8 ms·

Some big takeaways: "Meanwhile, rates of suicide deaths are rising in the U.S. The rate jumped 24% from 1999 to 2014, from 10.5 to 13 per 100,000 people, accor

Some big takeaways: "Meanwhile, rates of suicide deaths are rising in the U.S. The rate jumped 24% from 1999 to 2014, from 10.5 to 13 per 100,000 people, according to an April 2016 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention." "While depression is the mental illness that is most strongly associated with suicidal thoughts, it doesn’t often lead to suicidal acts. Recent research has shown that it is other mental illnesses, like anxiety disorders, problems with impulse control and addiction, that are actually more strongly linked to suicide attempts. Most first suicide attempts occur within a year of the onset of suicidal thoughts." [Emphasis added] "Another study from the same NIMH group has found that, among severely depressed subjects, spending more time awake between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. (as measured by a sleep study called polysomnography) is linked to increased risk of suicidal thinking the next day." "Computers analyzed more than 30,000 different risk factors, including traditional ones like age and mental-health history. But some surprising issues—such as gastrointestinal problems, infections and injuries like rib fractures—were tied to increased risk." "In a study published in 2010 that followed 157 people who had visited a psychiatric emergency room, subjects are asked to classify words into categories. The study found those subjects who were quickest at classifying death and “me words” into the same group had three times the rate of suicide attempts in the next six months compared with those who were quickest at linking life and “me words.” (A past suicide attempt is the strongest predictor of a future one.)"

r00fus 10y ago
> "Another study from the same NIMH group has found that, among severely depressed subjects, spending more time awake between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. (as measured by a sleep study called polysomnography) is linked to increased risk of suicidal thinking the next day." I wonder if something more general could be inferred - when I'm getting bad sleep (stress-related, mostly), I tend to wake up at around 4AM. My day is often cranky, sometimes I'm completely ineffective until noon. Could overall sleep levels be more coincident with lower suicidal thoughts?
- sndean 10y ago
  I wonder if that 4am to 5am timeframe is relevant. I've been falling asleep at ~5am for the past few years... The key part may be "among severely depressed subjects," but I've noticed that whenever my sleep changes (stress-related, too, or a random early meeting) my following day is simply awful and I accomplish more-or-less nothing. Something that seems obvious now, but wasn't obvious to me until recently, is that people should be realllllyyy protective of their sleep. I guess that study supports that idea.
- selmat 10y ago
  I think everything is more related to sleep phases than to day-time or certain hours.
- jfoutz 10y ago
  Totally anecdata, and therefore useless, but here goes. When i wake up in the middle of the night i give myself a few minutes to try to get back to sleep. If it's work related stress, i get up and poke at something for an hour. sometimes i make progress, sometimes i don't. Fall right back to sleep and have a fine day the next day. If it's not something i can do anything about i fret for an hour, crawl back in bed, toss and turn till morning, and have a generally bad day. Something deep down takes comfort in the agency. at least i tried to improve the situation.
hkmurakami 10y ago
>Recent research has shown that it is other mental illnesses, like anxiety disorders, problems with impulse control and addiction, that are actually more strongly linked to suicide attempts. It's often said that the presence of firearms in the house greatly increases the chances of suicide since it's this spike in despair, hopelessness, and entrapment that causes the overwhelmingly strong compulsion to end things. But if you can ride out this wave, then things revert to the mean. Firearms don't give you a second chance to rethink things, unlike swallowing sleeping pills or slitting your wrist.
- fakemeatsubs 10y ago
  What good reasons do people have for owning firearms in urban environments? (Serious)
  - daw___ 10y ago
    None.
  - forrestthewoods 10y ago
    Wanting to own one. That's the good reason for most things that I own. It's something I wanted and I'm allowed to have it therefore I got it.
  - dpc59 10y ago
    I live in the middle of Montreal and don't own firearms, but I plan on going hunting soon because I want to try to kill my own food, and if I get into it it would be a pretty good reason to own a firearm.
    - coldtea 10y ago
      If you want to "kill your own food", you could start by killing poultry with your hands -- and cooking the chicken! No reason to take it to the macho fantasy of the hunter -- that armed with a 21st century high-tech shotgun kills some deer that never had a chance.
pasbesoin 10y ago
Having suffered physical injuries and chronic physical impairment -- including congestion that impairs sleep and functioning -- I can say that correlation with physical health conditions causes me no surprise. Actually, I'm amazed and angry with Western/U.S. medical practice that so often and ignorantly divorces the two. I'll probably be gone in a year or two. My life has been a downward spiral that is reaching its endpoint.
DanBC 10y ago
> "Meanwhile, rates of suicide deaths are rising in the U.S. The rate jumped 24% from 1999 to 2014, from 10.5 to 13 per 100,000 people, according to an April 2016 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention." I think the US officially changed the way they counted suicide in that time; and coroners became more likely to report deaths as suicide. > "While depression is the mental illness that is most strongly associated with suicidal thoughts, it doesn’t often lead to suicidal acts. Recent research has shown that it is other mental illnesses, like anxiety disorders, problems with impulse control and addiction, that are actually more strongly linked to suicide attempts. Most first suicide attempts occur within a year of the onset of suicidal thoughts." [Emphasis added] Body dysmorphia is surprisingly common and is over-represented in suicide death. > "But some surprising issues—such as gastrointestinal problems, infections and injuries like rib fractures—were tied to increased risk." UK is aiming to tackle these with "No Health Without Mental Health", one strand of which is "people with physical health problems will experience better mental health". I'm not going to claim it's going well. NHWMH is at least 5 years old now, and parity of esteem is still lacking, and it's hard to get commissioners of physical health stuff to consider the MH impact.

r00fus 10y ago

> "Another study from the same NIMH group has found that, among severely depressed subjects, spending more time awake between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. (as measured by a sleep study called polysomnography) is linked to increased risk of suicidal thinking the next day." I wonder if something more general could be inferred - when I'm getting bad sleep (stress-related, mostly), I tend to wake up at around 4AM. My day is often cranky, sometimes I'm completely ineffective until noon. Could overall sleep levels be more coincident with lower suicidal thoughts?

sndean 10y ago
I wonder if that 4am to 5am timeframe is relevant. I've been falling asleep at ~5am for the past few years... The key part may be "among severely depressed subjects," but I've noticed that whenever my sleep changes (stress-related, too, or a random early meeting) my following day is simply awful and I accomplish more-or-less nothing. Something that seems obvious now, but wasn't obvious to me until recently, is that people should be realllllyyy protective of their sleep. I guess that study supports that idea.
selmat 10y ago
I think everything is more related to sleep phases than to day-time or certain hours.
jfoutz 10y ago
Totally anecdata, and therefore useless, but here goes. When i wake up in the middle of the night i give myself a few minutes to try to get back to sleep. If it's work related stress, i get up and poke at something for an hour. sometimes i make progress, sometimes i don't. Fall right back to sleep and have a fine day the next day. If it's not something i can do anything about i fret for an hour, crawl back in bed, toss and turn till morning, and have a generally bad day. Something deep down takes comfort in the agency. at least i tried to improve the situation.

hkmurakami 10y ago

>Recent research has shown that it is other mental illnesses, like anxiety disorders, problems with impulse control and addiction, that are actually more strongly linked to suicide attempts. It's often said that the presence of firearms in the house greatly increases the chances of suicide since it's this spike in despair, hopelessness, and entrapment that causes the overwhelmingly strong compulsion to end things. But if you can ride out this wave, then things revert to the mean. Firearms don't give you a second chance to rethink things, unlike swallowing sleeping pills or slitting your wrist.

fakemeatsubs 10y ago
What good reasons do people have for owning firearms in urban environments? (Serious)
- daw___ 10y ago
  None.
- forrestthewoods 10y ago
  Wanting to own one. That's the good reason for most things that I own. It's something I wanted and I'm allowed to have it therefore I got it.
- dpc59 10y ago
  I live in the middle of Montreal and don't own firearms, but I plan on going hunting soon because I want to try to kill my own food, and if I get into it it would be a pretty good reason to own a firearm.
  - coldtea 10y ago
    If you want to "kill your own food", you could start by killing poultry with your hands -- and cooking the chicken! No reason to take it to the macho fantasy of the hunter -- that armed with a 21st century high-tech shotgun kills some deer that never had a chance.

pasbesoin 10y ago

Having suffered physical injuries and chronic physical impairment -- including congestion that impairs sleep and functioning -- I can say that correlation with physical health conditions causes me no surprise. Actually, I'm amazed and angry with Western/U.S. medical practice that so often and ignorantly divorces the two. I'll probably be gone in a year or two. My life has been a downward spiral that is reaching its endpoint.

DanBC 10y ago

> "Meanwhile, rates of suicide deaths are rising in the U.S. The rate jumped 24% from 1999 to 2014, from 10.5 to 13 per 100,000 people, according to an April 2016 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention." I think the US officially changed the way they counted suicide in that time; and coroners became more likely to report deaths as suicide. > "While depression is the mental illness that is most strongly associated with suicidal thoughts, it doesn’t often lead to suicidal acts. Recent research has shown that it is other mental illnesses, like anxiety disorders, problems with impulse control and addiction, that are actually more strongly linked to suicide attempts. Most first suicide attempts occur within a year of the onset of suicidal thoughts." [Emphasis added] Body dysmorphia is surprisingly common and is over-represented in suicide death. > "But some surprising issues—such as gastrointestinal problems, infections and injuries like rib fractures—were tied to increased risk." UK is aiming to tackle these with "No Health Without Mental Health", one strand of which is "people with physical health problems will experience better mental health". I'm not going to claim it's going well. NHWMH is at least 5 years old now, and parity of esteem is still lacking, and it's hard to get commissioners of physical health stuff to consider the MH impact.