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I remember watching Robin Williams perform ~2009. He was hilarious and positive on stage at Cobb. After the show he hung out with us and Bing Gordon (his frien

I remember watching Robin Williams perform ~2009. He was hilarious and positive on stage at Cobb. After the show he hung out with us and Bing Gordon (his friend). His entire demeanor changed. Unable to smile, look people in the eyes, and holding back tears. People thought he would be funny off stage but he just was extremely anxious and wanted to leave asap. Anyhow, I feel like people (esp. famous people) hide the their internal deadly struggle. I always try to remember - more than half [1] of gun related deaths in the US are people taking their own gun and pointing it at their head then pulling the trigger. Who cares what side of the gun debate you are on. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_violence_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_violence_in_the_United_Sta...

ataturk 8y ago
"Remember this while purchasing" WTF? What is that supposed to mean? Do you believe that guns have some basic, inherent ability to make people want to commit suicide? What planet do you live on? Anyone who is going to commit suicide using a gun is going to commit suicide by some other means if a gun isn't readily available. Cite: Japan!
adamc 8y ago
Performances are just that.
tudelo 8y ago
Can you elaborate why you brought up your second paragraph? I'm not sure what statement you are trying to make.
- rectang 8y ago
  Not the OP, but higher availability of guns is correlated with higher suicide rates (most notoriously in US mountains states like Wyoming), because it makes it easier to act on impulse when people hit their lowest points, rather than muddling through because they don't have easy means. However, I don't see any reporting on how Bourdain died, only that he was found in a hotel room. So unless it comes to light that guns were involved (unlikely, because gunshots would have been heard), I don't think this sad event begs for a discussion of guns as opposed to many other topics around the issue of suicide.
  - frgtpsswrdlame 8y ago
    >Not the OP, but higher availability of guns is correlated with higher suicide rates (most notoriously in US mountains states like Wyoming), because it makes it easier to act on impulse when people hit their lowest points, rather than muddling through because they don't have easy means. Or you know, there might be a third variable there... Something about declining rural areas possibly.
    - smt88 8y ago
      There is that third variable, but there are also studies that control for geography and even study a stable population of depressed patients. There's also a lot of theory to back up the idea that guns increase suicide rates. First, if people have to take time to prep for suicide, they have time to think and sometimes change their minds. With a gun, the time between thought and action is so small, they don't have this chance. Second, guns have a much higher success rate than most other methods. This is why women attempt suicide at higher rates, but succeed far less often -- they usually don't use guns. There are studies that look at a stable population, and they find that the same person is much more likely to succeed at suicide after they become a gun owner.
  - braveheart1723 8y ago
    he hanged himself
- yifanl 8y ago
  For me, it highlights just how many suicides there are, and it also brings up how easy it is to commit suicide in a quick, (relatively) painless manner in the USA.
- jdietrich 8y ago
  Access to means of suicide matters. Most suicidal ideation is temporary and most suicide attempts are impulsive. Men are much less likely than women to attempt suicide, but they are much more likely to die, because they tend to choose more lethal means. In 1998, the UK reduced the maximum pack sizes of paracetamol (acetaminophen) tablets. We saw no reduction in the number of people who attempted suicide by paracetamol overdose, but a 43% reduction in deaths by that means. https://www.bmj.com/content/346/bmj.f403 https://www.bmj.com/content/346/bmj.f403 There is some evidence to suggest that gun control is effective in reducing deaths due to suicide. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26396147 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26396147 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29078268 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29078268 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29852823 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29852823
  - wiredfool 8y ago
    My sister killed herself 9 and a half years ago, and I'm pretty convinced that she'd still be alive if she didn't have immediate access to what she used(+). Due to the method, we know when she obtained it, and the circumstances around that. She got it when there were suicides in her local community, and in retrospect she had probably been thinking about it at the time. She definitely had some mental health issues at the time centered around overwork. She kept it for years, and finally used it when she had a minor setback at work. (+ not a gun)
  - hackermailman 8y ago
    Quebec's suicide prevention strategy combined evidence-based practices, and managed to halve the suicide rate from 1999 to 2010, and it's been declining ~2% every year since 2010. Everything they do should be studied by anybody interested in this topic since it works. Things like restricting guns or drugs just means they will leap off a bridge or other method, it doesn't address the root causes which Quebec managed to do.
lifeisstillgood 8y ago
The above link shows more than just half - 2/3 gun deaths in US are suicide - approx 20,000 out of 30,000 Fairly horrifying but does impact the whole gun control debate IMO.
- matte_black 8y ago
  It does not. And controlling guns tightly doesn’t mean you magically save 20,000 people from suicide. Give it a rest before we’re dancing with downvotes.
- devmunchies 8y ago
  I myself would rather focus the discussion on why people want to kill themselves in the first place and not divulge into a convo about whether not mommy government should or should not allow us to have guns.
  - Eyght 8y ago
    Putting an important decision such as ending ones life behind a single point-and-click action is really bad UX. There should at least be a number of "Are you sure?" prompts and two factor authentication as a bare minimum.
    - tejohnso 8y ago
      I agree with proper confirmation and 2FA requirements. But the really bad UX is that it's OPT-OUT instead of OPT-IN. If you're going to force users into your system and insist on opt-out then you should at least have the decency to make the opt-out process as convenient and painless as possible.
    - devmunchies 8y ago
      But now you are optimizing for and donating resources to the "bad UX" instead of focusing energy where it matters. Focus on why users want to delete their account and not on how easy it is to do so!
aaron695 8y ago
Robin Williams had Lewy Bodies Dementia which had no cure. His brain was disappearing before him and he knew it. Unless Anthony Bourdain had a terminal illness that was destroying his brain and who he was as a person, this is not comparable.
BeetleB 8y ago
I'm not sure you should tie Robin William's continual mental problems with his suicide. After he died, they discovered he had a neurodegenerative disease, and it was causing serious problems with his life (disorientation, etc). He never knew what was causing it, but he knew things were very wrong and getting worse. Had he not committed suicide, he wouldn't have had long to live anyway, and would have had a horrible existence. He did have mental issues for much of his life, but in the end it was likely his physical condition and not his mental issues that led him to suicide. It's not clear if he had this condition in 2009 - he might have, but we don't know.

ataturk 8y ago

"Remember this while purchasing" WTF? What is that supposed to mean? Do you believe that guns have some basic, inherent ability to make people want to commit suicide? What planet do you live on? Anyone who is going to commit suicide using a gun is going to commit suicide by some other means if a gun isn't readily available. Cite: Japan!

adamc 8y ago

Performances are just that.

tudelo 8y ago

Can you elaborate why you brought up your second paragraph? I'm not sure what statement you are trying to make.

rectang 8y ago
Not the OP, but higher availability of guns is correlated with higher suicide rates (most notoriously in US mountains states like Wyoming), because it makes it easier to act on impulse when people hit their lowest points, rather than muddling through because they don't have easy means. However, I don't see any reporting on how Bourdain died, only that he was found in a hotel room. So unless it comes to light that guns were involved (unlikely, because gunshots would have been heard), I don't think this sad event begs for a discussion of guns as opposed to many other topics around the issue of suicide.
- frgtpsswrdlame 8y ago
  >Not the OP, but higher availability of guns is correlated with higher suicide rates (most notoriously in US mountains states like Wyoming), because it makes it easier to act on impulse when people hit their lowest points, rather than muddling through because they don't have easy means. Or you know, there might be a third variable there... Something about declining rural areas possibly.
  - smt88 8y ago
    There is that third variable, but there are also studies that control for geography and even study a stable population of depressed patients. There's also a lot of theory to back up the idea that guns increase suicide rates. First, if people have to take time to prep for suicide, they have time to think and sometimes change their minds. With a gun, the time between thought and action is so small, they don't have this chance. Second, guns have a much higher success rate than most other methods. This is why women attempt suicide at higher rates, but succeed far less often -- they usually don't use guns. There are studies that look at a stable population, and they find that the same person is much more likely to succeed at suicide after they become a gun owner.
- braveheart1723 8y ago
  he hanged himself
yifanl 8y ago
For me, it highlights just how many suicides there are, and it also brings up how easy it is to commit suicide in a quick, (relatively) painless manner in the USA.
jdietrich 8y ago
Access to means of suicide matters. Most suicidal ideation is temporary and most suicide attempts are impulsive. Men are much less likely than women to attempt suicide, but they are much more likely to die, because they tend to choose more lethal means. In 1998, the UK reduced the maximum pack sizes of paracetamol (acetaminophen) tablets. We saw no reduction in the number of people who attempted suicide by paracetamol overdose, but a 43% reduction in deaths by that means. https://www.bmj.com/content/346/bmj.f403 https://www.bmj.com/content/346/bmj.f403 There is some evidence to suggest that gun control is effective in reducing deaths due to suicide. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26396147 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26396147 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29078268 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29078268 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29852823 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29852823
- wiredfool 8y ago
  My sister killed herself 9 and a half years ago, and I'm pretty convinced that she'd still be alive if she didn't have immediate access to what she used(+). Due to the method, we know when she obtained it, and the circumstances around that. She got it when there were suicides in her local community, and in retrospect she had probably been thinking about it at the time. She definitely had some mental health issues at the time centered around overwork. She kept it for years, and finally used it when she had a minor setback at work. (+ not a gun)
- hackermailman 8y ago
  Quebec's suicide prevention strategy combined evidence-based practices, and managed to halve the suicide rate from 1999 to 2010, and it's been declining ~2% every year since 2010. Everything they do should be studied by anybody interested in this topic since it works. Things like restricting guns or drugs just means they will leap off a bridge or other method, it doesn't address the root causes which Quebec managed to do.

lifeisstillgood 8y ago

The above link shows more than just half - 2/3 gun deaths in US are suicide - approx 20,000 out of 30,000 Fairly horrifying but does impact the whole gun control debate IMO.

matte_black 8y ago
It does not. And controlling guns tightly doesn’t mean you magically save 20,000 people from suicide. Give it a rest before we’re dancing with downvotes.
devmunchies 8y ago
I myself would rather focus the discussion on why people want to kill themselves in the first place and not divulge into a convo about whether not mommy government should or should not allow us to have guns.
- Eyght 8y ago
  Putting an important decision such as ending ones life behind a single point-and-click action is really bad UX. There should at least be a number of "Are you sure?" prompts and two factor authentication as a bare minimum.
  - tejohnso 8y ago
    I agree with proper confirmation and 2FA requirements. But the really bad UX is that it's OPT-OUT instead of OPT-IN. If you're going to force users into your system and insist on opt-out then you should at least have the decency to make the opt-out process as convenient and painless as possible.
  - devmunchies 8y ago
    But now you are optimizing for and donating resources to the "bad UX" instead of focusing energy where it matters. Focus on why users want to delete their account and not on how easy it is to do so!

aaron695 8y ago

Robin Williams had Lewy Bodies Dementia which had no cure. His brain was disappearing before him and he knew it. Unless Anthony Bourdain had a terminal illness that was destroying his brain and who he was as a person, this is not comparable.

BeetleB 8y ago

I'm not sure you should tie Robin William's continual mental problems with his suicide. After he died, they discovered he had a neurodegenerative disease, and it was causing serious problems with his life (disorientation, etc). He never knew what was causing it, but he knew things were very wrong and getting worse. Had he not committed suicide, he wouldn't have had long to live anyway, and would have had a horrible existence. He did have mental issues for much of his life, but in the end it was likely his physical condition and not his mental issues that led him to suicide. It's not clear if he had this condition in 2009 - he might have, but we don't know.