Suicide Contagion and the Reporting of Suicide (1994) | Hacker News Reader

Suicide Contagion and the Reporting of Suicide (1994)

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33 pointsdbloom21 comments

Would you guys stop posting about suicide? I've already been measuring the speed I'd hit the ground if I were to jump from my balcony. I'm serious. Maybe this is why mainstream media doesn't report on suicides.

I don't know if this comment was meant to be snarky, or illustrative, or in any way not a direct statement of fact, but I will never take such a comment lightly.

Are you okay? Please call a friend and talk, or 1-800-273-8255 (national suicide hotline, for US people).

If you want to talk to someone but don't have anyone to turn to, my email is this same username at endofunctor.org

Life can be hard sometimes and I know it doesn't feel like things will change, but it will pass. You will feel better.

They usually hit the front page for a few days after an event. I assume it Robin Williams related. In the mean time http://i.imgur.com/vvAzSFi.gif

thank you for doing this... I know where you got that from, and I laughed again. Truly appreciate it :)

I appreciate the downvotes. You clearly don't understand how such topics affect other people lives.

Most people don't. This seems to be quite prevalent in most societies. News media doing anything to get a story to grab viewers. Another example is school shootings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PezlFNTGWv4

It's hard to know what the right thing is to do with reports like this. If, as seems to be the case, articles about suicide encourage suicide, is it better to keep quiet about the fact so as not to directly contribute to the problem? Or is it better to report it in hopes of educating the media and reducing future articles, at the cost of more articles right now?

Either way, I hope you're able to find comfort and support somewhere. I've been there, and I know it sucks. Best wishes, truly.

Hey, I don't know how to help you, generally or with this issue of postings on HN being triggering specifically. Nor do I know the right thing to say today. Sometimes I do, but I don't today. I just wanted to touch base and offer a smidgeon of human warmth.

http://www.beyondblue.org.au/

There are people and organisations out there who can help you find a better way of overcoming depression.

> suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem

As someone who has struggled with suicide, please stop saying this.

http://suicidepreventioncommunity.wordpress.com/2010/03/05/p...

Having an episode of depression doesn't give you special insight on this issue. Your experience wasn't universal and if you're browsing this site you probably ought to know better than to put excessive weight on your own anecdotal evidence.

Personally, I'm really sick of the pussy-footing around the issue and I've yet to see any scientific evidence that it's helping anyone.

I am really confused by this post. ChristianBundy linked to an article by a suicide prevention professional, and you're accusing him of pushing anecdotal evidence based solely on his own experience. Are you under the impression that he wrote the article? Did you reply to the wrong post?

The author, Franklin Cook, has a Master of Arts degree in humanities. He's an "editor" for "SPNAC" in that, as far as I can tell, he's the only contributor and uses the site to advertise his paid services as a grief counselor.

The article itself offers no credible reference and is self-labelled as an opinion piece.

I'm under the impression that the ChristianBundy merely googled an article that agreed with his personal experiences. We've all done that, but it's important to apply skeptical scrutiny.

Okay. Maybe Cook has no actual credentials and is just some dude pontificating on the internet. He still makes a coherent and level-headed argument for why that phrase is counterproductive. If you disagree, the ball's in your court to provide a reasoned response. You won't convince anyone with dismissive, content-free snark.

Look, I'm sorry if this sounds snarky, but the burden of proof definitely has to be on the person trying to censor rather than the person being censored. Otherwise we end up in an endless political correctness circle jerk where no one can propose anything of substance without being shamed for it.

That being said, it's trivial to write a coherent sounding argument with the exact opposite conclusion. I won't bore you with the details, but it works because people (especially in times of stress) will often react completely differently in response to the same stimuli. Psychology arguments that sound coherent and clever are fun, but without proper scientific study they're more often wrong than right.

Censored? You think suggesting that a phrase commonly used in mental health treatment is detrimental to that treatment is censorship?

I'm starting to think that calling people censors for disagreeing with one is the "well, that's just, like, your opinion, man" of the 21st century.

If you know a better word for requesting someone not say something I'd consider using it. Rewording things because someone might read too far into connotations wastes a lot of time though, which I guess brings us back to the original point.

Okay. Maybe Cook has no actual credentials and is just some dude pontificating on the internet. He still makes a coherent and level-headed argument for why that phrase is counterproductive. If you disagree, I'd like to see a reasoned response instead of dismissive, content-free snark.

Hey there! Why don't you (or anyone else reading this) shoot me an e-mail. Rick@rudelinux.org.

Thank you all for the kind comments. Although this is a real struggle to me, I didn't mean to bring all the attention to my issues. Thank you sincerely.

I am certainly not the only one here struggling with these kind of problems. I come to HN to distract my mind and learn new things, but it is tough when you try to get away from something happening in your life and you have to face it here. Some people don't realize how depressing some topics/discussions are and they don't realize how this can affect others already struggling with depression or other related issues. I'm sorry for asking what I asked, but I fail to understand why topics like suicide are coming up here more often.

Distractions are good, but HN also still has some remnants of a "community", and depression has been a recurring topic here for years. There are some factors that can make small business and startup founders susceptible to severe depression, and it wasn't that long ago that we lost one of our members to suicide -- and at this point, unfortunately, I'm sure there have been others, statistically speaking.

A few people, like me, have decided to start talking more openly about depression rather than trying to maintain the appearance that nothing was wrong. I was motivated by Stephen Fry and by a few other events around the same time, including the suicide of one of my clients.

I don't think anybody understands depression well enough yet to give advice that will work for everyone. (I sure as hell am long past wanting to receive any more advice; I hate being told to talk to a professional.)

But, if you'd like to just chat about stuff for a while, my email address is in my profile. Open invitation. You wouldn't be the first. It might be better than jumping out a window.

On the balance though, I think it would be good to de-stigmatize depression a bit. People who struggle with depression shouldn't also feel alone.

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