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from the reports-of-my-death-are-not-exaggerated dept.
The U.S. Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (CDC) released a new Vital Signs report on Thursday, 7 June, 2018.
In the press release about the new report, the CDC states that:
Suicide rates have been rising in nearly every state, according to the latest Vital Signs report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2016, nearly 45,000 Americans age 10 or older died by suicide. Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death and is one of just three leading causes that are on the rise.
[...]
Researchers found that more than half of people who died by suicide did not have a known diagnosed mental health condition at the time of death. Relationship problems or loss, substance misuse; physical health problems; and job, money, legal or housing stress often contributed to risk for suicide. Firearms were the most common method of suicide used by those with and without a known diagnosed mental health condition.
Are any Soylentils contemplating suicide? Do you know anyone who has attempted or succeeded in taking their own life? Why do you think suicide rates are on the rise?
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Snotnose on Friday June 08 2018, @07:19PM (44 children)
between the rising suicide rates and more frequent school shootings. School shootings have been going on for less than 20 years, now they're a weekly occurrence.
IMHO, something is changing. I don't know what, but look at our dysfunctional political system up and down the spectrum, suicides, school shootings, etc etc.
Or hell, it could just be the 24/7 news cycle we have today. Dammit Jim! I'm a software engineer, not a psychiatrist!
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Grishnakh on Friday June 08 2018, @07:23PM (20 children)
IMHO, something is changing. I don't know what, but look at our dysfunctional political system up and down the spectrum, suicides, school shootings, etc etc.
Dammit Jim! I'm a software engineer, not a psychiatrist!
I'd like to point out that that's another thing that's completely different.
Star Trek used to be a highly optimistic, even utopian show about a team of likable and competent people working together to solve problems without being involved in completely unnecessary interpersonal conflict and drama.
Now it's a show about one completely unlikable character among a crew of sociopaths at each others' throats.
When you can't even trust Star Trek to paint a rosy picture of the future, you know that something is seriously wrong with society.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by bob_super on Friday June 08 2018, @07:44PM
So, should we blame Batman Begins for ushering in an era of dark shows, where the TV/stream doesn't compensate for the daily grind ?
I'll drop in FaceBook et al., for showing you how much better all your "friends" lives are, and amplifying conflicts (something fragile people don't need).
Add a sprinkle of flat wages for a couple decades, a pinch of rising costs and declining benefits, a teaspoon of global shittitude ... dang, where's my gun?
(Score: 4, Interesting) by VLM on Friday June 08 2018, @08:27PM (6 children)
The problem is all legacy TV is like that. The problem isn't Trek.
Some of the problem is all boomers watched MASH or All in the Family, for example, but all organizations get weird and extremist as they implode and die, all. Think of any dying company you ever worked at, or dying industry, its always bonkers. So its novel that TV as it dies is going thru a major depressive event, but it doesn't really matter because practically no one as a percentage watches TV any more, no longer a cultural influence.
Another way of putting it is in the boomer 70s a show like MASH influenced culture by being watched. A show like ... anything on TV, how about Survivor, has little influence on culture but what little it does is from people talking about it, as almost no one watches TV anymore. Newspapers are like that too.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 09 2018, @02:19AM (5 children)
> A show like ... anything on TV, how about Survivor, has little influence on culture but what little it does is from people talking about it, as almost no one watches TV anymore.
I'd say it has had great impact over time. That shit has been smeared across the air waves for two decades now. It grinds people down. In addition to the laundry list bob_super posted above, some of the general shittitude looks as if it were directly out of the Survivor (tm) playbook. That show, like many others, are just templates to train small people how to gang up on, conspire against, and take down those with more skill or talent. At least in principle in generations past, a common way you could get ahead was through skill and hard work. Since the end of the millenium that no longer holds true and sucking up is not just one alternative it is the only option. Skill gets in the way of that because it takes time away from sucking up. Hard work gets in the way of that because it too takes time away from sucking up ... and back stabbing.
Take another series like Game of Thrones. It's just a collage of plotless violence, yet people eat that stuff up. They eat it up, digest it, and then put it into practice.
Hell, none of the shows are either fun or relaxing to watch. Most seem designed to greatly increase anxiety and stress. That's on top of the changes to the workplace which really are increasing anxiety and stress.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Saturday June 09 2018, @02:33AM
It's just a mildly exaggerated fantasy about late Medieval Era societies, politics, and inevitable warfare. Which happens to be a collage of violence, though not necessarily without plot.
I think contrary to whoever kicked off this thread, that entertainment which contains depressing themes is more a sign of good times than bad. In bad times, people don't want to be reminded of that. You get a lot more feelgood entertainment.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Saturday June 09 2018, @03:33AM (2 children)
Take another series like Game of Thrones. It's just a collage of plotless violence, yet people eat that stuff up. They eat it up, digest it, and then put it into practice.
Hey now, while I'm a bit Star Trek (but not Discovery) fan, I'm also a GoT fan.
The thing about GoT is that it basically shows human nature as it really is. The violence isn't "plotless", it's all part of a very complex story; that's why the show is so popular with people who don't even like TV much. It takes a lot of thought to keep all the different characters straight; it's an incredibly complex plot. The whole show is basically showing how stupid humans are because they're constantly fighting each other (mainly for power), even when there's a much larger threat to all of them. In the show, the "white walkers" are coming for the living, but no one believes it, and instead they're massacring each other in constant wars. This is somewhat like us in real life, constantly competing with and warring with each other, meanwhile we're all likely to suffer catastrophic effects from climate change and ecosystem destruction. But I'll agree, it's not relaxing to watch, but it was never meant to be. Were Ben-Hur or Lawrence of Arabia fun and relaxing to watch? How about All Quiet on the Western Front? Apocalypse Now?
(Score: 2) by zugedneb on Saturday June 09 2018, @11:24AM (1 child)
The problem is, the violence it shows was needed in times of need; a snapshot of a particular time, or slice of history...
It does not show a way out of it, and it is that way that is needed.
As it is, it programs the autopilot in people to think in ways they did not normally allow themselves.
Human nature is programmable, u know...
old saying: "a troll is a window into the soul of humanity" + also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ajax
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Saturday June 09 2018, @11:39AM
It does not show a way out of it, and it is that way that is needed.
What the heck are you talking about? The show isn't over yet, and the most recent season was all about Jon and Dany talking about building a better world together, because they realized just how screwed up their world was.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday June 09 2018, @03:40PM
Question: Just how many TV shows from the '50's '60's and '70's do you think were any more than senseless violence? Oh-kay, Star Trek. How many more can you name?
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 08 2018, @08:53PM (11 children)
The world needs a quick infusion of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. Cancel Family Guy and replace it with Ponies.
Uh oh... here it comes... people born with penises are REQUIRED to watch mindless fart jokes and people getting their guts blown out all over the sidewalk. Because.... because... penises!
It is actually interesting how TV was once used to channel common ethical beliefs. A larger problem is that ethics and morality have all but disappeared. If something is not expressly illegal then it is fair game. Part of it is probably fewer people believing that some magic sky being commands what is right and wrong, while there is no alternate to fill the void yet. Uh, do what is right because Princess Celestia commands it! :P
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 08 2018, @09:26PM (2 children)
Sorry, once they put wings on Twilight Sparkle, the show just wasn't the same.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 08 2018, @10:29PM
True enough. Between that and the new "castle" you could just about hear some corporate suit screaming "buy our new merch, bitches!"
But it has still been over all better than most other shows out there. Which says more about the other shows.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 09 2018, @12:56PM
Wings? Is that a euphemism for 'gay'?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 08 2018, @11:44PM
Delicious. Equine. Pussy. The only thing keeping me from taking my own life.
(Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 09 2018, @01:01AM (5 children)
Without the grace of God, there is no hope for you. Or any of us. What you are seeing is the soul of the West shriveling up and dying. Without a new awakening, it will only get worse from here on out.
Enjoy your cartoons.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 09 2018, @04:13AM
The thesis to The Decline of the West, (Spengler, 1918).
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 09 2018, @02:11PM (3 children)
Bzzt. God does not exist. And there is no magic afterlife. It is depressing, but that is reality. There are other, real, things that we can obtain hope from.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 09 2018, @03:29PM (2 children)
As much as I dislike the sky fairy worshipping you don't have any real proof on your side. Humanity doesn't even understand gravity let alone consciousness, so save your superiority complex for when you can actually prove something.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 09 2018, @06:30PM (1 child)
Sky fairy worshipers don't have any real proof on their side. So they will save their superiority complex for when they can actually prove something?
Right?
No?
Well, then.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 09 2018, @11:23PM
You are an automaton and cannot prove otherwise. I should have no more compulsion for or against you than a rock. Of course you could say I should because of evolution, selfish gene and all, but then there are 7+ billion homo sapiens and it's not a problem. The opposite actually.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 09 2018, @02:22AM
> Uh oh... here it comes... people born with penises are REQUIRED to watch mindless fart jokes and people getting their guts blown out all over the sidewalk. Because.... because... penises!
Violence against women is a crime, of course, no evidence needed. Bleat that mantra long enough and you internalize its corollary:
Violence against men is entertainment, LOL duh.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Friday June 08 2018, @08:08PM (5 children)
And as Anthony Bourdain [businessinsider.com] demonstrates, you can have what appears to be a perfect life but still suffer from depression bad enough to off yourself.
It's tempting to look only to external influences like poverty as the cause but there's clearly something else going on as well.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 08 2018, @08:11PM (2 children)
It's the fluoride in the water messing with our precious bodily fluids.
(Score: 1) by Atatsu on Friday June 08 2018, @09:57PM (1 child)
Idiot! It turns the frogs gay!
(Score: 2) by linkdude64 on Friday June 08 2018, @11:54PM
I still really want one of the InfoWars "Make Frogs Straight Again" hats.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Friday June 08 2018, @09:42PM
the link says he struggled with drug use. I didn't really watch him much, but what i saw was a drinker.
Maybe he didn't really like doing the show: maybe he just wasn't happy and should have quit and done something else?
Who knows. As i said, didn't watch him much: maybe 3 episodes.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 08 2018, @10:10PM
I'm technically in poverty, but think I have a pretty awesome life and have been able to do quite a bit with what little money that I do make. But then only 5% of Americans are financially literate (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_literacy).
(Score: 5, Interesting) by VLM on Friday June 08 2018, @08:13PM (5 children)
In an innumerate age, doing arithmetic like calculating ratios and percentages is an act of political rebellion. So, on with some Treason:
Death by suicide is about 1000 times more likely than death in a school shooting, even in the supposedly violent USA, so its an irrelevant rounding error as an actual cause of death.
There doesn't seem to be a safety crisis in school shootings WRT shooting deaths in that 99% of shooting deaths are happening outside school. So magically eliminating all school shootings would not reduce the shooting death rate by an appreciable amount. I live in a recreational state where a considerable number of people die every year in hunting accidents; nationwide, hunting kills more people than school shootings, although the ratio of dead hunters to dead deer remains somewhat biased.
Around 3 people are shot to death for every drowning. The fairly accurate stereotype of black people not knowing how to swim makes this ratio ... weird. You can drown proof a kid a lot easier and cheaper than magically eliminating all gun deaths, but at least in some cultures nobody bothers despite it being a hell of a lot more likely an inner city kid will drown than get shot. Note there's learn to swim as in my son participated in the 25M freestyle (I don't remember his time, but he was in the pack...) and then there's learn to swim as in not drown, and one is a little more time consuming and expensive than the other.
Even the propaganda about shooting doesn't matter, the average daytime CNN show only has about 4 times as many viewers as annual suicides and even as a joke I don't think anyone can make the claim that watching CNN has a 25% annual death rate.
In summary I'd say it sounds trendy and up-vote-y social media type of thing, but nah, after examining the numbers, I'm not seeing it.
As for a serious answer, I don't know when in my lifetime, but somehow the motor vehicle death rate has declined below suicide. I went to school with a kid who had childhood leukemia a type that was a death sentence just a couple decades before. I worked with a type-I diabetic, again, a century ago he'd be dead. We got a cure for everything except a lifetime of shitty diet, a lifetime of not exercising, and car accidents, so naturally suicide is now a major percentage of death. Well, not really a major percentage, since shitty diet kills about 20 times as many people per year, smoking is still killing a huge multiple of people in their younger old age, cars kill "about as many" people...
Now for some real argument, should we categorize "shitty diet" and "shitty exercise" and "shitty lifestyle" as legit suicide? Those people are voluntarily and intentionally killing themselves at a HUGE rate compared to the rare "sick in head" or microscopically rare "school shooting" incidents.
I mean, lets be serious, someone sucking on a cigarette isn't really all that different than someone sucking on a gun barrel...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 08 2018, @09:25PM
Ok, let's be serious. You're fucked in the head and one of the many people propagating the worst ideals found in the US.
(Score: 5, Touché) by Gaaark on Friday June 08 2018, @09:45PM
"I mean, lets be serious, someone sucking on a cigarette isn't really all that different than someone sucking on a gun barrel..."....and pulling the trigger REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY slowly.
FTFY! :)
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Friday June 08 2018, @10:31PM (1 child)
Can I be a numerate-nazi?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 09 2018, @01:12AM
Wrong ghetto. You can be a numerate-clansmen though.
(Score: 2) by JNCF on Saturday June 09 2018, @05:31AM
I once knew a man who consumed way too much Velveeta™ cheese, with the stated intention of dying from a heart attack. It worked, eventually. Most people who partake in these sorts of life choices don't have that intention, they're just accepting it as an unfortunate probabilistic side effect of their preferred poison. For a reasonable definition of suicide, intent matters.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by frojack on Friday June 08 2018, @08:43PM (4 children)
Check your watch when you make that statement.
You will find that the approach of the end of the school year is when most of these occur. All boys. All of them doing poorly in school. During the rest of the year, only Christmas is problematic.
I doubt this has anything at all to do with politics, except perhaps in your twisted mind.
The trend has been there since 1999, when Clinton was president, all through Bush, all through Obama.
Way back in 2000, there was this idea of The War on Boys [theatlantic.com]. That theme is still running around in the press these days. [nytimes.com]
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Joe Desertrat on Friday June 08 2018, @10:00PM (3 children)
Right after the start of Fox News and radio becoming completely reduced to satellite music and conservative talk. You can probably push it back a bit further to Newt Gingrich telling Clinton that no matter what he tried to accomplish it would be opposed, whether for the common good or not. There's a marketed divide in the US, and that sort of thing tends to create feelings of hopelessness and despair. Too many people are propagandized to be angry at the wrong things.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Saturday June 09 2018, @07:00AM (2 children)
Oh for fuck sake, give it a rest.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday June 09 2018, @05:14PM (1 child)
Where and how is he wrong? If you feed people a steady diet of slow-burning horror they're going to go nuts.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 09 2018, @11:36PM
I've never watched fox news (never owned a television). There are a lot of other people who've never watched it either. The only person with a television that I know of believes that the government is building extermination camps for Mexicans.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 08 2018, @11:12PM
https://www.thoughtco.com/nietzsche-and-nihilism-250454 [thoughtco.com]
(Score: 5, Insightful) by captain normal on Saturday June 09 2018, @02:15AM
Well there is this: Suicide rates have increased by 30~60 percent in states in the middle of the country that voted for the Republicans the last few elections (ie- the red states).
https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/suicide/infographic.html#graphic1 [cdc.gov]
When life isn't going right, go left.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Saturday June 09 2018, @02:46AM (1 child)
You're equating two very different definitions of "school shooting". One is someone walking into a school and shooting a bunch of people. Another is a discharge of a firearm on or near school property for a variety of reasons - not even needing to cause injury in the process (with the school not even needing to be active).
We have a winner. If Jeb accidentally discharged his Kentucky rifle on school property 200 years ago, he'd be punished and that would be the end of the "school shooting". Now, it's faithfully recorded and later used to grossly exaggerate the risk of firearms and mass shootings. The "news cycle" is a key part keeping this hysteria going.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday June 09 2018, @04:01PM
Accidentally discharging a firearm is worthy of punishment. But, shooting on school property? I did it pretty regularly in my sophomore and junior high school years. Not during school hours, of course, but weekends, and summers, I was out in the forest with my .22. No one ever complained - it was just some kid shooting at something in the woods.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 09 2018, @01:28PM (1 child)
These kids needs some fucking Jesus.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 09 2018, @07:20PM
No, Jesus already fucked the kids. That is why they are suicidal now.