Discussion Suicide and the new generations

[Versailles]

Curiously, suicide stopped becoming a background issue and the media are now addressing it more frequently. This world is difficult and the current socioeconomic system is highly unstable, the new generations are gradually becoming aware; Beyond that, the desire to avoid old age became a desire that many share

 

[everydayiloveyou]

I don't think so. If mental health awareness keeps moving on its upward trend, and if mental healthcare accessibility improves (especially in the USA) then I don't think many young people will feel a need to ctb. Similarly, with all those improvements, the right to die for the mentally ill will also follow. Maybe overall the suicide rates go down, but attempts will go down as well since most of them will be completed in hospitals by doctors.

 

[Alwaysbadtime]

I don't think so. If mental health awareness keeps moving on its upward trend, and if mental healthcare accessibility improves (especially in the USA) then I don't think many young people will feel a need to ctb. Similarly, with all those improvements, the right to die for the mentally ill will also follow. Maybe overall the suicide rates go down, but attempts will go down as well since most of them will be completed in hospitals by doctors.

Your comment seems to imply that it are only those with mental health issues that commit suicide. Unemployment, low wages, inflation...these are huge issues. I'm not seeing an increase in 'mental health accessibility' in the USA. Your comment implies that mental healthcare is worth a damn.

Young people need viable careers, income and retirement benefits to weather the storm and afford housing, food, gas, healthcare.

It will go up. Exponentially. Situational despair and anxiety is not a mental health issue. It's a harsh reality.

 

[Tomoko]

I realised in 2020 how badly I don't want to age. Not even for narcissistic reasons, I already hate myself. But just imagine being fragile and sick all the time whilst being unable to do things on your own. I plan to exit before I even hit 30 myself. Kurisu is cute btw, nice avatar.

 

[Amumu]

I don't think so. If mental health awareness keeps moving on its upward trend, and if mental healthcare accessibility improves (especially in the USA) then I don't think many young people will feel a need to ctb.

For lots of people mental healthcare doesn't do shit

Similarly, with all those improvements, the right to die for the mentally ill will also follow.

Because?

Maybe overall the suicide rates go down, but attempts will go down as well since most of them will be completed in hospitals by doctors.

I don't think so.

 

[Mr2005]

I don't think so. If mental health awareness keeps moving on its upward trend, and if mental healthcare accessibility improves (especially in the USA) then I don't think many young people will feel a need to ctb. Similarly, with all those improvements, the right to die for the mentally ill will also follow. Maybe overall the suicide rates go down, but attempts will go down as well since most of them will be completed in hospitals by doctors.

I admire your optimism

 

[WrongPlaceWrongTime]

I don't think so. If mental health awareness keeps moving on its upward trend, and if mental healthcare accessibility improves (especially in the USA) then I don't think many young people will feel a need to ctb. Similarly, with all those improvements, the right to die for the mentally ill will also follow. Maybe overall the suicide rates go down, but attempts will go down as well since most of them will be completed in hospitals by doctors.

For one, improving mental healthcare quality beyond "send anyone who talks about their problems to the psych ward" would be a significant step up.

 

[BeansOfRequirement]

"Is it just me, or is it getting crazier out there?"

 

[Midgardsorm]

I think the vast majority of the arguments against suicide have theological beliefs and more people are rejecting religion and even the religious beliefs are changing over time, suicide will become less of a taboo.
Obviously, it's not intentional of the theological cults, but they need to adapt to modern culture.

Technological advances such as the internet and social media also play an important role, they show the world as being much smaller than our previous generations believed, also makes people see other parts of the world and have an insight that travelling far away isn't going to change much of the lifestyle. Culture might change but most people will be the same.

Competitiveness will increase a lot, since we are dealing with global competitiveness now instead of just the regional competition.

IMO the reccuring ineffectiveness of therapeutic procedures and the understandable fear of medications due to side effects will also play a major role

Al this: Yes, it will increase suicide rates.
I guess it's a bad thing, but, forcing people to live a undesirable life is equivalent to torture.
So maybe suicide and euthanasia will be a constant subject in media.

Well, whoever survives, might wait and see.

 

[PrettyMoose]

"Is it just me, or is it getting crazier out there?"

At 0:46 in the video "Is it just me, or is it just me?" - "It is certainly you."

Spoiler: Joker YTP "Joe"

 

[deflationary]

It does seem to me that less and less people see life as something that's inherently good and sacred.

So far suicide rates have only gone up with increased access to mental health services lmao. It's a scam.

 

[Versailles]

I think the vast majority of the arguments against suicide have theological beliefs and more people are rejecting religion and even the religious beliefs are changing over time, suicide will become less of a taboo.
Obviously, it's not intentional of the theological cults, but they need to adapt to modern culture.

Technological advances such as the internet and social media also play an important role, they show the world as being much smaller than our previous generations believed, also makes people see other parts of the world and have an insight that travelling far away isn't going to change much of the lifestyle. Culture might change but most people will be the same.

Competitiveness will increase a lot, since we are dealing with global competitiveness now instead of just the regional competition.

IMO the reccuring ineffectiveness of therapeutic procedures and the understandable fear of medications due to side effects will also play a major role

Al this: Yes, it will increase suicide rates.
I guess it's a bad thing, but, forcing people to live a undesirable life is equivalent to torture.
So maybe suicide and euthanasia will be a constant subject in media.

Well, whoever survives, might wait and see.

The issue also depends on the environment, it implies a lot the number of inhabitants that are in a region, for example in an overpopulated country like the United States or India, it will be easier to legalize free euthanasia, since most of the people who would resort to This would be of the third age, which in turn brings benefits to the state, for its part let's say that in a country where the workforce is low and where politicians are still involved in religious beliefs, the possibility of legalizing free euthanasia It is very low, for example in Colombia where I live, several political representatives are Catholic and base their decisions on their beliefs, it is also very frowned upon for a politician to be an atheist, he is demonized by the media.

 

[Insomniac]

No. I don't think so. Our generation isn't worse than others. WWI and WWII are still fairly recent.

Maybe it seems like more people kill themselves because there are more humans? IdK, but I'm pretty sure that suicide will remain quite insignificant.

We've always lived in a dystopian reality, it isn't getting worse. It's just changing form.

We're stuck.

 

[FuneralCry]

Yes, I think over time the rates will increase, as they are now. Many people live a low quality of life and there is so much suffering in this world and I doubt it will change for the better in any way. I do think over time more countries will legalise euthanasia, as many more people are in support of it these days and a right to die is recognised as important.

 

[everydayiloveyou]

It does seem to me that less and less people see life as something that's inherently good and sacred.

So far suicide rates have only gone up with increased access to mental health services lmao. It's a scam.

Idk if there's data on this but I'm willing to bet that the people with the best prognoses (the "worried well" if you will) are the ones seeking help now that self-care is practically a trend, and doing better as a result.

The people in more dire straits are probably a majority of suicides. Personality disorders, major depression, severe abuse and anxiety, those homeless and on disability, etc... We'll keep killing ourselves until our mental health care is as accessible and good quality as the white-collar people with mild anxiety. Our access is definitely just as low as ever, at least in the USA, considering mental health care is prohibitively expensive especially when you're too fucked up to get a nice job where they give you mental health days and pay you enough to afford 150$/week sessions at the art therapist.

 

[Feeding Pigeons]

For one, improving mental healthcare quality beyond "send anyone who talks about their problems to the psych ward" would be a significant step up.

Hahaha. Imagine that? I agree with you, treating someone who is on the edge like a human and not an animal would be a great step in the right direction. As far as the amount of suicides, who the hell can really know if they will go or are going up/down? Suicide rates, and deaths by suicide, like every other bit of information that has to be officially documented, tend to be misreported. God forbid they acknowledge theres a national (I'm American) problem with suicide. If they said that, it'd be the same as saying the approach so far with therapy, medication, and incareration has been a failure. Can't have that, we might actually work towards proper solutions.

 

[WaaaghEnjoyer]

I do think that overall society will improve given enough time. It might time hundreds or thousands of years, but technology and medical knowledge will be quite good as we reach the space age and strive to expand into other systems.

According to some theories (such as this one: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longevity_escape_velocity) aging wouldn't be an issue in the future.

I don't know what the next two generations will be like, and I don't care. Two generations is a very short period compared to the entirety of human history. Maybe they will have far greater issues than the current ones, maybe there will be nuclear wars, or maybe there will be nothing interesting going on. But the generations a few hundred years from now? Those are interesting to think about. And despite the destructive nature of humanity, given the fact that it's so hard to kill yourself, I doubt that humans will go extinct anytime soon (yet I do wonder what method they would use if they did manage to overcome SI).

Anyway if nothing goes terribly wrong, people will live longer and longer and will probably question the meaning of life as much as it happens now (rarely). At some point, most illnesses might be cured or have good treatment and suicide rates might depend on whether people are happy or not.

We can also look at Maslow's hierarchy of needs and see that once most needs are fulfilled, people might struggle with self actualization and transcendence and might be a reason to end it all.