3 ms·

There is the Werther-effect[1] aka copycat suicide, which could explain the problem. But probably compounded by other factors such as rising uncertainty (job se

There is the Werther-effect[1] aka copycat suicide, which could explain the problem. But probably compounded by other factors such as rising uncertainty (job security, financial struggle) many face today. E.g. for rich nations the problem might be that losing something (job/credit) is harder on people than never having had that "thing" (whatever is "lost") in the first place. (the latter is probably a philosophical point but having gone through rough times after good times myself it always felt harder digging myself out than it felt working hard initially to reach the "good life") Speaking of philosophy I also have seen claims that the damage that is done to the environment would feed back into the social fabric - so people would kind of feel the tension from the damage that is done to nature. I was unable to find anything that could corroborate these claims nor do I subscribe to it, but fwiw the thought has stuck with me. (my interpretation of it is that many people today are hooked to some form of news on social media which is mostly negative. When I grew up news seem to be something only old people read now everyone is engaged in the problems of far away issues. Or maybe it's because I'm old myself now in comparison and am more prone to consuming news with all its negativity ...) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18082110 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18082110

Balgair 8y ago
Mass/cluster suicide is, unfortunately, a poorly understood and researched phenomenon. The Werther-effect seems to be a good first pass at describing what is likely to be a manifestation of many underlying causes [0]. Though this may sound like a broken record: more funding is needed. Suicide can be described like any other disease [1]. It has a coefficient of communicability/spread. Though I can't find the citation, it is thought that social media has increased this coefficient by ~22x ; meaning that suicide has become much easier to 'catch'. In the US, a fair few suicide 'clusters' have sprung up and many more are likely being hidden by empathetic, yet mis-guided, coroners. One famous one was in at Palo Alto HS in California[2], where a lot of Stanford's Professors sent their kids. Another, still ongoing, is in Colorado Springs' religious High School network[3]. I'll let Newsweek speak for the true horror that is possible via new technology: >“This is the part that kills me—I know she was texting other kids at the time and letting them know,” he says. She wrote, “My feet are off the floor,” and “Everything is getting hazy and dark.” None of the kids intervened; one responded by suggesting she “unhang.” Suicide is also prevalent in east Africa currently [1] and there have been spats of it throughout time in a wide variety of place and for a large range of reasons[4]. Even talking about suicide at all, like I am currently doing, can increase it's reach. It's a very tricky thing to research and combat, as a consequence. PLEASE, if you are feeling suicidal, reach out! Call a friend, a family member, or someone you feel safe with. CALL THIS NUMBER NOW: 1-800-273-8255 [0] Like describing a stuffy nose; it has many causes. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epidemiology_of_suicide https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epidemiology_of_suicide [2] https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/12/the-silicon-valley-suicides/413140/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/12/the-sil... [3] https://www.newsweek.com/2016/10/28/teen-suicide-contagious-colorado-springs-511365.html https://www.newsweek.com/2016/10/28/teen-suicide-contagious-... [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_epidemic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_epidemic

Balgair 8y ago

Mass/cluster suicide is, unfortunately, a poorly understood and researched phenomenon. The Werther-effect seems to be a good first pass at describing what is likely to be a manifestation of many underlying causes [0]. Though this may sound like a broken record: more funding is needed. Suicide can be described like any other disease [1]. It has a coefficient of communicability/spread. Though I can't find the citation, it is thought that social media has increased this coefficient by ~22x ; meaning that suicide has become much easier to 'catch'. In the US, a fair few suicide 'clusters' have sprung up and many more are likely being hidden by empathetic, yet mis-guided, coroners. One famous one was in at Palo Alto HS in California[2], where a lot of Stanford's Professors sent their kids. Another, still ongoing, is in Colorado Springs' religious High School network[3]. I'll let Newsweek speak for the true horror that is possible via new technology: >“This is the part that kills me—I know she was texting other kids at the time and letting them know,” he says. She wrote, “My feet are off the floor,” and “Everything is getting hazy and dark.” None of the kids intervened; one responded by suggesting she “unhang.” Suicide is also prevalent in east Africa currently [1] and there have been spats of it throughout time in a wide variety of place and for a large range of reasons[4]. Even talking about suicide at all, like I am currently doing, can increase it's reach. It's a very tricky thing to research and combat, as a consequence. PLEASE, if you are feeling suicidal, reach out! Call a friend, a family member, or someone you feel safe with. CALL THIS NUMBER NOW: 1-800-273-8255 [0] Like describing a stuffy nose; it has many causes. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epidemiology_of_suicide https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epidemiology_of_suicide [2] https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/12/the-silicon-valley-suicides/413140/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/12/the-sil... [3] https://www.newsweek.com/2016/10/28/teen-suicide-contagious-colorado-springs-511365.html https://www.newsweek.com/2016/10/28/teen-suicide-contagious-... [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_epidemic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_epidemic