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posted by LaminatorX on Sunday November 16 2014, @11:08AM   Printer-friendly
from the over-there dept.

David Wagner writes that a predictive computer model using machine learning methods is helping to identify soldiers in the United States Army most likely to commit suicide. Computers combed through data on more than 40,000 soldiers who'd been hospitalized for mental health problems looking at 421 variables on each soldier drawn from 38 military data systems. Using a method known as “machine learning,” the researchers identified roughly two dozen factors that are most important in predicting soldiers most likely to commit suicide. The soldiers most likely to take their own lives were men with past suicidal behavior and a history of psychiatric disorders and criminal offenses, including weapons possession and verbal assaults. Soldiers with hearing loss also faced heightened risk — a strong indicator that they had suffered a head injury. So did enlisting in the Army after age 27, most likely because those soldiers had already experienced trouble finding their way in life. “There’s this group that comes to the Army later in life — they’re smart, they have skills, they tend not to be married and they have no career or have left a career to join,” Dr. Kessler said. “We don’t know why they should be at higher risk, but they appear to be.”

Murray Stein, co-author of the new study, found that among soldiers recently discharged from psychiatric hospitals, more than half of suicides were committed by just five percent of patients. “The most impressive thing is that they identified this high-risk group in the hospital, and by just focusing on one in 20 of them, you’re really dramatically improving your ability to predict,” says Dr. Mark Olfson, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University who was not involved in the study. “Clinicians don’t do a very good job predicting suicide risk, even though we think we do.”

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  • (Score: 1) by dmbasso on Sunday November 16 2014, @12:50PM

    by dmbasso (3237) on Sunday November 16 2014, @12:50PM (#116383)

    Using a method known as “machine learning,”

    Might as well say "using a method known as 'statistics'"... or "computer science", or "math".

    --
    `echo $[0x853204FA81]|tr 0-9 ionbsdeaml`@gmail.com
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 16 2014, @12:56PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 16 2014, @12:56PM (#116387)

      The sperm is sucked from the penis using a method known as fellatio.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 16 2014, @01:02PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 16 2014, @01:02PM (#116392)

        Too specific bro. Duh call it eatin a cock meat sammich or sumthin.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 16 2014, @01:20PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 16 2014, @01:20PM (#116396)

          Or even "An Evening at gewg_'s".

    • (Score: 2) by cafebabe on Monday November 17 2014, @03:05AM

      by cafebabe (894) on Monday November 17 2014, @03:05AM (#116569) Journal

      Your signature:-

      `echo $[0x853204FA81]|tr 0-9 ionbsdeaml`@gmail.com

      Could be slightly improved if it was:-

      `echo $[0xAF19A6C229]|tr 0-9 ionbeamdsl`@gmail.com

      Although, from the anagram server [wordsmith.org], you may prefer lesbianmod, lambonside, bonsaimeld, daemonlibs, sandmobile, animblesod, lemonisbad, modbinsale, nameisbold, bondismale, sameoldbin, sanelibmod, mailbendso or another possibility.

      --
      1702845791×2
      • (Score: 1) by dmbasso on Tuesday November 18 2014, @08:05AM

        by dmbasso (3237) on Tuesday November 18 2014, @08:05AM (#117153)

        Nice, I like your suggestion, thank you. I've chosen the smallest prime for that digit span, but yours is also a prime (was it intentional?)
        Unfortunately the anagrams are not prime... too bad, I liked 'lesbianmod' :p

        --
        `echo $[0x853204FA81]|tr 0-9 ionbsdeaml`@gmail.com
  • (Score: 0, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 16 2014, @12:54PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 16 2014, @12:54PM (#116385)

    When soldiers in the United States Army break through their conditioning and comprehend that they serve the Ultimate Evil, the guilt is so overwhelming that they kill themselves out of shame.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 16 2014, @10:43PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 16 2014, @10:43PM (#116524)

      We can't even be honest with ourselves about why we are targets of terrorism:

      Americans are asking "Why do they hate us?"

      They hate what they see right here in this chamber: a democratically elected government. Their leaders are self-appointed. They hate our freedoms: our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other.

      - George W. Bush

      The American people should remember that they pay taxes to their government, they elect their president, their government manufactures arms and gives them to Israel and Israel uses them to massacre Palestinians. The American Congress endorses all government measures and this proves that the entire America is responsible for the atrocities perpetrated against Muslims.

      - Osama bin Laden

      We defend the Korean border while leaving our own open. Why risk your life elsewhere when your own country is being invaded?

    • (Score: 2) by tibman on Monday November 17 2014, @12:51AM

      by tibman (134) Subscriber Badge on Monday November 17 2014, @12:51AM (#116541)

      Normal citizens just watching TV receive more mental conditioning than US Army soldiers. Soldiers do get a lot of physical conditioning though : )

      --
      SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 16 2014, @12:59PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 16 2014, @12:59PM (#116390)

    NO YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU STUPID MORON HOW CAN YOU BE SO FUCKING STUPID

  • (Score: 2) by wonkey_monkey on Sunday November 16 2014, @01:01PM

    by wonkey_monkey (279) on Sunday November 16 2014, @01:01PM (#116391) Homepage

    Using a method known as “machine learning,”

    Did they use a "comp-u-ter"?

    Machine Learning Used to Predict Military Suicides

    But it doesn't any more? That's a shame.

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk
  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 16 2014, @01:07PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 16 2014, @01:07PM (#116394)

    Toilets used to flush shit but now they be clogged nigga. Where's dat cracka ass janitor at?

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Kell on Sunday November 16 2014, @02:34PM

    by Kell (292) on Sunday November 16 2014, @02:34PM (#116404)

    I'm trying to puzzle this out. If half of suicides are committed by 5 per cent of patients... does that mean that suicide collectively account for 10 per cent of soldiers discharged from psychiatric hospitals? Presumably suicide has a low rate of recurrance... or so I hope. I suspect they really mean "suicide attempts".

    --
    Scientists ask questions. Engineers solve problems.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 16 2014, @02:34PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 16 2014, @02:34PM (#116405)

    You shut down your monster and turn it into doing humanitarian projects, instead of making war.
    Then you can use your program to monitor the healing affects of doing something beautiful in the world.