. Anxiety, the prospect of old age on the street, illness - sure.
By far the biggest problem, though, is the general craziness of everything. The world doesn't make any sense. Children are told one thing in school, another at home, a third on the tv... all stone lies! "Be yourself; it's what inside that counts..." LOSER! "Everyone else is well-adjusted and happy, what's the matter with you?" "We're all about Teamwork and Fair Play"... until it's more convenient to lie, cheat and turn on your friends. "This is a nation of laws; the innocent have nothing to fear." See the nice policeman pepper-spray the helpless student.
People can only absorb so much contradiction, so much craziness, before they crack.

 

[Syzygys]

Historically, women are more likely to kill themselves when they see no way out of continued abuse.

Actually, women are less likely to commit suicide. I think a black woman is 4 times LESS likely to do it as a white man.* Women try more often but men are more successful, if I recall correctly...

Interestingly, by international comparison, the US rate isn't so high. At least a dozen East European countries have double the US rate, like 20+ per 100K.....

Edit: *From Wiki:"The rate of suicide is far higher in men than in women, with males worldwide three to four times more likely to kill themselves than females."

 

[Syzygys]

Yes I do.

..and you would be wrong:

Victorian times compared to end of last century:

"If their figures are carefully boiled down, they show that in the course of 5 years the historical cohort had 1 suicide in 594 individuals, whereas the present-day cohort had 7 suicides in 133 individuals."

http://bjp.rcpsych.org/content/188/3/229.full

Edit: I am still researching historical rates, what are hard to come by...

 

[Syzygys]

Some interesting statistics. Although Nevada is a special place because of gambling, still...

http://cdclv.unlv.edu/healthnv/suicide.html

-Nevada males kill themselves about four times more often than do females, although females attempt suicide about three times more frequently than do males.
-Residents aged 45 and over have very high suicide rates (57.7), with those aged 75 and older showing the highest rates of all (65.8). Youth suicide has declined in our state since the early 1990s, but at 17.5, the rate remains at one and a half times the national average.
-Among ethnoracial groups, Whites and Native Americans have the highest suicide rates – 24.4 for Whites (see Table 1 for Native American rates). Hispanics and Asians have the lowest rates (8.2 and 7.0 respectively). Rates for Blacks residing in Nevada are on par with the national average (10.2).
-Suicide in rural counties, though very few in number, occurs at a much higher rate than suicide in metropolitan counties.

This last one contradicts our assumption earlier about too many people living in a big city.

-Between 1980 and 1996, suicide rates almost doubled among 14-15 year olds

Oh, the whiny pussy generation...Of course the parents are to blame...

 

[Jeeves]

Actually, women are less likely to commit suicide. I think a black woman is 4 times LESS likely to do it as a white man.* Women try more often but men are more successful, if I recall correctly...

I didn't say more women do it, just what their most common reason is.
BTW How much is four times less? One quarter or minus three?
Black women are more likely to have a faith forbidding suicide than white men. (Not everyone going to the same church has the same degree of sincere faith.) And maybe they're more responsible toward family. Tougher? Probably.

I don't entirely trust statistics from Victorian records, or from countries with a repressive state religion. When and where suicides are denounced, refused respectable burial and their surviving family stigmatized, it's common practice to pass many suspicious deaths off as accident or natural causes.

 

[KilljoyKlown]

I didn't say more women do it, just what their most common reason is.
BTW How much is four times less? One quarter or minus three?
Black women are more likely to have a faith forbidding suicide than white men. (Not everyone going to the same church has the same degree of sincere faith.) And maybe they're more responsible toward family. Tougher? Probably.

I don't entirely trust statistics from Victorian records, or from countries with a repressive state religion. When and where suicides are denounced, refused respectable burial and their surviving family stigmatized, it's common practice to pass many suspicious deaths off as accident or natural causes.

You didn't mention that insurance companies don't pay off on suicides. So how many accidents are really suicides?

 

[Fraggle Rocker]

More than 90 percent of people who kill themselves have a diagnosable mental disorder, most commonly a depressive disorder or a substance abuse disorder.

This says it all. People commit suicide when they are in unbearable psychological pain and can see no way out of it. To the extent that psychotherapy works at all, it is excruciatingly slow, typically taking years to experience a modest benefit. Physical pain is more easily treatable.

The highest suicide rates in the U.S. are found in white men over age 85.

Another big "Duh!" from my perspective at age 68. You reach a point when you sense your body and/or brain starting to give out. In the USA you know where that leads. A warehouse full of bodies kept alive artificially by medical means while what's left of the person inside slowly slips away in a humiliating and excruciating journey to nowhere. This is paid for by siphoning off the estate that was supposed to go to the children or a favorite charity and stuffing it into the coffers of a corporation. So at some point when you are still able to get around your house, use tools and go shopping, you go buy your helium balloon.

Four times as many men as women die by suicide; however, women attempt suicide two to three times as often as men.

Attempted suicides are often not intended to be successful, merely a call for help. In almost any circumstance, women are more willing to ask for help than men.

 

[wynn]

I will look up the official numbers later, but several official people (policemen, firefighter,etc) have noticed an uptrend in suicides. The question is why?

My answer is that the economy isn't improving and young adults are having trouble finding a first job. Now if we add that this new generation has had the easiest childhood EVER, where they can not be failed in school (everybody is a winner!) and generally pampered with technological advantages, it is not a surprise that when life comes at them fast and hard, they can not cope with it...

This is not the whole context.

The recent generations might have had materially easy childhoods, but psychologically, cognitively, morally, they have faced unprecedented challenges.
For starters, the new media had them pay attention to several things at a time, then there are the cogntive and moral ambiguities they had to deal with somehow simply due to being exposed to the number of media sources ... The line between the real and the imaginary has never been as blurred before, and these children had nobody to lead them through that to a safe place.

 

[Syzygys]

The highest suicide rates in the U.S. are found in white men over age 85.

I mean seriously, is that a problem? It sounds like a solution...