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Comment by e-khadem | Hacker News Reader

Sometimes things happen in life, and we don't have any agency. The person apparently had some medical issues as well.

These excuses cannot be used to discount the role of ChatGPT in this. In highschool and at university I knew a few guys (n = 7) that attempted suicide. They all survived because they didn't have the knowledge of "known to work" methods and the survival rates of other methods. And then people noticed their struggles, they were sent to therapy and thankfully all recovered.

The point I'm trying to make is that, even telling someone (or not) that "this drug overdose won't kill you" and "you can hide the noose red marks on your neck like this" can literally be the difference between life and death. I would even lean on the side of "no information and straight refusal is the better action" here.

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> They all survived because they didn't have the knowledge of "known to work" methods and the survival rates of other methods

Are we seriously going to pretend that "how to kill youself" is arcane knowledge that can only be unlocked by ChatGPT?

We are talking about isolated teenagers. Many movies (and stories) show drug overdose and self inflicted wounds as suicide methods, when in reality the survival rate without significant injuries is very high. Also in many cities it might be very hard to find a high place. The keypoint is that the signal to noise ratio is often too low (and deliberately so).

Edit: also consider that suicide rate is much higher after depression symptoms improve. Severely depressed people simply lack the energy to research the topic or acquire the tools. Even the OP's hanging failed for the first time. And they had to specifically look for some suitable material for the second time, and had to double check every step ...

> when in reality the survival rate without significant injuries is very high

You better pipe down about this. An isolated teenager might read it and decide to shoot himself in the head rather than swallow some pills. Maybe the next NYT suicide ragebait article will be about you.

Why are we talking about isolated teenagers? This teenager wasn’t isolated at all.

People who are serious about committing suicide find their ways. Usually hanging, guns or trains.

My point is why should these things be the difference between life or death in the first place? Why are they struggling silently? Why are they researching suicide methods? Just because it's common doesn't mean we should rest our argument. Society has failed to put these people in such scenarios where they are so distressed they turn to self harm.

You're right. But we have to do defense in depth and act on every feasible lever that can be pulled.

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