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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: 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.