Why isnt more being done?

1

Every day I read or hear about someone being suicidal on this website. Each year I hear through the grapevine of people I know or used to know, killing themselves. My question is, why isnt more being done? Its always broadcasted as sort of a personal problem. “Oh you know him, he’s always been depressed.” or “She just couldnt take it I guess.” How is this not seen as a societal issue? Why is the suicide death rate not next to the death toll statistics in every country or state? What the fuck is wrong with the world to be so willing to overlook this?

Category: asked August 15, 2014

9 Answers

5
accepted
Because the United States is ultimately a corrupt and selfish venture at the governmental level. The larger a country is, the more corruption will be found. There has never been a superpower in the history of the world with a focus on humanitarian leanings.

Smaller nations like Finland and Denmark (with high suicide rates) have a focus on mental healthcare, but the same systems wouldn't work for a larger nation like the US.

About three weeks ago, there were more than seven suiciders popping up on BlahTherapy, and I was up for two days talking to just three of them. Talking someone into living is exhausting, but ultimately worth it.

There absolutely must be more of a focus on finding and helping those with suicidal ideation and leanings, but keep in mind what that means; the assets and the sheer man-hours put into inspiring another human being to live is colossal; however noble the goal.
2
So.. this will most likely start a debate and maybe this isn't the place for it but I will play devils advocate here.

Who are we to say that suicide is such a bad thing? Sure in, probably, most cases it isn't a solution but... we must consider there are individuals who will view this world... their life as suffering. We can try to make their life better... medications or whatever but some will just view this as a horrible existence. Who are we to say "no you must stay here and suffer?" If their life cannot genuinely be made better... if happiness cannot be restored... let them go.

On the other side... so you want more to be done... aside from talking about it what is the solution? There are a ton of help options out there. Maybe they need better advertising? I think it is unrealistic to ask everyone in the world to be better people... certainly not going to happen over night... so short term what is the answer?
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You all bring up some valid points, I'd also like to add that perhaps the reason for why things aren't working the way it should, is because we view it differently. And while yes, it's important to advertise the issue more perhaps we should be focusing on how we act and react to each other.

For instance, much like instead of punishing our children for doing wrong, or teaching them to be something which is acceptable for society, instead teach the younger generation not to be so judgmental, to be more understanding of the diversity of humans.

Like many other things, suicidal thoughts is the effects of a cause, and you can spend years and years trying to convince them that what they think is wrong, but until they actually believe it themselves, it won't work. Sure, perhaps temporary escaping the problem, but it's a fair chance that it'll come back again.

The blessing of a free mind, to think what we want and do what we want, also comes with a price. You can argue forever about what's right or wrong, but in their mind, they are doing what they believe is right for them.

In a way, we are selfish like that, wanting to find a quick fix, an easy solution to a problem. As well as if something doesn't personally happen to us, it doesn't affect us as much as it would. Perhaps as it should.

At the same time, while I'm an optimist, you also need to be realistic about it. Nothing is going to change over night. The suck in the world is not just going to disappear. And as much as you want to, we're not going to be able to save everyone, especially ones who doesn't want to be saved.

But of course, we want to, want to do everything we can to help them, to make them see things our way, which could as easily work as push them over the edge. Not to mention the emotional strain it has on people.

Suicidal doesn't automatically mean that they want to die, they've simply lost a will to live, or they don't know how to. And ultimately, only they themselves can make them believe it.
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I personally don't think that the issue is that we're so willing to overlook suicide, but we're not willing to talk about it. The prospect of suicide is a scary one for most. It's a taboo subject in normal society, meaning those who are suicidal may feel conflicted in talking to someone about their suicidal thoughts. People who are not trained to deal with suicide have their own defenses against the issue. The quotes that you mentioned are prime examples of these: "She just couldn't take it I guess" and similar statements are a defense, a justification for suicide. The prospect of suicide for these people is just so real that they'd rather not address it. That culture has unfortunately been ingrained in ourselves. It's easier for us to leave these difficult conversations to other folks. Does that make it right? No. As with any other mental illness, the best for us is education. Depression and feeling suicidal can happen to anyone. It's important to educate others that when someone talks about suicide that they are actually making a very courageous decision not to live with it by themselves. Suicidal people, in general don't need special treatment or someone to tread lightly around them. They need someone to ask them a few simple questions; "How are you feeling" "What made you feel this way" and "What can help?" - A complex understanding of suicide isn't needed to deal with suicide. Unfortunately, there are few who are actually aware of that.
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That isnt my point. My point is that there is clearly many things amiss in the world if so many are suicidal. There is a deeper issue than simply talking about suicide. The issue is that people are even getting to that point in life. Nobody should ever be driven to suicide, and as someone who has been suicidal for years, I definitely feel it all stems from how dysfunctional society is today.
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I concur with Mongoose. While I do not advocate suicide by any means, I believe in the autonomy of a person. I realize that most suicide cases come from a somewhat altered state of mind, but there are those that are considered "philosophical" suicides where a person who is what we consider to be a "normal" state of mind who deliberately chooses to end his or her life. See physician assistant suicides as an example. Also, take some time to yourself to consider how suicide has become such a taboo in our society. For me, there is a logical explanation for this.

I'd also like to add on (not to be taken in a negative way) that people dying, be it disease or another means(like suicide), is essential. This is not to say we should just let everyone go and never help, but it is something to consider.

And finally, my retort to what Jonathan has said. It does take an incredible amount of time to work with a person, especially one who has one foot off the edge. It is great if you are able to help that person. However, while intentions may be good, I feel a lot of this "help" in psychiatry as well as other fields in medicine may actually hurt the person more than it helps them. While one may feel they have achieved the goal of helping someone in the short term, nobody really knows what that person does when they aren't speaking to you and are unsupervised. It's easy to give an answer, harder to explain the process, but it is ultimately out of your hands how a person uses that information for better or for worse.
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I wanted to share some things that might bring a little hope in terms of what people are trying to do about this. Please share. Thank you.http://www.ted.com/talks/clint_smith_the_danger_of_silence?utm_source=newsletter_weekly_2014-08-16&utm_campaign=newsletter_weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_content=talk_of_the_week_button#t-12116http://www.billballenger.com/
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Suicide is of all ages. I don't think it happens more now than it ever happened. It's more out in the open I think. Nobody should be driven to suicide, I agree with that. But as long as you have to have a license for just about anything except having children, people will mess up their kids. As long as the biological component of chronic depression is not found, people will be getting desperate of living and desperate of trying to make it better and failing. All we can do is stand next to each and every one of them and help them find their way. Whether that way would be our way or not.
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The ugly truth! We are over 7 billion in this planet. Even if 100 million were gone in a second...it wouldn't matter.LET IT BE