Suicide is on the rise

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The CDC released a report last week that suicides in the United States have increased by 30% over the last 20 years. They said that not every person who committed suicide suffered from a mental illness. They said that it has to do with a number of factors such as a relationship breakup/divorce, a job loss, financial problems, and the stresses of everyday life in general. Coincidentally, the same week that this report was released, 2 prominent people, Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, took their own lives. I understand why people commit or attempt suicide. I don't blame them for not wanting to suffer. Life is not all that great. I have felt suicidal myself. I have never attempted it but I have thought about it many times. Not only are people killing themselves, but there are also people who go out on a shooting spree killing people and then pulling the trigger on themselves. We have seen an increase of mass shootings in the United States as well. What is happening to our culture that people want to kill themselves or others? There is something deeply concerning that no one seems to be addressing. I understand that life can seem unbearable at times. We as a society need to change our culture and address these issues because there is something very troubling.

I think its parents becoming more selfish and self focused and I think smaller families are partly to blame, if I had a brother or even a sister similar to my age then I could have had someone to talk to.

In 1999 at the time of the Columbine school shooting it was my belief that the frequency of incidences of amoklauf would increase over time as this is normal behavior given the state of human affairs.

Care and wisdom can be cultivated and passed on through generations to avoid decline and this has not been the case. We are a warrior society motivated by greed and the way things are today reflect this. The horror will be normalized.

Pump people full of enough vapid media, sugars and terrible drugs...

people crave information, as much as they crave good nutrients and all of those are being denied and replaced with cheaper and terrible alternatives. and when you do feel bad, you get prescribed painkillers that will f**k you up, instead of a milder substitute... this is such a complicated and multifaceted problem, it's terrifying to think about. too many paths and options.

but it needs to change. im seeing it happen more and more in the EU as well and it is a disturbing trend.

It has been interesting to see how neurotypical acquaintances -- who were so confident and sure of themselves 20-25 years ago -- have turned into insecure, weepy wrecks if no one responds immediately to their texts and tweets, or when someone unlikes them on Facebook.

I have to wonder if their overwhelming reliance on digital media for self-affirmation is what is driving (some) neurotypicals toward depression, despair, and suicide.

jeeeeeee boiii

It's no surprise to me. We are just "meat-bags" in an evermore socially isolated and automated world. Gotta love Silicon Valley's virtue signaling when they are the ones selling us on tech that ultimately dehumanizes our everyday existence.

I think there are multiple things that contribute:

1. Western societies have a very high focus on competitiveness, being a failure or success. This is why suicide and depression are endemic problems no matter how civilized we are (and countries like Japan and US are so high). Since society is very well organized, there is a lot of standards that you can feel very pressured by, media can help in creating these standards "good-looking vs ugly", "fat vs fit", "making money or living in parent's basement", etc. As a result, a lot of people feel disillusioned and dejected from society and think that they fit what society considers a failure (that's what I think of myself anyways).

2. Starting from the feeling of self-hate, people can then transfer that hate onto others. A depressed person is especially susceptible to having their ideas radicalized by some belief because they think it provides an alternative outlet to their self-hate.

3. If your isolated for a long time, and there is no one to guide you in the right direction, you can gradually start getting more and more obsessed in your hate. Also on the internet, talking everyday in threads of other depressed loners, your ideas can gradually become more and more heightened and this can lead to thinking that something like a school shooting is the answer (the group might even encourage you). I think a great example of this was the recent Incel/4chan guy who ran people over in Canada.

As for suicide, I can speak personally that I also seriously consider it, but I think it's in part because I principally don't see it the same way as most people do. For example, if you are in a game, and you aren't enjoying it and aren't interested in continuing, and there is a simple button you could press to exit the game, it's fully rational to do so. If suicide was as easy as pressing a button, I'd probably do it, I think it's rather cruel that so much obstacles exist to it. I think there are two types of people that think of suicide. Those that do so because they have some specific event or events that cause them to do so suddenly and then people (I think Robin Williams and Bourdain were examples) who are just depressive naturally and face that issue their whole life (I would be latter).

I agree with you that this issue comes first and foremost from what our current society is, although I think that's an inevitable byproduct of us becoming more and more civilized.

Apologies if answer is too long.