TIL: Suicide Rate in the United States Just Hit Highest Point in 75 Years

I wonder how much this has to do with our 24 hour "make them angry and scared so they keep watching and giving us clicks for our ad revenue" news cycle. Of course that isn't the sole factor and I don't know if we'd ever be able to measure the impact of that alone vs other things, but I do wonder.

People need 3 things to commit suicide:

• social isolation
• sense of burden
• capacity

Social Isolation

If the person feels alone, even if surrounded by people, they're meeting this criterion. Loneliness is social pain because being alone was guaranteed death back in the day. Being socially isolated is literally painful.

Sense of Burden

If the person feels that all they do is drag people down, then they may see that their existence is a drag. Match this sense of worthlessness and parasitic existence with the pain of loneliness, and the person in a dire hopeless situation. To them, there is no point to being alive. They're in constant inescapable pain and not only contribute nothing, but they are spreading that pain onto others...at least that's how they see it.

Capacity

This refers to the ability for someone to be able to kill themselves. Do they have the means? Pills, car, rope, firearm? Military people in general are at higher risk because they are more likely to have firearms. But one thing that I think is overlooked is that they've been trained at a brainwashing level that violent killing is the ultimate solution to problems.

Regardless, not having the capacity is a major protective factor, which is why people get isolated in settings that prevent them from killing themselves. I'd like to point out how fucked up this is though. We are taking a person that is in so much pain they want to die, and placing them in a physical environment that prevents them from that. While necessary as a last resort, it's torture.

What if when someone says their in pain, we believe them? Maybe we offer millions of other opportunities to turn their life around. And if they're not grabbing on to those opportunities, work with them to solve those barriers. Maybe placing blame on them solely increases their sense of burden.

If you're in pain, I believe you ♥️

edit:

The economy is totally fine though /s

prices go up, people get squeezed, and no one cares, the social safety net has been whittled down to nothing by republicans. all alone and looking at the prospect of getting or being sick, homeless, and without assistance.

Effort needs to be put into supporting men.

Firearms play a critical role in suicide deaths, being used in over 50% of all suicides in 2022. The availability and lethality of firearms contribute significantly to the high suicide rates, particularly among men. Recent data shows that increases in firearm suicides are driving the overall rise in suicide deaths, with 2022 recording the highest number of gun-related suicides on record. This underscores the importance of addressing firearm access as part of suicide prevention strategies.

Reminder that most suicide attempts are in response to an acute crisis, like an argument with a loved one, and go from initial idea to action in less than 30 minutes.

Survivors report perceived lethality of firearms being a primary factor in their decision.

Access to lethal means can make all the difference between a bad day and a last day.

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/means-matter

But the billionaires are doing great though, so what’s the issue? /s

When a colossal part of the population suffers from a whole plethora of societal issues, most of which either go ignored, or are actively being made worse by local government, no fucking surprise people want to end it

If you barely have the money for shelter and food, me yal health becomes an unnecessary expense

I read "lowest" and said to myself "no fucking way". Highest does sound right, but I don't even live there, so what do I know?