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Suicide Rates Are Up 30 Percent Since 1999, CDC Says (nbcnews.com)
New submitter Austerity Empowers writes: Amidst all the name calling and straw man arguments about the overall health of America, sometimes it helps to look at data from people who sacrificed everything based on their perception of reality. Whatever politics you subscribe to, the feeling of hopelessness is evidently real, and frightening. NBC News: "Suicide rates are up by 30 percent across the nation since 1999, federal health officials reported Thursday. And only about half the people who died by suicide had a known mental health condition, even though depression had been thought to be the major cause of suicide, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. While many cases of mental illness may have been diagnosed, the CDC also noted that relationship stress, financial troubles and substance abuse were contributing to the trends."
Why do you think alcohol and drug use is so rampant? It's not the cause, it's an effect.
The world is an MMO, and less people see any point in continuing to play if it's set up so that they can't have any fun at all, much less win.
As a former drug addict I can tell you from first hand experience many drug-heads are suicidal who are too timid to commit real suicide - so they choose the alternative --- drug themselves until they forget their pain
I guess a lot of alcoholics are in similar circumstance as well
Officially those who died of OD or those who drank themselves to death are not counted as suicide --- and they should be
As the CDC itself issued 'guidelines' to essentially force doctors to stop giving opioid drugs even to people with chronic pain illnesses and conditions, many of these people are giving up and killing themselves because of the pain.
This report isn't the CDC soberly discussing a disturbing trend. They're bragging at how effectively they themselves are helping cull people from the Social Security and disability payments lists, thus helping their government masters kick the can down the road a bit more.
When the CDC sticks to actual infectious disease, they're some of the best. Anything else, they're one of the evilest parts of the whole fucking federal government.
there's a "need" to write an article. so you do a moving window on some data and look for "shocking" outliers. If you don't find any, you narrow the window and repeat. you're guaranteed to come up with a story that way.
(e.g. could it have been any more shocking if the story said "since 1950" or "since 1980" or "since 2010" they just wrote the story about that particular window that *did* create an outlier.
And then as you point out, someone comes along and says "beh, that's no outlier at all, if you use this other window of time" :-)
Read my post history, I no longer identify as a leftie. I'm a centrist.
The far right (climate deniers, most hard religious folk) are fucking idiots.
SJW's are censoring dipshits.
No, I'm just a realist, with a dose of common sense and the simple ability to understand mathematics, sustainability, very very basic economics.
If you don't see how fucked we are, you're in denial. This ain't about politics, it's about logic.
Listening to all that shit is enough to want to off myself.
Seriously, it's finger pointing and blaming you lefties are doing which is driving everyone down the hole.
"Finger pointing" is usually taken to mean singling out a person or group for blame. I didn't see that anywhere in the post you're whining about. OTOH - "lefties"? Who's doing the finger pointing here? Look in the mirror, Mr. AC Dolt!
Sanctimonious bunch of hypocrites the lot of you... Keep destroying the family... Keep promoting divisions between folks.
Who's more sanctimonious and divisive? The OP, who is simply pointing out legitimate problems? Or you, who clings to 'family values' tropes, and blames a statement of verifiable facts for "promoting divisions"?
You're all so blind you've lost touch with reality.
Say what? You've just stuck your fingers in your ears and started singing "la la la la", so don't be lecturing others about their hold on reality.
You cross the line, forget to respect the boundries that maintain a healthy medium for everyone else.
In the context of this discussion, there's so much out of place in what you've just said, that it's hard to know where to start. What line was crossed in the OP? What "boundries" weren't respected? How does one maintain a "healthy medium" when the suicide rate is up 30% and the planet is crumbling? Here's a hint - your cherished family values ain't worth shit unless you accept that your "family" is the entire human race. That includes the creepy uncles, serial killers, and despots, as well as the kind aunts, great artists, and those who put their lives on the line for their fellow man - and everybody in between.
If you were trolling - and I suspect you were - then please continue. I'm happy to build houses with your sticks and stones - especially when they fail to hit the mark and simply fall at my feet, ready to be turned into something that's possibly helpful.
'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
A quick check of older data shows that suicide rates, even though up 30% since the turn of the century, are about the same as a century ago.
And well below the peak 90 years ago.
So, it's regressing to the mean - big deal, right?
This isn't some natural phenomena that just happens. These are people making the choice to off themselves. The suicide rate should be going to zero.
And the fact that it's going back up is indicative of some underlying problem that shouldn't be ignored.
No fucking shit suicides are up 30%, I have to wonder what % of the suicide people are actually mentally broken or just strong enough to say "you know what, fuck all this"
Well, I suppose it is true that things have never ever been this bad, amirite?
Never ever. This is the absolute worst time in history.
Sarcasm aside, I can't help thinking that economic conditions don't have much to do with this. The overwhelming "cause" at 42 percent is relationship issues. Interestingly in the article, other than noting that cause, nothing was done to address it, only things like housing and programs to make people feel like they belong.
We've had several around here that were people checking out after a divorce. I suppose there is a certain financial aspect to that - in all cases the suicidee had been financially destroyed, but no one around here has killed themselves because of not having a place to live.
I'm pretty convinced that at times, suicide is just the simpler and more effective option.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
Read my post history, I no longer identify as a leftie. I'm a centrist. The far right (climate deniers, most hard religious folk) are fucking idiots.
Very true.
SJW's are censoring dipshits
You forgot to add Racist, Sexist, and soft fascist. But otherwise, yeah.
No, I'm just a realist, with a dose of common sense and the simple ability to understand mathematics, sustainability, very very basic economics.
You should give some thought to pragmatist. Both sides of the political spectrum - actually far left and fr right are almost identical in aim if not the details - have some concepts that work, and some that are dopey.
You're most of the way there. Becoming a pragmatist means you'll piss most everyone off. Far right will call you a socialist, far left a fascist, but they'll be really confused because you pick positions that make sense, not party/ideology dictated.
If you don't see how fucked we are, you're in denial. This ain't about politics, it's about logic.
Things have been fucked up before, they will be fucked up again. The best thing about pragmatism is that once you accept it, the rage eventually goes away.
Although it is fun to troll the far right and far left. You must do this because they deserve it.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
I know this post is probably a troll, but I'm going to respond anyway.
If you're actually considering committing suicide, maybe you should stop focusing on responding to posts that piss you off and call a suicide hotline.
Or, if you're unwilling to try to get help, go the fuck outside and enjoy what's left or your life and stop dwelling on online arguments. You might find that life is actually a lot more livable without the influx of garbage that comes from being online all the time.
That very clearly and unambiguously says that suicide rates are lower among areas that are less poor and/or experiencing less strife.
No need to read between the lines, it is a simple statement that leaves little room for interpretation.
The numbers speak for themselves 42 percent are attributed to a relationship problem. Only 16 percent were financially based - although I wonder how they differentiate. In my neck of the woods, there have been several suicides that were both relationship based as well as financially based. This was in nasty divorce cases where one of the ex-partners was financially decimated.
The point is that if you're really rich and you have to give half your wealth to your ex-wife/husband, you're still fairly rich. If you're just coping financially and have to give half your wealth to your ex-wife/husband, you're then suddenly poor.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
I'm not talking about the poor, I'm talking about those who were middle and upper middle or the chidlren of middle / upper middle, seeing "oh fuck, shit I'm going to be poorer than my parents"
Offspring that are poorer than their parents is not a new phenomenon. Drive and success are not a lock between generations, in some cases, the opposite is true. I came from poor stock, but blessed or cursed with drive, I far outpaced them.
As well, in many cases, these parents only looked more wealthy. The children of the 80's and 90's were often living in families that had pretend wealth - maxed out credit cards, refinanced homes to buy that Escalade, flat or no savings.
It was the middle class playing rich, and it all blew up around them.
But experiencing being poor as well as being wealthy, I wasn't unhappy at all being poor.I had no intention to stay poor, but I wasn't even upset, much less suicidal. If young people today are committing suicide because of their financial situation not being that of their parents - we have failed them by teaching them that money is the only source of happiness, and without it, life is nt worth living.
As for my theory, I lay a lot of blame on the self esteem movement. I saw a lot of Millennials crashing and burning when they found out the world links self esteem with actual achievements, not something inculcated in a person for no other reason than thinking that they are the most important person in the whole wide world.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
Owning stocks does not keep money in circulation. Owning overpriced property does not keep money in circulation. Owning rare artwork does not keep money in circulation. Offshoring profits to tax havens does not keep money in circulation.
The 1% absolutely does hoard their wealth and they've spent the last 40 years using their influence to get laws rewritten to exempt them from taxes so that they can hoard even more while given less than ever back to society.
Sense and enthusiasm are essential for a happy life. In a world transitioning though cyberpunk into post-scarcity faster than any science fiction writer could've ever imagined, sense, meaning and enthusiasm are constantly upended and revised.
These are not easy times. I was suicidal for a bit 6 years back. Luckily I though about what that would do to my daughter and pulled myself out of my rut of over-emphasised self-importance that often is the cause of 1st world depression and went to work to be useful to my loved ones. I bounced back pretty quick and once again these days life is awesome again. Best sex ever, neat job, webdev in high demand and - most importantly - I'm more resilient and prepared for the next slump and emotional downer.
I recommend stoicism as a life philosophy. Get's you though tough times very neatly and helps you focus on the real things. No religion needed.
My 2 cents.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
... than in realtiy." - Seneca
"You can make yourself miserable or you can make yourself happy. The amount of effort is the same." - Carlos Castaneda
Stoicism. Beats religion and any other philosophy any time, hands down.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
We've spent the last 50 years "deconstructing the pillars of society" that pretty much everyone adhered to up until then. As an engineer, I'm wondering if anyone ever checked to see what they were holding up.
You are partly right.
Owning residential property does not keep money in circulation, but owning stocks does - it's money that can directly be used by the company to buy machinery and hire people to work.
One of the problems Australia has, is that because of certain tax deductions that can be made investing in property (negative gearing, which lets you write renal losses off against your income tax), everyone thinks it's a great idea to buy a second or third property as an "investment" even if it earns less rent than the costs of financing and other expenses.
This is pushing house prices up to stupid levels - average houses now cost more than 12x average income) while at the same time, starving the country inf investment capital, so it's very hard to get a new business up and running - there simply aren't enough people willing to invest in new businesses, instead of property. Likewise, its very hard to get a loan from the bank to start a business - but very easy to get ridiculous oversized loans to buy residential property.
Back to the topic at hand though - I personally think that income level has relatively little to do with happiness. The real problem is when you start to live outside your means, often in an attempt to keep up with the jones's. More than ever before, we are bombarded with images of how we should be living, what the "in crowd" on social media are are doing and how much that rapper guy with all his bitches is doing so great, with his mega yacht and bling..
Is it any wonder it's so hard to keep a realistic perspective on what's needed to live a happy life, and focusing on the important things like eating right, exercising well, and spending time with family and friends instead of plugged in 24/7?
I blame social media.
I've been on this Earth now for almost 59 years. I've seen bad times and good. Some things are better now than they were when I was a child in the 60s and 70s and many are better. Poor people today in the US, and I'm lower middle class, live better than at any time in history. This country has people desperate to come here from places that know what real poverty is. While challenges exist there is no reason to run around screaming the sky is falling. Get a grip!
The point is that if you're really rich and you have to give half your wealth to your ex-wife/husband, you're still fairly rich. If you're just coping financially and have to give half your wealth to your ex-wife/husband, you're then suddenly poor.
Exactly. When one person has to give up the house, the car, and the Kids, then their future earnings, and gets to see their children growing in time lapse, well, they might be excused for thinking the system is out to get them, and that suicide is a fine way to opt out of it. That was exactly the case in these societal self-removals.
If you have 50 million sitting around the house and have to give up 25 million of it, you're still a millionaire. If you are making 100K a year, lose all your investments, And can look forward to paying half of your paycheck to your ex - suddenly you can be looking at not all that much more than minimum wage. That's why it is getting difficult to find people saying "Sign me up!" for that these days.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
Right and lets not pretend its not worse than it looks on paper too. A lot of those settlements require transfers of assets and sales of houses or other assets like stocks etc at inopportune times.
If your stock portfolio is evaluated at 300K and you are ordered to give 150K in cash to your ex you have to liquidate a lot of stocks which may have depreciated but you would otherwise have held on the reasonable assumption the share price would recover. Especially if its stuff you bought as dividend plays, where you don't watch the current price as closely.
Divorce is about the most economically devastating thing that can happen to someone in the middle class after perhaps some unexpected medical condition arising. Which is really another reason no-fault divorce should NOT be a thing. Neither party to a marriage contract should be permitted to unilaterally bring that kind of destruction on family and still be permitted to run off with half the assets.
Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
If your comment here is serious (yes, this is how far sites like SlashDot have sunk), you ought to know that you can reach out for help.
This attitude is what pisses me off more than anything. The belief that anyone who plans or attempts suicide needs help. That's incredibly condescending, and shows off your cultural bias based on a fairy tale belief that "life is sacred". Sure, some people might have their life changed in one way or another, making suicide no longer their choice. But that still does not make it right. Who are you to say that life is better than no life for others? Do you say the same about being hetero being better than being gay too? It's really the same type of condescending "moral" view that people want to enforce on others.
If someone wants to die, that should be their right. If we cannot even be allowed to own the decision about our own death, and don't own our own bodies, we are slaves.
Douglas Adams wrote for the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Radio Series (First) About this torture device called the Total Perspective Vortex. Which simply showed your place in the universe. Causing the victim to die a painful death, on realizing how insignificant they are in the perspective of the entire universe.
I expect a similar and much smaller scale effect is happening with access to the internet, and a flood of 24 hour news showing how tiny you are, and how little impact that you are doing to anything is depressing.
Back before all this or when it just started. You could be the big man in your town, the Sports Star, the business owner, the guy with a Masters or a Doctorate. Your society as relatively small, events outside you world were shown in small doses often censored to keep up with your sensibilities. Sure you may get called off to War, but you knew you part of the good guys. There are complex problems, we knew they were "Egg Heads" working on them and their solutions will fix things. But you knew your place in the world, chances are you are doing better then your parents, you have stuff that society says that you should have. You feel good about yourself.
Now being the local expert isn't a big deal, because anyone will google the answer, or watch the real pros play. Local news is mostly limited to the Weather and Traffic. All the problems of the world have half of the people blaming you/your ideals/your life style as the problem. The so called Experts show they don't have as a full grasp as you believed and can only do so much....
For me to find meaning in my life, I often need to cut myself off from the media. just because it is too much.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
You have to remember that it has always been a political tactic of those seeking to gain power to convince people that things are worse than ever and they're only getting worse. With modern communication giving a platform to all dissenters, one would tend to assume that such a mass of people saying the same thing over and over would be correct.
Yes, the gap between the rich and not-rich is widening and has been widening for the last 40 years, but the poorest are still living better than the poorest did 40 years ago. On the whole, the quality of life for the vast majority of people in American has gone way up, but a some people are doing even better.
Where I think the activists don't really really fail is describing the effective class contract between the mega-rich and the less-well-off.
"We work unpreferable jobs with little job satisfaction so you can get rich. All we ask for in return is a livable wage so that we do not go hungry, we can afford safe housing, and so that our towns can afford good infrastructure and schools."
Were they able to consistently describe such a contract, they would then be able to say, "Since the 1970s, the rich have strayed from this agreement. It is time they return."
Yeah, but it's pay2win and the griefers are rampant, creating a toxic experience. Looks like a lot of people are abandoning it.