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According to the linked article [0] there have been 5 taxi driver suicides over a period of 5 months. Annualized, that is 12 per year, assuming a constant rate.

According to the linked article [0] there have been 5 taxi driver suicides over a period of 5 months. Annualized, that is 12 per year, assuming a constant rate. The article states there are 180,000 taxi drivers in NYC. Given these numbers, the annualized rate per 100,000 taxi drives is 6.7 suicides. While each of these deaths is tragic -- and more resources should be dedicated to preventing future ones -- it appears that the media is promoting a narrative not supported by statistical evidence. Taxi driver suicides occur at a lower rate than New York's 8.1 per 100,000 people and even lower than the national rate (13.26) or the overall male rate (~23-27) [1]. It may seem callous to make these observations; however, discouraging such narratives is critical to avoiding suicide contagions [2], which are very real and dangerous phenomena. [0] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/27/nyregion/taxi-driver-suicide-nyc.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/27/nyregion/taxi-driver-suic... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_in_the_United_States [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copycat_suicide https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copycat_suicide

nscalf 8y ago
This exactly. There is an epidemic of suicides and mental health problems in this country. While I love seeing that people are addressing these problems, lets not allow simple narratives to muddy the waters.
- xapata 8y ago
  > epidemic of suicides and mental health problems Especially after all the re-definitions for what "mental illness" means, and the development of drugs to treat them. I take a cynical view.
  - 319206781093846 8y ago
    Indeed diagnostic criteria have changed and the number of people who can afford medical care has increased, so even if it was true that mental health problems have increased you couldn't compare so easily old and new data. New diagnostic criteria however don't influence the 'diagnosis' of suicide so, in my opinion, comparing old and new numbers should be ok.
    - xapata 8y ago
      Suicide rates have increased? That's news to me. I'm skeptical.
ASalazarMX 8y ago
This is even more important if public servants see this narrative as a way to score easy support, and propose ad hoc policies to do so. This doesn't just waste resources, it's evading the real hard problems because they're hard.

nscalf 8y ago

This exactly. There is an epidemic of suicides and mental health problems in this country. While I love seeing that people are addressing these problems, lets not allow simple narratives to muddy the waters.

xapata 8y ago
> epidemic of suicides and mental health problems Especially after all the re-definitions for what "mental illness" means, and the development of drugs to treat them. I take a cynical view.
- 319206781093846 8y ago
  Indeed diagnostic criteria have changed and the number of people who can afford medical care has increased, so even if it was true that mental health problems have increased you couldn't compare so easily old and new data. New diagnostic criteria however don't influence the 'diagnosis' of suicide so, in my opinion, comparing old and new numbers should be ok.
  - xapata 8y ago
    Suicide rates have increased? That's news to me. I'm skeptical.

ASalazarMX 8y ago

This is even more important if public servants see this narrative as a way to score easy support, and propose ad hoc policies to do so. This doesn't just waste resources, it's evading the real hard problems because they're hard.