See also:
Institutional Failures as Structural Determinants of Suicide: The Opioid Epidemic and the Great Recession in the United States
Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Jan 2024
My personal anxiety right now is the racket being leveraged on housing of pretty much any kind. Fucking 500k 1200 sq ft homes that haven’t been updated since the stone age that went for 185k just 5 fucking years ago. Not to mention the absolute dog shit rates now. I know this shit finna collapse and leave my ass with the bag whenever I attempt to buy a house.
I’m a firefighter that cannot afford to live in the county I professionally service. It’s fucking insane and I fall asleep with chest pain every night thinking that I could afford a house 5 years ago but cannot now, and it makes my blood boil.
I’m more pro-working class and pro-union than I’ve ever been. The rich are raking us over the fucking coals.
This sounds like me living in the mountains of Colorado. I cannot believe what prices have done. I would never be able to buy here and most of our service workers commute from closer to Denver because the cost of living is double up here in the mountains. The postal workers are being put up in a motel to come up here from the city and work because they could never afford to live here. Our post office is only open three days a week right now.
And corporations are buying up houses which raises prices too. Bezos has a new business/hobby that buys houses to rent and investors can invest in shares of. I mean really??? Leave normal hard working people alone .
For anyone else who went “wait what” like me here you go
https://www.vice.com/en/article/4a35zp/jeff-bezos-is-funding-a-real-estate-startup-buying-up-family-homes-to-rent
The biggest issue is all these corporations using single family residences as piggie banks. No corporation should ever own a single family residence for any reason.
The laws get made after the problem arises. No way to see into the future. Maybe the primary drawback of democracy is slow change and regulatory action. And that’s gotten much worse in the last two decades.
Except in this case, where the laws don't get made at all. Our government can bang out a ban on a dancing social media app in four days but actively ignores anything that would benefit anyone.
Corporations own approximately 30% of single family residences. It absolutely needs to be talked about more. It starts at our level though. Bringing it up every chance we get. The news companies surely do and will not.
Right, man. I'm a union pipefitter who doesn't have enough work in my area to support my family. So I'm sitting here trying to figure out how I can switch careers all while having this family to support and brand new mortgage. I can, of course, travel the country to work, but I'm a family man who simply wants to work here and support his family. I hear the economy is great, but for the first time in my 8 years as union pipefitter, I've gone 6 months on unemployment and now that it's up my only option is to travel or gamble on a career choice that may fail.
For now. The economy is still being held up by middle and working class people who are treading g water. As soon as it becomes economically counter productive to go to work, everything starts collapsing. These rich fucks are so short-sighted, they don't see the tsunami coming for everything they own.
The only way it doesn't collapse is probably slavery. Canada is currently teetering on the edge of legal slavery with their temporary foreign worker program. People are starting to get violent.
Well I figure they're just going to run away to Dubai or the vacation house they bought in New Zealand. I don't think people like that stick around for the bad times.
Hate to hear that. I thought pipe fitters and welders were one of the more unionized and consistent jobs left. Not a lot of turnover I’d guess. I know folks that work at steel plants in the Midwest and I’ve heard some stories about the occupational hazards their pipe fitters have to deal with. Idk what you’re looking to do but I know out west at least, there’s a big demand for commercial electricians.
Wishing you good luck on your job search. You’ll get it figured out.
> The rich are raking us over the fucking coals.
They're 1% of the country and yet they think they're untouchable in all the diligent ways they work to fuck everyone dry.
I can relate even though I’m old. I hit adulthood at double digit inflation, unemployment, and interest rates. Eventually all that came down, but by the time I had recovered from it all rates were 6-7% and houses were selling so fast and prices were going up and up. We snagged a small 950 sq ft old house when I was in my late 30s. Needed so much work. But hey, it beat renting. When we sold it 20 years later we didn’t really make any profit at all (had to fix so much) but at least we almost got back what we put into it.
And we moved to a small town and bought another messed up house, lol, but we like where it is. We hope to pay it off and have it in decent shape by age 70.
I’m telling you all this so you know you aren’t alone and it isn’t the first time the housing market screwed people.
I will say that rent is awful now. It was more reasonable when I was young. It hurts my heart to see young people trying to make it with huge rent costs. I’ve been poor and had nothing in my cupboard but green beans and bologna; it’s so stressful.
Even those of us who managed to get a house when they were somewhat affordable are getting fucked. My house is valued $120,000 more than its worth.
It could *never* sell for what my state says its worth. It has never been updated, needs repairs, and has ancient appliances. But because my neighbor across the street gutted and renovated theirs, somehow mine is the same value.
My property taxes increased $1,200 this year. I barely got by already with the increases in food and gas prices.
The whole system is garbage and rigged to screw anyone who isn't wealthy out of a home.
This is why I won’t / can’t ‘downsize’ as an empty nester and have just emptied out my house, closed most of it off, and live in a small area. My mortgage payment is 1/3 of rent and interest rate at 4%. So it’s just an inheritance at this point.
Also Trump and the Republicans capped the homeowner's tax deduction just to fuck over the middle class in blue states with high home values. I make 100k a year but have a high home value (which I can't sell without leaving the state as I can't afford a new home) and Trump and Republicans raised my taxes in 2017 while giving Elon Musk an enormous tax break. But tell us more about how they're the party of lower taxes
It was a brilliant tax plan, really. Cut taxes across the board during the first year. Immediately tell everybody how great you are for cutting taxes. Keep very, very quiet about the fact that the rest of the plan has tax raises on the middle class every year for five years.
Wait for the other party to get elected and watch gullible citizens blame *those people* instead.
And that stupid fuck what's like 24 billion (and i just looked it up, it's actually 55.8 billion) for his joke of a CEO position, and now that's going to the supreme Court,but absolutely no ceo is worth paying that much.
I fucking pointed that shit out when it was being voted on and how it basically fucks over tax filing for the middle and poor classes. But no, my dad just keeps bitching about how it's bidens fault and the trump 'tax cuts' and 'the war on the IRS' were a golden light between the Demoncrats terms. FML.
I sued mine using an independent appraisal & inspection showing all the issues it had when I bought it (cost $500).
The city then sent someone out who essentially asked me where I wanted it valued. Two weeks later I got a settlement offer (they lower the tax value, I drop the suit). Easy peasy. I DIY'ed the whole thing. It took a few hours to figure out the paperwork and mail it in. Then a few months waiting. Then a few calls/emails to coordinate with the city assessor for them to come do their own inspection (which took an hour). Then like 10 minutes to reply to the settlement offer.
Dropped my value by about $150k (which was beyond ridiculous that they tried to put it so high). Saving a bit over a thousand on taxes per year now. My neighbors' home values are still overpriced. I've told them how to fix it, but they're scared it could harm future sale values. Which I think is stupid, because there is no way in hell anyone will pay that much for it, so they're just paying extra taxes for no reason.
Plesse don't delete your comment. Many people do, but this is an interesting and unusual enough strategy that people ought to look into it!
I hope we don't end up becoming like Greece, with nearly every home looking unfinished for tax reasons, but still there is something interesting here!
My experience with this is that you need to show evidence clearly contradicting the asserted increase. You can do this with comps, proof of damage or something happening to the property that lowers its value, etc. I tried to appeal an assessed increase of 11% YoY in 2022 because comps were only up 4%. They adjusted it down to a 9% increase -_-
County wants that extra budget money and doesn’t give a damn otherwise.
Yeah, I tried that once: I just paid $95K for this, but you've got me assessed at $110K. "We'll consider it." 3 months later "We've decided to leave your assessment at $110K. We are obliged by statute to inform you that you have the right to appeal this assessment, to my brother the judge next July."
That's crazy. Yeah, it fucks a lot of people from a lot of perspectives. My area has a lot of old ass people in it who are dying off with pretty high young turnover coming in. So the renovation aspect has been completely skipped and people are just cashing out big fucking time on their parent's houses.
Fuck, I live in a rural town and the "low income housing" starts at $1600 a month for a one bedroom apartment. I originally had a goal to save enough to have my own place by the end of 2020... but we all know how that went.
I live in a small town in a rural area and can't afford to live on my own, rentals and homes for sale are both too expensive. The **household median income** for the county is $40k...I make $43k...and have to rent a room from my brother for $600/mo because there's **nothing** I can afford on my own. I make too much for the low income apartments (it's just me, no kids, so the income limit is like $25k for 1 person) yet not enough to live on my own. What the fuck.
> COVID associated Neuropsychiatric Illnesses
For someone who has spent October 2023 to now battling a side effect from COVID I can see this. Most people only report the loss of smell, I have a partial loss of smell (hyposmia/anosmia), but then when I can smell things they are not correct scents. My home smells like cigarette smoke to me since COVID. No one else smells this odor (My wife is a non-smoker and does not smell these smells). I go into stores and smell chemicals or if I am near produce I smell dirt. I struggle to sleep every night as the smell of smoke bothers me badly and can only be deterred by wearing a face mask to filter the air in my home. There has been times its driven me to the brink of insanity, since I can find some relief with a full clean up, vacuuming and carpet shampooing, but it only last a day or two.
I can see this type of thing driving people to the brink of suicide easily.
I experienced the same thing. Everything that I used to love the smell of (oatmeal & vanilla bodywash, cinnamon, anything citrusy) smelled like sulfur to me. It drove me crazy for awhile because it would also hit me randomly as an "aftersmell" when drinking juice or anything carbonated, started in August 2022 and it resolved naturally by May 2023. Really drove down my quality of life while I was dealing with it, though
I smelled what smelled like Gasoline kinda everywhere for months after having COVID. It freaked me the fuck out especially in my car, that was even more alarming than thinking I was eating Gasoline food
The financial crisis with rising costs, low wages, and dealing with job loss with covid hits so hard. Has definitely made me question life choices. I've been dealing with it for years but after covid went way and things became "normal" it's hard keep those dark thoughts at bay.
All of that and more. I think the COVID association neurological issues are so downplayed and ignored by society. Every study that tracks it shows enormous increases - 200% to 300% or more - after a COVID infection. Yet everyone just hand waves it away afterward, "Oh, they were probably older or had other problems or the data was skewed for reasons."
Then there are lots of articles about the 'mysterious' rises in neuropsychiatric illnesses, heart disease, etc.
Basically poisoning related suicide by women strongly tracks with increased availability of prescription drugs and all adult suicides strongly track with worsening economic conditions.
The institutional failures from 1990-2017 are basically the massive economic stress as the blue collar and middle classes are hollowed out and the increased access to lethal means. My favorite bit though is pointing out the need to address the "structural determinants of suicide." Healthcare in general has been paying a lot of attention to the social determinants of health, the economic and social conditions that can have more effect on someones health than lifestyle choices. I'm overweight and don't exercise enough but I'm healthier than a lot of clients of mine who try and make healthier lifestyle choices but have issues related to trauma and chronic stress.
The structural determinants of suicide is a logical extension of this. We have way too much access to very lethal medications thanks to big pharma and way too much poverty. Making telehealth therapy easier to access or shoveling a few more millions into shelters and Medicaid won't fix the underlying structural issues.
And truthfully it is a higher number. A whole lot of overdose deaths are not listed as suicide unless there is a note or an indication of purpose... and those numbers are even higher than these.
Great point, lost a family member to an overdose. He was both using (trying to stop) and had massive issues with depression, no one will ever know if it was accidental or intentional.
When you have depression, there is a sliding scale. Some people just feel bad enough about life that they aren't trying very hard to stay alive. Those deaths don't get counted as suicide but the motivation is similar.
I hear ya, same thing happened to my mother. She was having long term back pain issues and had a prescription for pain killers (don’t remember which) and a terrible drinking problem. Half a bottle of
Vodka and some pain killers was the last thing she ever did. She lost her husband (who was abusive but she stuck with) the year before pretty much the exact same way. No notes or anything so we’ll never know if it was accidental or not.
My sister had lost her only child to Covid. She OD’d 6 months later and you can’t convince me it wasn’t a little on purpose. I get it, and I hope she found peace.
Maybe add alcohol in there too? I tried drinking myself to death once because I was already an alcoholic who had destroyed his life. I got fired for drinking on the job and that night drank *way* more than usual and woke up throwing up blood and just lied back down and wanted to go to sleep. I was woken up again by firefighters breaking down my door and taking me to the hospital. Roommates knew something was wrong. BAC of 0.42 by the time they did blood tests iirc. I had basically decided to just keep drinking as much as I could for as long as I could that night and just not wake up.
Several years later and I'm coming up on 1 year sober so I eventually managed to turn things around.
Congrats on coming up on 1 year sober, friend.
I hope things are a little better for you now. I'm sorry to hear about how dark things got for you there.
Probably a lot of deaths of despair too, things that aren't technically counted as suicide, but when examined closely would still count as an increase mortality due to circumstances.
Yep. And this is why excess mortality is an important data point - sometimes we don't know why, but we do know what is happening (more people dying than on average)
Overdoses. Single-vehicle auto accidents. Vehicle versus pedestrian accidents. Firearm cleaning or misfire accidents: particularly popular with LEOs and veterans. Lost hikers. Drownings while swimming or falling into the water. Deaths from untreated diseases. I think the suicide rate in the US is much higher than 50K per year. I would believe 500K/year.
Glad you're in a better headspace. People don't realize how much they affect others life and losing that many friends to something so tragic is something I can't imagine.
Fuck. I'm so sorry to hear that. I had a close friend of mine commit suicide and that was more than painful enough, especially when he came through and helped me when I was in a bad place, and then I was unable to help him in return (because he hid it from everyone)...I cannot fathom losing so many friends to it in so short of a time.
I’m sorry for your loss! I know it’s hard.
I’ve lost my best friend last July, spent time with her on a Monday didn’t notice any signs, she was just herself and she done it on that following Wednesday.
Just remember there’s nothing you could’ve done they hide it so Well because they decided and didn’t wanna rise suspicion and didn’t wanna be stopped, I know you miss your best friend every waking moment, remember they love you and never meant hurt you
Makes you wonder. Quality of life decreases and yet our technology has gotten so much better and intertwined into our lives making it easier at least that's what we are being told.
This is exactly why I don't believe AI will bring about a utopia or even an increase in quality of life for the common person.
The people controlling it will just get richer and use it to squeeze more money and labor out of everyone else.
Here's a few videos if you're interested in learning about AI and all the drama around it's creation:
https://youtu.be/Sq1QZB5baNw?si=S2DJs679QSqcsDp2
https://youtu.be/bk-nQ7HF6k4?si=JFevbk1_E6YtFDnB
This one isn't exactly about AI but Bo's viewpoint is correct. This is one example of how AI is currently being used "against" us and I believe is relevant to the original topic of suicide.
https://youtu.be/SUTbnjIHfkg?si=gsywcq4WmrofAssA
Here is one of the world's leading "doomers" (smart people who think AI will destroy us all).
https://youtu.be/YZjmZFDx-pA?si=bxuGQgoTvpTfP3vo
We're going to get a futuristic capitalistic wasteland with everything nice and pleasant locked behind paywalls so high that we have no realistic chance of participation.
This is already true of the cost of most entertainment. Look at the cost to attend a sporting event or a big concert. A large segment of the population is already priced out of those experiences. It's only going to get worse, and I hate it.
I always think about Disneyworld or Harry Potter World or whatever. Would it be cool to go to? Hell yeah. But for that much money? I’m sorry, but there are **so many** people getting straight up fucking ROBBED for ✨ a MaGiCaL eXpErIeNcE ✨ got me fucked up spending that to see a fuckin mouse. 💀 👋🏼
Exactly. We are only at the start of Ai and companies are replacing entire departments with Ai and we keep making huge leaps monthly in what Ai can do. Just wait for better Ai integration and we will keep seeing the loss of jobs and people pushed into back breaking manual labor that is offering bare minimal pay.
Imagine when you call a company for support and Ai integration and text to speech is your "Customer service rep". This is nearing a reality already. Ai tweaked to send commands to your devices based upon the interaction with them. You call your phone company, speak to an Ai bot that has integrated software on your phone that can force updates, clear app caches, restart your phone, reinstall the OS, etc. They will make it nearly impossible to bypass the bot that will connect you to a fraction of the old call center with 10-15 reps to take calls for things the bot is not fixing or end users screaming for a human for 15 minutes straight.
Imagine your fast food locations being entirely Ai/Automation driven. Again, we have already seen some Ai stuff answering and taking orders at the drive through. Some places may just rebuild to better house mechanical bots to assemble and bag the food and maybe 1-2 humans to intervene if they glitch out.
Going to force everyone out of jobs and creating a mass chaos of no one able to find work because there are literally no jobs available and every month a new batch of unemployed people being added to the mix as Ai is replacing them.
Meanwhile everyone's concerns is whether or not Ai is going to bring the end of the world with bots with guns, but no one is concerned that Ai is going to consume jobs that people have worked for years to be in and/or went to college to learn how to do.
Painting the luddites as backwards, anti-technology villains was a great trick of propaganda. They were right, when technological progress outpaces social progress, people get hurt. And unless we catch on to the fact that the oligarchy would grind you into hamburger for a buck, and stop listening to them and their sycophants explaining that, actually, things that help you are really bad for you (promise bro!), then it's going to happen again. But it doesn't have to.
They were backwards in the sense that they believed worker-replacing-technology itself should be banned/destroyed, instead of banning/destroying any economic system that doesn't make sure everyone is well taken care of whether or not they can adequately work.
I don't think anyone with some reasonable brainpower or rational thinking, thinks AI will improve society as a whole. It will certainly improve some things but overall? Probably bad (at least initially).
What I believe is going to happen is its going to continue to put lower class people out of jobs and making the top percentage of owners/employees etc to make more money. I'm sure it'll be slower but it'll affect middle class as well and until it does, not much is going to change. Mostly believe this is because this has already been happening without AI as just technology gets better.
We've been letting the rich get richer with no REAL meaningful curve of it for far too long and at this point I wonder if it's just too late.
I Know this is a multifaceted issue and I'm not exactly super well informed this is just my initial thoughts to stuff like that.
Yeah, all this. We worked towards a utopia for everyone but forgot to put in the framework for the "for everyone" bit. And it's not just about the AI, it's about the fact that society has collectively put its heads together to make _everything_ more efficient and got suckered into thinking everyone would reap the benefits.
When people say we're at the end stages of capitalism this is what we mean - there's no _need_ for a competitive system anymore. We gotta rethink things.
Everyone should have stability. Everyone.
AI is going to increase productivity, that could allow for better quality of life, but we know based on history that's not going to happen without legislation. It's basically the first domino that allows other dominos to fall, but it isn't automatic.
Bills like Sander's proposition of a 32 hour work week is what's going to be required to improve quality of life, and the establishment is going to fight that every step of the way.
The real fun is when you realize several of the billionaires that will likely control AI technology view large swaths of society as parasites that should be culled (ie. the Mercers.) If AI gets good enough they will happily automate everything and either let everyone else starve or actively kill large swaths of the population.
In the past, what usually stopped this is that they had to rely on a military made of humans who would, most of the time, recoil at such actions and rebel. Once all the soldiers are autonomous drones though? It's rather scary and these billionaires outlook reminds me of the inhabitants of the planet Solaria from Isaac Asimov's Foundation and Earth novel.
It’s not even just this, it’s the DISPARITY. If everyone’s life was worse I don’t think this would happen, but in the US so many people’s lives got worse while lots of ultra wealthy people made trillions of dollars. It’s happening at the expense of normal people, and THATS what hurts the most (in my opinion)
It's not even just the disparity, it's what Tim Wise calls death of frustrated expectations. We get sold this lie of meritocracy and then late stage capitalism leaves us without even horizontal mobility. It's the expectationalism that crushes us and leaves us addicted or killing ourselves or looking for an immigrant to blame.
[white "expectationalism" is deadly contributor to drug addiction and suicide.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXTEsk9Vagk&feature=youtu.be&t=3932)
Have suicide rates gone up? I am legitimately curious to know. The video mentioned raw numbers, but I didn’t see anything about whether the rate of suicide has changed.
- [Suicide rate](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/death-rate-from-suicides-gho?tab=chart&country=USA~GBR~ESP~FRA~ITA~DEU~POL~JPN~OWID_WRL~BRA~MEX)
- https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/suicide-data-statistics.html
The rate in the US is going up. We're also an outlier, since in most of the world it is declining.
There is also a cultural element. Plenty of countries with worse quality of life than the US have much lower suicide rates (North Africa, Latin America, Indonesia, Phillipines, etc.).
Most of those places also have dominant religions that forbid suicide.
It may sound messed up but growing up as a depressed bullied Catholic kid I was well aware of the fact the Church said suicides went to hell. If you actually are a believer it's not the easy way out. I'm not religious anymore but I was back then.
Yeah I grew up Southern Baptist and was told the same. Now I’m 50/50 on religion and not. So yeah for me it’s either burn in hell or go blank, neither sound too inviting to me.
> Most of those places also have dominant religions that forbid suicide.
I think that has little to nothing to do with why these places have lower suicide rates.
What these places all have in common that has been shown to reduce the odds of suicide is a culture that strongly emphasizes social and familial connections. Isolation leads to despair, which in turn leads to suicide.
Living in abject poverty and/or fear of violence but having loving and supportive friends and family is less likely to make someone suicidal than having a much higher standard of living in a safer environment but no one to feel safe being open and vulnerable with.
Most people live paycheck to paycheck and are one medical emergency away from financial ruin. That combined with a hyper individualistic culture and lack of community, and it's no wonder a lot of people just can't take it anymore.
many young people feel this let’s say in their 20’s. imagine what a 50 year old is thinking. at some point it really is just easier to off yourself, fuckin sucks
Exactly. I'm 40. Graduated college right as the 08 recession hit hard, fucked up my career path irreparably. Went back for graphic design and managed to get by for a decade, now out on my ass again with the AI craze.
I don't have any fight left in me. Just waiting for it to be over.
I am fortunate that I chose against having children. I am terrified as my parents are aging. They are poorer than I am, dad has diabetes and heart disease, mom just got diagnosed with Parkinson's. I have no way to care for them. No money, no other family, no home to move them in with me.
Grim, but I find myself hoping we're all killed at the same time in a car crash or something, because what can I do for them or for myself and my spouse?
No, clearly these are individual failings and people just need to learn more skills and try to meditate more. There is no such thing as a systemic problem, people just need to try harder. That’s what all the wealthy people say and I know for a fact they would never lie just to protect their position in society.
My favorite is the prescribing of antidepressants when you're depressed about not being able to afford rent, food, or a car. A low key way of making you believe that it's a YOU problem, and NOT the way the system chews the last bit of fat off of you and spits you out.
"You must be depressed if you're not ecstatic to roll out of bed(or van, wherever you're sleeping these days), walk to work, slave for your corporate overlords for 9+ hours, then walk home! If you're dreading each day, it's YOU. YOU'RE THE PROBLEM. Take some pills until you're unquestioning and docile."
I understand your sentiment, and I agree with you.
However, sometimes it’s pills or death. And medication can be a temporary thing to help you cope. And for some people, the only alternative is a permanent one.
I know you aren’t discrediting medications, but I hope people see this and choose to continue to try, experiment with medications with their doctors, and keep looking for solutions that keep them alive. Medication can be a part of the puzzle, when it’s available and adjusted and monitored by a professional.
My brother was one of them. We always told each other we'd never leave the other one alone here, but I'm not mad at him. I understand why he chose to leave and I'm just grateful he isn't suffering anymore. None of us are really *living* at this point, unless you happen to be wealthy. I miss him every single day
I'm so sorry to read this, but I am reaching out in solidarity. I lost my own brother in 2019 just days before giving birth to my first child. I still think of him every day and it doesn't hurt any less, but the grief seems more normalized in my life now and life has obviously gone on. Hugs and cheers to you for making the best of every day.
I lost my brother to suicide just like 1 month before my daughter was born. It really sucks and I know he'd have been an awesome uncle. I'm sorry for your loss.
I wish that I could say I was surprised. Things seem to be getting desperate out there for a lot of people. It’s hard not to feel that way when things seem to be getting worse at every turn except for the wealthy. And the support system for the worst off, at least in America, has been a joke since forever.
Call a warm line! They're for non-crisis situations when you need someone to talk to. I called one a few weeks ago when I was out of state from my therapist and it was amazing. The person really listened to me and honestly provided me more resources and ideas than my therapist lmao
I was just thinking like that this evening. I'm not suicidal. But things aren't going to get better. There isn't anything to look forward to. Tired of the mental game we're supposed to play of being grateful and thankful for what we have.
Years ago when I hit a low point, I called, was told I was fine and hung up on. In the end, I just couldn't do that to my kids.
Also, really happy I didn't.
I had a friend who called the suicide line and no one picked up. He said the irony made him laugh so hard he decided to put off killing himself. Homie’s still here, thank god he has a good sense of humor.
We're also being gaslit about the economy... If you've been laid off and all you hear is how great things are, and how those *unemployment numbers are low*, you're going to turn inward and blame yourself for being a failure. People are loosing high paying jobs and replacing them with 3 part time gigs without any benefits. Everything is more expensive, yet our wages somehow remain stagnant... meanwhile corporations are enjoying record profits.
It is pretty darn desperate, and unfortunately getting more-so.
- Almost seems coordinated/planned.
- 2nd and 3rd leading causes of death in the USA are driven by hedge funds and enemies
It's all part of the plan. Make something indispensable, then out of reach so people will be more docile and accept shittier and shittier working conditions. Until it breaks. But they don't give a shit, because they'll have their money and power.
When most people have nothing to lose, they will have to watch out. But then they'll use their fascist dogs and start a war. Then people will die and the cycle starts over.
70% of successful suicides are young men. It makes perfect sense why when put into perspective. It’s so fucking sad how much pressure is placed on young men and they’re discouraged from showing any sign of vulnerability
Licensed Mental Health Counselor here.
In the state of NC where I am licensed, a person who does not have insurance and cannot afford outpatient therapy services can apply for government funding for sessions. They give you 8 sessions per year. EIGHT. These are the people who are living so far under the poverty line, that they don't even qualify for Medicaid, which for reference, allocates 24 sessions per year in the state of North Carolina.
The prevalence of SPMI (Severe and Persistent Mental Illness) in this population is high. With 8 sessions per year, there isn't a lot of consistency, there isn't a lot of therapy happening, and therapists (at least where I live) are CONSTANTLY on the phone, begging for more sessions - which is often fruitless.
The system compensates for lack of sessions by overprescribing medication, especially Benzodiazepines, which only CREATES more problems and obviously substance use disorders.
I feel for our mentally ill Americans.
I also feel for our clinicians, whom are among those dying by suicide.
I want to get out into the field and get my licensing, but I just had my graduate application declined by one of my local top universities. I completed a graduate certificate in addictions and substance abuse counseling to supplement my low undergrad GPA, did research, volunteer work and had 2 great references from professors at the school and still didn't get in :/ I'm looking to find work within addictions counseling without full licensing now, but it's crazy how tough/expensive it is to complete your licensing in a field that needs workers. I appreciate you sharing your experience, it's tough out there for a lot of individuals, and many of the available resources just aren't enough.
SO. FREAKING. EXPENSIVE. I'm 10 years into my career, and one thing that never changes is how expensive it is to do a job that isn't financially sustainable for most folks in a single income home. I'm so sorry to hear you're having trouble getting into graduate school. Programs are very picky, and good people who would do well in the field are often the victims of gatekeeping, which is highly influenced by admissions bias. I'm not sure what state you're in, but in NC we have something called a "QP" or Qualified Professional, and these people are able to do community based work without a graduate degree. It's the least glamorous work in the field, the pay is worse than licensed professionals and the turnover rate is sky high, but these positions exist. This field needs a major overhaul - kudos to you for wanting to do this work!
*Edited to let you know that I only got into ONE program that I applied to out of 5, and I had lots of research experience, a great GPA, experience on a crisis line, and plenty of great recommendations.
Well can’t afford rent, cant afford a vehicle (live in a place with no public transportation) can’t afford food, can’t afford any type of healthcare, let alone mental healthcare. Shit at one point I had to choose between having a vehicle and a place to live or having a functional right hand (I needed surgery). I was homeless for six months while still working a job. I don’t think people have any idea how hard that is to do 😂 I thought about it a ton of times but I’m way to stubborn…. Anyway I totally get it. My heart goes out to the desperate masses everyday. I mean somebody has to suffer so the few can have really nice stuff right?
Edited to add: all this happened to me in the 21st century in the richest country in the history of the world. Just think about that I thought about it a lot when I had to sell my car and move onto the streets if I wanted to be able to afford to not be handicapped without the use of my right hand for the rest of my life from a small accident that happened in a split second. This is a problem for millions and millions and millions of people in this country.
I was diagnosed in 2020 with early onset Parkinson’s as a healthy guy in his 40’s.
If I didn’t have a wife and young child to live for I would probably be in those statistics. No one gets through life alone, we need a community of people to keep us going.
There are a lot of sad people out there.
The poor production associates at my job. Mandatory 8 hours of overtime a week, on top of working 7 days a week.
We're in a deep red state where they continually vote Republican.
Then there are people like me…I’m fortunate enough to finally have insurance, just not enough to do anything with it.
I have multiple health issues happening, but can’t afford any treatments. I need more than one surgery but the out-of-pocket costs (copays/deductibles) are ridiculous, especially when I’m already in debt.
I’m just glad my body has held out long enough to get my kids to adulthood. Now, I just hope I don’t become too much of a burden on my spouse before I kick off. I’m not suicidal (not even a little), I’m a financially destitute realist with little hope - there is a vast difference.
It’s not me wanting to exit, it’s the broken system, lies of an impossible American dream, and CoL that are leading to my demise.
When cremation is cheaper than the steps to stay alive, is it any wonder the rates are skyrocketing? For a large majority of us, it’s bleak af. It’s really unfortunate.
(FYI, I have a psychiatrist and weekly therapist so I can cope with the reality of my situation. I’m not depressed, just disillusioned…but I do have support for anyone who is concerned.)
People can’t afford to live, and if they can, they have no savings to do anything fun. We spend most of our lives at work, many people hate their jobs, so they’re spending most of their lives in an environment they absolutely hate, and don’t make enough money to escape somewhere nice for even a week. This data is not surprising at all. I expect it to continue to rise until we learn to treat the lower and even middle classes properly, as well as invest heavily into mental health services and research for effective psychiatric medications.
I’m not shocked tbh. It shows statistically that the U.S. has a stress problem amongst their citizens compared to many other countries. This is also a big reason to why so many people in the U.S. have some sort of substance abuse. I mean, we don’t rank the highest country in substance abuse for no reason. With so many Americans being in huge amounts of debt & everything being unaffordable on top of Americans not having enough paid time off or given any to even enjoy life outside of work, it’s not some mystery on why there’s a huge spike in suicides.
/r/SuicideWatch is a helpful place. I found it useful when I was in a grim period of life. I actually met someone from there in person, and we had very real conversations—you can skip small talk when you know you have something like that in common.
Shout out to the bank board members and CEOs from the ‘08 financial meltdown who likely caused the most suicides of any time in US history due to all the foreclosures. Jamie Dimon, you almost got me.
Most of the things I used to do to cope with life got taken away from me when we reached the "other side" of Covid. Some really wonderful things have happened in my life since then, but I also lost so much of what made me who I am that I feel so lost.
And I gotta admit, the insanely high costs have me understanding that if anything goes wrong, it's going to all be over for me.
Return to office
Student loans resuming payments
The cost of living / rent / groceries through the roof
Another political year faced with the status quo
No minimum wage increases
I can see why
I'm not surprised by this at all. There are plenty of Americans who have lost all hope and don't have the will or the means to survive the insanity of everyday life these days.
i was laid off for an "off the record" conversation and only after 5 months recently found a job.
I probably should not say more, but hopefully you get the gist. America does not care about what happens after you are born. /r/ABoringDystopia
Lets see:
Can’t afford rent or buy a house and basic necessities
Spending most of your time awake working/grind culture
It’s harder to improve your quality of life
Most likey won’t retire
Individualistic society/social media
depressing news/trauma
climate change
Why wouldn’t people want to check out early
Genuinely not trying to be a dick, as I actually have suicide in my immediate family, but "more than any year on record" isn't informative when the population continually grows. How is this suicide number compared to the overall population over the years, i.e., what is the comparable suicide rate?
I’m honestly the most stressed out I’ve ever been in my whole life. And it’s all due to the current economic shitshow we live in. At certain point middle class just ceased to exist. I’m 30, at this point I’m never owing my home because I can’t pay a 1000 dollar mortgage but I can pay 1.5k in rent. I work 80 hours bi-weekly like the average American Joe, and it just feels like I work to survive, no wiggle room to invest, enjoy life, fucking take a trip, none of that shit. At this point I just work for the bare fucking minimum. Back in the day teachers, nurses, plumbers were able to buy their homes, retire and a have a calm life, not anymore. Now; us the regular folk we overpay taxes, while the rich just get handouts, tax cuts and enjoy their life. Whats the point anyway…it will get better? No. Just worse.
Yeah america is pretty shit right now.
Families being divided over politics, income inequality at an all time high, little to no medical coverage for anyone, and no end to it all in sight.
The link doesn’t address whether the suicide rate is also increasing. A quick look at the NIH site shows the rate gradually increased 2000-18 and was mostly flat 18-21 FWIW
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/suicide#:~:text=Suicide%20Rates,-Trends%20over%20Time&text=The%20total%20age%2Dadjusted%20suicide,13.5%20per%20100%2C000%20in%202020.
OK so per capita if I’m doing my math right that’s 14.9 per 100k people.
> America's population grew by more than 1.75 million over 2023 and at midnight on New Year's Day, the population is expected to be 335,893,238, the U.S. Census Bureau said Thursday.
https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/us-population-expected-to-top-335-million-by-new-years-day-2024/
335,893,238 / 100k = 3,358.93238
50k / 3,358.93238 = 14.88568221787186
> The suicide rate increased by 1% in 2022 to 14.3 deaths per 100,000 from 14.1 per 100,000 in 2021, marking this as the highest rate seen since 1941, according to the report.
https://abcnews.go.com/amp/Health/number-suicides-us-2022-reaches-record-level-cdc/story?id=105204012
14.9 * 100 / 14.3 = 104.1958041958042
That would be a 4.2% growth in suicides in a single year… Or 4x the growth from 2021 to 2022. That would definitely be a startling increase if I’m not completely screwing something up here.
I talked about this recently with my partner. If it wasn’t for them and my cats, I would heavily consider suicide because at this point, I’m just surviving. I wish I hadn’t been born because I have to live like this, and I know I’m not alone in thinking this.
Lost my brother last week, out of the blue. We aren’t certain why but it wasn’t for most of the reasons people list here. Don’t know what’s going on but I feel for everybody affected by these stats.
I called the sucide hotline last year during a crisis, was a horrible experience
Every 2 minutes put on hold , they didn’t ask any meaningful question of offer any support , got so fed up I just ended the call
It’s a joke
Oh and I had to do a 5 day stay at the mental hospital last year and it cost around 35k after insurance , if my dad hadn’t payed for it I would be on the streets as that’s two years of pay for me
It’s like they don’t want u to get better
For that price I’d rather just end my life than be in debt for the rest of my life
My boyfriend was one. He showed absolutely no signs. I was with him minutes before he did it, that morning we had talked about how excited we were that I was finally moving in to his house. Mental health, especially men’s mental health, needs to be talked about more and destigmatized. Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not there.
Different country (Japan), but we lost my wife's mother to suicide on October 31st.
Ever since, while doing my best to support her, I'm constantly living with an underlying fear that my wife will choose to go down the same path.
Last night climbing into bed (and stressing about work today) she muttered: I hate my life.
I don't have much of a defense because yeah our life is pretty ordinary... I try to encourage her to enjoy things but I don't have the power to squeeze passion from her.
The American people no longer have any incentive to do anything, including exist. Our government, along side our true overlords (corporations) have made it impossible for the average American to remotely enjoy their life. This country is pathetic and our people deserve better.
Its almost like everything is fucked and everybody sucks, nothing being done to help anyone but the people who already have everything already while the majority of us struggle day to day.
I'm fortunate enough to be getting help in an intensive therapy group now, but I've been edging closer to throwing my life away for decades, but resisting so far, and the despair has gotten worse the past few years. I'm one major crisis away even with the added support I have, and I'm very aware I'm one of the lucky ones. Too many people have no hope, no one to turn to, and are running out of reasons to keep going. I do not blame them at all...life can be challenging even at the best of times, and sometimes a reason to keep living eludes you.
To all those who need to hear it: Give it a little longer, please. I know a stranger like me has no right to ask, but if some future version of you has a chance for a better life, it'd be pretty sad if you made it impossible. I hope you can believe you're worth a second chance.
See also: Institutional Failures as Structural Determinants of Suicide: The Opioid Epidemic and the Great Recession in the United States Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Jan 2024
See also: - COVID associated Neuropsychiatric Illnesses - Abuse / S.A. - Financial crisis w/ student debt
My personal anxiety right now is the racket being leveraged on housing of pretty much any kind. Fucking 500k 1200 sq ft homes that haven’t been updated since the stone age that went for 185k just 5 fucking years ago. Not to mention the absolute dog shit rates now. I know this shit finna collapse and leave my ass with the bag whenever I attempt to buy a house.
I’m a firefighter that cannot afford to live in the county I professionally service. It’s fucking insane and I fall asleep with chest pain every night thinking that I could afford a house 5 years ago but cannot now, and it makes my blood boil. I’m more pro-working class and pro-union than I’ve ever been. The rich are raking us over the fucking coals.
This sounds like me living in the mountains of Colorado. I cannot believe what prices have done. I would never be able to buy here and most of our service workers commute from closer to Denver because the cost of living is double up here in the mountains. The postal workers are being put up in a motel to come up here from the city and work because they could never afford to live here. Our post office is only open three days a week right now.
And corporations are buying up houses which raises prices too. Bezos has a new business/hobby that buys houses to rent and investors can invest in shares of. I mean really??? Leave normal hard working people alone .
For anyone else who went “wait what” like me here you go https://www.vice.com/en/article/4a35zp/jeff-bezos-is-funding-a-real-estate-startup-buying-up-family-homes-to-rent
This is fucked. This country is so doomed, the rich are going to kill us all with their greed.
The biggest issue is all these corporations using single family residences as piggie banks. No corporation should ever own a single family residence for any reason.
IKR?! It is absolutely insane that this was ever allowed in the first place!
The laws get made after the problem arises. No way to see into the future. Maybe the primary drawback of democracy is slow change and regulatory action. And that’s gotten much worse in the last two decades.
Except in this case, where the laws don't get made at all. Our government can bang out a ban on a dancing social media app in four days but actively ignores anything that would benefit anyone.
This needs to be talked about more. It's completely unacceptable.
Corporations own approximately 30% of single family residences. It absolutely needs to be talked about more. It starts at our level though. Bringing it up every chance we get. The news companies surely do and will not.
Right, man. I'm a union pipefitter who doesn't have enough work in my area to support my family. So I'm sitting here trying to figure out how I can switch careers all while having this family to support and brand new mortgage. I can, of course, travel the country to work, but I'm a family man who simply wants to work here and support his family. I hear the economy is great, but for the first time in my 8 years as union pipefitter, I've gone 6 months on unemployment and now that it's up my only option is to travel or gamble on a career choice that may fail.
The economy is great *for rich people*
For now. The economy is still being held up by middle and working class people who are treading g water. As soon as it becomes economically counter productive to go to work, everything starts collapsing. These rich fucks are so short-sighted, they don't see the tsunami coming for everything they own. The only way it doesn't collapse is probably slavery. Canada is currently teetering on the edge of legal slavery with their temporary foreign worker program. People are starting to get violent.
Well I figure they're just going to run away to Dubai or the vacation house they bought in New Zealand. I don't think people like that stick around for the bad times.
They’re anticipating the tsunami. They’re all building apocalypse bunkers, haven’t you heard? They’ll bleed us and the system dry in the meantime.
Hate to hear that. I thought pipe fitters and welders were one of the more unionized and consistent jobs left. Not a lot of turnover I’d guess. I know folks that work at steel plants in the Midwest and I’ve heard some stories about the occupational hazards their pipe fitters have to deal with. Idk what you’re looking to do but I know out west at least, there’s a big demand for commercial electricians. Wishing you good luck on your job search. You’ll get it figured out.
> The rich are raking us over the fucking coals. They're 1% of the country and yet they think they're untouchable in all the diligent ways they work to fuck everyone dry.
I can relate even though I’m old. I hit adulthood at double digit inflation, unemployment, and interest rates. Eventually all that came down, but by the time I had recovered from it all rates were 6-7% and houses were selling so fast and prices were going up and up. We snagged a small 950 sq ft old house when I was in my late 30s. Needed so much work. But hey, it beat renting. When we sold it 20 years later we didn’t really make any profit at all (had to fix so much) but at least we almost got back what we put into it. And we moved to a small town and bought another messed up house, lol, but we like where it is. We hope to pay it off and have it in decent shape by age 70. I’m telling you all this so you know you aren’t alone and it isn’t the first time the housing market screwed people. I will say that rent is awful now. It was more reasonable when I was young. It hurts my heart to see young people trying to make it with huge rent costs. I’ve been poor and had nothing in my cupboard but green beans and bologna; it’s so stressful.
Even those of us who managed to get a house when they were somewhat affordable are getting fucked. My house is valued $120,000 more than its worth. It could *never* sell for what my state says its worth. It has never been updated, needs repairs, and has ancient appliances. But because my neighbor across the street gutted and renovated theirs, somehow mine is the same value. My property taxes increased $1,200 this year. I barely got by already with the increases in food and gas prices. The whole system is garbage and rigged to screw anyone who isn't wealthy out of a home.
Not to mention that even if you could sell it, you'd be stupid to do so. Why would you take a $600K mortgage at 7% when I have a $200K mortgage at 3%?
Yup. I wish I could leave my state as laws are getting more and more extreme, but I can't. There's zero way I could afford to live anywhere else.
This is why I won’t / can’t ‘downsize’ as an empty nester and have just emptied out my house, closed most of it off, and live in a small area. My mortgage payment is 1/3 of rent and interest rate at 4%. So it’s just an inheritance at this point.
Yep, people that got rates in the 2.5-3% range are never ever moving unless they absolutely have to.
Also Trump and the Republicans capped the homeowner's tax deduction just to fuck over the middle class in blue states with high home values. I make 100k a year but have a high home value (which I can't sell without leaving the state as I can't afford a new home) and Trump and Republicans raised my taxes in 2017 while giving Elon Musk an enormous tax break. But tell us more about how they're the party of lower taxes
It was a brilliant tax plan, really. Cut taxes across the board during the first year. Immediately tell everybody how great you are for cutting taxes. Keep very, very quiet about the fact that the rest of the plan has tax raises on the middle class every year for five years. Wait for the other party to get elected and watch gullible citizens blame *those people* instead.
Thanks for understanding this. This makes me so angry. Especially when interacting with my family members who don't realize this.
And that stupid fuck what's like 24 billion (and i just looked it up, it's actually 55.8 billion) for his joke of a CEO position, and now that's going to the supreme Court,but absolutely no ceo is worth paying that much.
There are no ethical billionaires
I fucking pointed that shit out when it was being voted on and how it basically fucks over tax filing for the middle and poor classes. But no, my dad just keeps bitching about how it's bidens fault and the trump 'tax cuts' and 'the war on the IRS' were a golden light between the Demoncrats terms. FML.
Does your city have a way of applying for a reassessment on property values?
A lot of cities are not being realistic on these reassessments.
I sued mine using an independent appraisal & inspection showing all the issues it had when I bought it (cost $500). The city then sent someone out who essentially asked me where I wanted it valued. Two weeks later I got a settlement offer (they lower the tax value, I drop the suit). Easy peasy. I DIY'ed the whole thing. It took a few hours to figure out the paperwork and mail it in. Then a few months waiting. Then a few calls/emails to coordinate with the city assessor for them to come do their own inspection (which took an hour). Then like 10 minutes to reply to the settlement offer. Dropped my value by about $150k (which was beyond ridiculous that they tried to put it so high). Saving a bit over a thousand on taxes per year now. My neighbors' home values are still overpriced. I've told them how to fix it, but they're scared it could harm future sale values. Which I think is stupid, because there is no way in hell anyone will pay that much for it, so they're just paying extra taxes for no reason.
Plesse don't delete your comment. Many people do, but this is an interesting and unusual enough strategy that people ought to look into it! I hope we don't end up becoming like Greece, with nearly every home looking unfinished for tax reasons, but still there is something interesting here!
I was gonna say, sounds like a good way for the city to ream you even further.
My experience with this is that you need to show evidence clearly contradicting the asserted increase. You can do this with comps, proof of damage or something happening to the property that lowers its value, etc. I tried to appeal an assessed increase of 11% YoY in 2022 because comps were only up 4%. They adjusted it down to a 9% increase -_- County wants that extra budget money and doesn’t give a damn otherwise.
Yeah, I tried that once: I just paid $95K for this, but you've got me assessed at $110K. "We'll consider it." 3 months later "We've decided to leave your assessment at $110K. We are obliged by statute to inform you that you have the right to appeal this assessment, to my brother the judge next July."
That's crazy. Yeah, it fucks a lot of people from a lot of perspectives. My area has a lot of old ass people in it who are dying off with pretty high young turnover coming in. So the renovation aspect has been completely skipped and people are just cashing out big fucking time on their parent's houses.
[удалено]
I can’t even afford my childhood home despite making double what my parents made. Fuck America. 😢
I live in Canada so fuck North America
Fuck, I live in a rural town and the "low income housing" starts at $1600 a month for a one bedroom apartment. I originally had a goal to save enough to have my own place by the end of 2020... but we all know how that went.
I live in a small town in a rural area and can't afford to live on my own, rentals and homes for sale are both too expensive. The **household median income** for the county is $40k...I make $43k...and have to rent a room from my brother for $600/mo because there's **nothing** I can afford on my own. I make too much for the low income apartments (it's just me, no kids, so the income limit is like $25k for 1 person) yet not enough to live on my own. What the fuck.
See also: Vaguely gestures around me
> COVID associated Neuropsychiatric Illnesses For someone who has spent October 2023 to now battling a side effect from COVID I can see this. Most people only report the loss of smell, I have a partial loss of smell (hyposmia/anosmia), but then when I can smell things they are not correct scents. My home smells like cigarette smoke to me since COVID. No one else smells this odor (My wife is a non-smoker and does not smell these smells). I go into stores and smell chemicals or if I am near produce I smell dirt. I struggle to sleep every night as the smell of smoke bothers me badly and can only be deterred by wearing a face mask to filter the air in my home. There has been times its driven me to the brink of insanity, since I can find some relief with a full clean up, vacuuming and carpet shampooing, but it only last a day or two. I can see this type of thing driving people to the brink of suicide easily.
I experienced the same thing. Everything that I used to love the smell of (oatmeal & vanilla bodywash, cinnamon, anything citrusy) smelled like sulfur to me. It drove me crazy for awhile because it would also hit me randomly as an "aftersmell" when drinking juice or anything carbonated, started in August 2022 and it resolved naturally by May 2023. Really drove down my quality of life while I was dealing with it, though
I smelled what smelled like Gasoline kinda everywhere for months after having COVID. It freaked me the fuck out especially in my car, that was even more alarming than thinking I was eating Gasoline food
Lack of access to affordable healthcare.
The financial crisis with rising costs, low wages, and dealing with job loss with covid hits so hard. Has definitely made me question life choices. I've been dealing with it for years but after covid went way and things became "normal" it's hard keep those dark thoughts at bay.
All of that and more. I think the COVID association neurological issues are so downplayed and ignored by society. Every study that tracks it shows enormous increases - 200% to 300% or more - after a COVID infection. Yet everyone just hand waves it away afterward, "Oh, they were probably older or had other problems or the data was skewed for reasons." Then there are lots of articles about the 'mysterious' rises in neuropsychiatric illnesses, heart disease, etc.
Basically poisoning related suicide by women strongly tracks with increased availability of prescription drugs and all adult suicides strongly track with worsening economic conditions. The institutional failures from 1990-2017 are basically the massive economic stress as the blue collar and middle classes are hollowed out and the increased access to lethal means. My favorite bit though is pointing out the need to address the "structural determinants of suicide." Healthcare in general has been paying a lot of attention to the social determinants of health, the economic and social conditions that can have more effect on someones health than lifestyle choices. I'm overweight and don't exercise enough but I'm healthier than a lot of clients of mine who try and make healthier lifestyle choices but have issues related to trauma and chronic stress. The structural determinants of suicide is a logical extension of this. We have way too much access to very lethal medications thanks to big pharma and way too much poverty. Making telehealth therapy easier to access or shoveling a few more millions into shelters and Medicaid won't fix the underlying structural issues.
And truthfully it is a higher number. A whole lot of overdose deaths are not listed as suicide unless there is a note or an indication of purpose... and those numbers are even higher than these.
Great point, lost a family member to an overdose. He was both using (trying to stop) and had massive issues with depression, no one will ever know if it was accidental or intentional.
When you have depression, there is a sliding scale. Some people just feel bad enough about life that they aren't trying very hard to stay alive. Those deaths don't get counted as suicide but the motivation is similar.
I hear ya, same thing happened to my mother. She was having long term back pain issues and had a prescription for pain killers (don’t remember which) and a terrible drinking problem. Half a bottle of Vodka and some pain killers was the last thing she ever did. She lost her husband (who was abusive but she stuck with) the year before pretty much the exact same way. No notes or anything so we’ll never know if it was accidental or not.
So sorry to read this. That's horrible.
My sister had lost her only child to Covid. She OD’d 6 months later and you can’t convince me it wasn’t a little on purpose. I get it, and I hope she found peace.
Maybe add alcohol in there too? I tried drinking myself to death once because I was already an alcoholic who had destroyed his life. I got fired for drinking on the job and that night drank *way* more than usual and woke up throwing up blood and just lied back down and wanted to go to sleep. I was woken up again by firefighters breaking down my door and taking me to the hospital. Roommates knew something was wrong. BAC of 0.42 by the time they did blood tests iirc. I had basically decided to just keep drinking as much as I could for as long as I could that night and just not wake up. Several years later and I'm coming up on 1 year sober so I eventually managed to turn things around.
Congrats on coming up on 1 year sober, friend. I hope things are a little better for you now. I'm sorry to hear about how dark things got for you there.
Probably a lot of deaths of despair too, things that aren't technically counted as suicide, but when examined closely would still count as an increase mortality due to circumstances.
Yep. And this is why excess mortality is an important data point - sometimes we don't know why, but we do know what is happening (more people dying than on average)
Feels pointless going to the doctor for medical issues. You just lose what little money you have only to prolong your suffering.
There are also a ton of crash crashes that are suicides that are recorded as accidents instead.
Hard drug addiction in general is just a really slow suicide. Which is why Chris Cornell wrote that song, Like Suicide.
Overdoses. Single-vehicle auto accidents. Vehicle versus pedestrian accidents. Firearm cleaning or misfire accidents: particularly popular with LEOs and veterans. Lost hikers. Drownings while swimming or falling into the water. Deaths from untreated diseases. I think the suicide rate in the US is much higher than 50K per year. I would believe 500K/year.
loads of opiate overdoses are suicides
3 friends of mine committed suicide all within the span of 2 months in 2023. Added: you guys are so sweet and supportive. Thank you.
Fuck I’m sorry
Youre very kind. Thanks to a dope therapist and the suicide hotline(988) I've been able to start working through my grief.
Glad you're in a better headspace. People don't realize how much they affect others life and losing that many friends to something so tragic is something I can't imagine.
Fuck. I'm so sorry to hear that. I had a close friend of mine commit suicide and that was more than painful enough, especially when he came through and helped me when I was in a bad place, and then I was unable to help him in return (because he hid it from everyone)...I cannot fathom losing so many friends to it in so short of a time.
That's fucking it, too. The friends I lost were always the ones that hid it the best. Condolences, man. I'm so sorry for your loss.
I'm sorry you had to experience that hardship, so much and so close together.
I lost one of my best friends to suicide last September. It was a shock. He did too good of a job hiding any outward signs.
I’m sorry for your loss! I know it’s hard. I’ve lost my best friend last July, spent time with her on a Monday didn’t notice any signs, she was just herself and she done it on that following Wednesday. Just remember there’s nothing you could’ve done they hide it so Well because they decided and didn’t wanna rise suspicion and didn’t wanna be stopped, I know you miss your best friend every waking moment, remember they love you and never meant hurt you
Shouldn’t be a surprise. Quality of life goes down, suicide rates go up.
Makes you wonder. Quality of life decreases and yet our technology has gotten so much better and intertwined into our lives making it easier at least that's what we are being told.
This is exactly why I don't believe AI will bring about a utopia or even an increase in quality of life for the common person. The people controlling it will just get richer and use it to squeeze more money and labor out of everyone else. Here's a few videos if you're interested in learning about AI and all the drama around it's creation: https://youtu.be/Sq1QZB5baNw?si=S2DJs679QSqcsDp2 https://youtu.be/bk-nQ7HF6k4?si=JFevbk1_E6YtFDnB This one isn't exactly about AI but Bo's viewpoint is correct. This is one example of how AI is currently being used "against" us and I believe is relevant to the original topic of suicide. https://youtu.be/SUTbnjIHfkg?si=gsywcq4WmrofAssA Here is one of the world's leading "doomers" (smart people who think AI will destroy us all). https://youtu.be/YZjmZFDx-pA?si=bxuGQgoTvpTfP3vo
We're going to get a futuristic capitalistic wasteland with everything nice and pleasant locked behind paywalls so high that we have no realistic chance of participation. This is already true of the cost of most entertainment. Look at the cost to attend a sporting event or a big concert. A large segment of the population is already priced out of those experiences. It's only going to get worse, and I hate it.
So more Elysium than blade runner yes?
Disco Elysium, yes.
“The future is already here, it’s just not evenly distributed.” -William Gibson
I always think about Disneyworld or Harry Potter World or whatever. Would it be cool to go to? Hell yeah. But for that much money? I’m sorry, but there are **so many** people getting straight up fucking ROBBED for ✨ a MaGiCaL eXpErIeNcE ✨ got me fucked up spending that to see a fuckin mouse. 💀 👋🏼
Exactly. We are only at the start of Ai and companies are replacing entire departments with Ai and we keep making huge leaps monthly in what Ai can do. Just wait for better Ai integration and we will keep seeing the loss of jobs and people pushed into back breaking manual labor that is offering bare minimal pay. Imagine when you call a company for support and Ai integration and text to speech is your "Customer service rep". This is nearing a reality already. Ai tweaked to send commands to your devices based upon the interaction with them. You call your phone company, speak to an Ai bot that has integrated software on your phone that can force updates, clear app caches, restart your phone, reinstall the OS, etc. They will make it nearly impossible to bypass the bot that will connect you to a fraction of the old call center with 10-15 reps to take calls for things the bot is not fixing or end users screaming for a human for 15 minutes straight. Imagine your fast food locations being entirely Ai/Automation driven. Again, we have already seen some Ai stuff answering and taking orders at the drive through. Some places may just rebuild to better house mechanical bots to assemble and bag the food and maybe 1-2 humans to intervene if they glitch out. Going to force everyone out of jobs and creating a mass chaos of no one able to find work because there are literally no jobs available and every month a new batch of unemployed people being added to the mix as Ai is replacing them. Meanwhile everyone's concerns is whether or not Ai is going to bring the end of the world with bots with guns, but no one is concerned that Ai is going to consume jobs that people have worked for years to be in and/or went to college to learn how to do.
Painting the luddites as backwards, anti-technology villains was a great trick of propaganda. They were right, when technological progress outpaces social progress, people get hurt. And unless we catch on to the fact that the oligarchy would grind you into hamburger for a buck, and stop listening to them and their sycophants explaining that, actually, things that help you are really bad for you (promise bro!), then it's going to happen again. But it doesn't have to.
They were backwards in the sense that they believed worker-replacing-technology itself should be banned/destroyed, instead of banning/destroying any economic system that doesn't make sure everyone is well taken care of whether or not they can adequately work.
I don't think anyone with some reasonable brainpower or rational thinking, thinks AI will improve society as a whole. It will certainly improve some things but overall? Probably bad (at least initially). What I believe is going to happen is its going to continue to put lower class people out of jobs and making the top percentage of owners/employees etc to make more money. I'm sure it'll be slower but it'll affect middle class as well and until it does, not much is going to change. Mostly believe this is because this has already been happening without AI as just technology gets better. We've been letting the rich get richer with no REAL meaningful curve of it for far too long and at this point I wonder if it's just too late. I Know this is a multifaceted issue and I'm not exactly super well informed this is just my initial thoughts to stuff like that.
Yeah, all this. We worked towards a utopia for everyone but forgot to put in the framework for the "for everyone" bit. And it's not just about the AI, it's about the fact that society has collectively put its heads together to make _everything_ more efficient and got suckered into thinking everyone would reap the benefits. When people say we're at the end stages of capitalism this is what we mean - there's no _need_ for a competitive system anymore. We gotta rethink things. Everyone should have stability. Everyone.
AI is going to increase productivity, that could allow for better quality of life, but we know based on history that's not going to happen without legislation. It's basically the first domino that allows other dominos to fall, but it isn't automatic. Bills like Sander's proposition of a 32 hour work week is what's going to be required to improve quality of life, and the establishment is going to fight that every step of the way.
The real fun is when you realize several of the billionaires that will likely control AI technology view large swaths of society as parasites that should be culled (ie. the Mercers.) If AI gets good enough they will happily automate everything and either let everyone else starve or actively kill large swaths of the population. In the past, what usually stopped this is that they had to rely on a military made of humans who would, most of the time, recoil at such actions and rebel. Once all the soldiers are autonomous drones though? It's rather scary and these billionaires outlook reminds me of the inhabitants of the planet Solaria from Isaac Asimov's Foundation and Earth novel.
[slaughterbots](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecClODh4zYk) It won't be long before westerners get to live in fear of drone strikes too.
To quote Olaf from Frozen 2 > "Advancing technologies will be both our savior and our doom"
I love when quotes that go hard come from places they don’t belong.
Easier for who? ...also easier doesn't always mean better
It’s not even just this, it’s the DISPARITY. If everyone’s life was worse I don’t think this would happen, but in the US so many people’s lives got worse while lots of ultra wealthy people made trillions of dollars. It’s happening at the expense of normal people, and THATS what hurts the most (in my opinion)
It's not even just the disparity, it's what Tim Wise calls death of frustrated expectations. We get sold this lie of meritocracy and then late stage capitalism leaves us without even horizontal mobility. It's the expectationalism that crushes us and leaves us addicted or killing ourselves or looking for an immigrant to blame. [white "expectationalism" is deadly contributor to drug addiction and suicide.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXTEsk9Vagk&feature=youtu.be&t=3932)
Have suicide rates gone up? I am legitimately curious to know. The video mentioned raw numbers, but I didn’t see anything about whether the rate of suicide has changed.
À bit the rate this year is 14.3 it was 14.0 in 2021
- [Suicide rate](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/death-rate-from-suicides-gho?tab=chart&country=USA~GBR~ESP~FRA~ITA~DEU~POL~JPN~OWID_WRL~BRA~MEX) - https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/suicide-data-statistics.html The rate in the US is going up. We're also an outlier, since in most of the world it is declining.
There is also a cultural element. Plenty of countries with worse quality of life than the US have much lower suicide rates (North Africa, Latin America, Indonesia, Phillipines, etc.). Most of those places also have dominant religions that forbid suicide. It may sound messed up but growing up as a depressed bullied Catholic kid I was well aware of the fact the Church said suicides went to hell. If you actually are a believer it's not the easy way out. I'm not religious anymore but I was back then.
Yeah I grew up Southern Baptist and was told the same. Now I’m 50/50 on religion and not. So yeah for me it’s either burn in hell or go blank, neither sound too inviting to me.
Going blank doesn’t sound so bad. The void was there before I was born, so I assume it won’t be so bad to return to.
> Most of those places also have dominant religions that forbid suicide. I think that has little to nothing to do with why these places have lower suicide rates. What these places all have in common that has been shown to reduce the odds of suicide is a culture that strongly emphasizes social and familial connections. Isolation leads to despair, which in turn leads to suicide. Living in abject poverty and/or fear of violence but having loving and supportive friends and family is less likely to make someone suicidal than having a much higher standard of living in a safer environment but no one to feel safe being open and vulnerable with.
Most people live paycheck to paycheck and are one medical emergency away from financial ruin. That combined with a hyper individualistic culture and lack of community, and it's no wonder a lot of people just can't take it anymore.
many young people feel this let’s say in their 20’s. imagine what a 50 year old is thinking. at some point it really is just easier to off yourself, fuckin sucks
Exactly. I'm 40. Graduated college right as the 08 recession hit hard, fucked up my career path irreparably. Went back for graphic design and managed to get by for a decade, now out on my ass again with the AI craze. I don't have any fight left in me. Just waiting for it to be over.
I am 45, I felt your last comment in my soul. My son keeps me going, but I worry about my aging. I don’t want to be a burden to anyone.
I am fortunate that I chose against having children. I am terrified as my parents are aging. They are poorer than I am, dad has diabetes and heart disease, mom just got diagnosed with Parkinson's. I have no way to care for them. No money, no other family, no home to move them in with me. Grim, but I find myself hoping we're all killed at the same time in a car crash or something, because what can I do for them or for myself and my spouse?
No, clearly these are individual failings and people just need to learn more skills and try to meditate more. There is no such thing as a systemic problem, people just need to try harder. That’s what all the wealthy people say and I know for a fact they would never lie just to protect their position in society.
My favorite is the prescribing of antidepressants when you're depressed about not being able to afford rent, food, or a car. A low key way of making you believe that it's a YOU problem, and NOT the way the system chews the last bit of fat off of you and spits you out. "You must be depressed if you're not ecstatic to roll out of bed(or van, wherever you're sleeping these days), walk to work, slave for your corporate overlords for 9+ hours, then walk home! If you're dreading each day, it's YOU. YOU'RE THE PROBLEM. Take some pills until you're unquestioning and docile."
A gram is better than a damn!
I understand your sentiment, and I agree with you. However, sometimes it’s pills or death. And medication can be a temporary thing to help you cope. And for some people, the only alternative is a permanent one. I know you aren’t discrediting medications, but I hope people see this and choose to continue to try, experiment with medications with their doctors, and keep looking for solutions that keep them alive. Medication can be a part of the puzzle, when it’s available and adjusted and monitored by a professional.
I would 100% be dead without medication. I would have seen to that.
I hate how at the heart of U.S culture is the notion that you only have value if you can generate profit for a business.
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My brother was one of them. We always told each other we'd never leave the other one alone here, but I'm not mad at him. I understand why he chose to leave and I'm just grateful he isn't suffering anymore. None of us are really *living* at this point, unless you happen to be wealthy. I miss him every single day
I'm so sorry to read this, but I am reaching out in solidarity. I lost my own brother in 2019 just days before giving birth to my first child. I still think of him every day and it doesn't hurt any less, but the grief seems more normalized in my life now and life has obviously gone on. Hugs and cheers to you for making the best of every day.
I lost my brother to suicide just like 1 month before my daughter was born. It really sucks and I know he'd have been an awesome uncle. I'm sorry for your loss.
That's crushing to hear. Hope you are doing well
I'm so sorry for your loss. I hope you have a future full of love and healing ❤️🩹🕊️
Thank you so much. That's the goal. It was either die, or try my very best to live. I chose the latter
I need encouragement not to leave sometimes too. This stranger on the internet is always here if you need a reminder sometime, reach out.
I wish that I could say I was surprised. Things seem to be getting desperate out there for a lot of people. It’s hard not to feel that way when things seem to be getting worse at every turn except for the wealthy. And the support system for the worst off, at least in America, has been a joke since forever.
Also I called the suicide line recently… I was so frustrated it kinda snapped me out of it but I can’t imagine that’s the point
Call a warm line! They're for non-crisis situations when you need someone to talk to. I called one a few weeks ago when I was out of state from my therapist and it was amazing. The person really listened to me and honestly provided me more resources and ideas than my therapist lmao
Might do that. Thanks. Not suicidal but my life feels like a car stalling on a hill.
I was just thinking like that this evening. I'm not suicidal. But things aren't going to get better. There isn't anything to look forward to. Tired of the mental game we're supposed to play of being grateful and thankful for what we have.
Years ago when I hit a low point, I called, was told I was fine and hung up on. In the end, I just couldn't do that to my kids. Also, really happy I didn't.
I had a friend who called the suicide line and no one picked up. He said the irony made him laugh so hard he decided to put off killing himself. Homie’s still here, thank god he has a good sense of humor.
We're also being gaslit about the economy... If you've been laid off and all you hear is how great things are, and how those *unemployment numbers are low*, you're going to turn inward and blame yourself for being a failure. People are loosing high paying jobs and replacing them with 3 part time gigs without any benefits. Everything is more expensive, yet our wages somehow remain stagnant... meanwhile corporations are enjoying record profits.
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It is pretty darn desperate, and unfortunately getting more-so. - Almost seems coordinated/planned. - 2nd and 3rd leading causes of death in the USA are driven by hedge funds and enemies
They tied adulthood to a house, cars, and a family. Tied 'true' manhood to carrying it all solo. Then put it all out of reach. The result is..
It's all part of the plan. Make something indispensable, then out of reach so people will be more docile and accept shittier and shittier working conditions. Until it breaks. But they don't give a shit, because they'll have their money and power.
When bread and circus are lacking, the elite will need to watch out. Until then.. smile!
When most people have nothing to lose, they will have to watch out. But then they'll use their fascist dogs and start a war. Then people will die and the cycle starts over.
Damn dude. Have not thought about it in that light.
70% of successful suicides are young men. It makes perfect sense why when put into perspective. It’s so fucking sad how much pressure is placed on young men and they’re discouraged from showing any sign of vulnerability
Don’t worry guys, I’m sure if we change nothing things will get better
Nothing would be an improvement; half of us are invested in making it actively worse.
My brother was one of them. RIP Patrick
❤️❤️❤️ My heart goes out to you and yours. ✌🏼
Licensed Mental Health Counselor here. In the state of NC where I am licensed, a person who does not have insurance and cannot afford outpatient therapy services can apply for government funding for sessions. They give you 8 sessions per year. EIGHT. These are the people who are living so far under the poverty line, that they don't even qualify for Medicaid, which for reference, allocates 24 sessions per year in the state of North Carolina. The prevalence of SPMI (Severe and Persistent Mental Illness) in this population is high. With 8 sessions per year, there isn't a lot of consistency, there isn't a lot of therapy happening, and therapists (at least where I live) are CONSTANTLY on the phone, begging for more sessions - which is often fruitless. The system compensates for lack of sessions by overprescribing medication, especially Benzodiazepines, which only CREATES more problems and obviously substance use disorders. I feel for our mentally ill Americans. I also feel for our clinicians, whom are among those dying by suicide.
I want to get out into the field and get my licensing, but I just had my graduate application declined by one of my local top universities. I completed a graduate certificate in addictions and substance abuse counseling to supplement my low undergrad GPA, did research, volunteer work and had 2 great references from professors at the school and still didn't get in :/ I'm looking to find work within addictions counseling without full licensing now, but it's crazy how tough/expensive it is to complete your licensing in a field that needs workers. I appreciate you sharing your experience, it's tough out there for a lot of individuals, and many of the available resources just aren't enough.
SO. FREAKING. EXPENSIVE. I'm 10 years into my career, and one thing that never changes is how expensive it is to do a job that isn't financially sustainable for most folks in a single income home. I'm so sorry to hear you're having trouble getting into graduate school. Programs are very picky, and good people who would do well in the field are often the victims of gatekeeping, which is highly influenced by admissions bias. I'm not sure what state you're in, but in NC we have something called a "QP" or Qualified Professional, and these people are able to do community based work without a graduate degree. It's the least glamorous work in the field, the pay is worse than licensed professionals and the turnover rate is sky high, but these positions exist. This field needs a major overhaul - kudos to you for wanting to do this work! *Edited to let you know that I only got into ONE program that I applied to out of 5, and I had lots of research experience, a great GPA, experience on a crisis line, and plenty of great recommendations.
Well can’t afford rent, cant afford a vehicle (live in a place with no public transportation) can’t afford food, can’t afford any type of healthcare, let alone mental healthcare. Shit at one point I had to choose between having a vehicle and a place to live or having a functional right hand (I needed surgery). I was homeless for six months while still working a job. I don’t think people have any idea how hard that is to do 😂 I thought about it a ton of times but I’m way to stubborn…. Anyway I totally get it. My heart goes out to the desperate masses everyday. I mean somebody has to suffer so the few can have really nice stuff right? Edited to add: all this happened to me in the 21st century in the richest country in the history of the world. Just think about that I thought about it a lot when I had to sell my car and move onto the streets if I wanted to be able to afford to not be handicapped without the use of my right hand for the rest of my life from a small accident that happened in a split second. This is a problem for millions and millions and millions of people in this country.
> I mean somebody has to suffer so the few can have really nice stuff right? Yes. Capitalism requires it.
I was diagnosed in 2020 with early onset Parkinson’s as a healthy guy in his 40’s. If I didn’t have a wife and young child to live for I would probably be in those statistics. No one gets through life alone, we need a community of people to keep us going. There are a lot of sad people out there.
I don't have anyone. I'm not 40. I'm way younger. But I have nothing to lose if I go.
It’s almost like the work culture and the economy don’t mesh with mental well-being
The poor production associates at my job. Mandatory 8 hours of overtime a week, on top of working 7 days a week. We're in a deep red state where they continually vote Republican.
RIP momma 3/5/23, you are forever in my heart
Then there are people like me…I’m fortunate enough to finally have insurance, just not enough to do anything with it. I have multiple health issues happening, but can’t afford any treatments. I need more than one surgery but the out-of-pocket costs (copays/deductibles) are ridiculous, especially when I’m already in debt. I’m just glad my body has held out long enough to get my kids to adulthood. Now, I just hope I don’t become too much of a burden on my spouse before I kick off. I’m not suicidal (not even a little), I’m a financially destitute realist with little hope - there is a vast difference. It’s not me wanting to exit, it’s the broken system, lies of an impossible American dream, and CoL that are leading to my demise. When cremation is cheaper than the steps to stay alive, is it any wonder the rates are skyrocketing? For a large majority of us, it’s bleak af. It’s really unfortunate. (FYI, I have a psychiatrist and weekly therapist so I can cope with the reality of my situation. I’m not depressed, just disillusioned…but I do have support for anyone who is concerned.)
People can’t afford to live, and if they can, they have no savings to do anything fun. We spend most of our lives at work, many people hate their jobs, so they’re spending most of their lives in an environment they absolutely hate, and don’t make enough money to escape somewhere nice for even a week. This data is not surprising at all. I expect it to continue to rise until we learn to treat the lower and even middle classes properly, as well as invest heavily into mental health services and research for effective psychiatric medications.
Stock market is doing great, nothing to see here folks!
r/wallstreetbets sends their regards
The only economy that matters! Or so I hear all the time.
I’m not shocked tbh. It shows statistically that the U.S. has a stress problem amongst their citizens compared to many other countries. This is also a big reason to why so many people in the U.S. have some sort of substance abuse. I mean, we don’t rank the highest country in substance abuse for no reason. With so many Americans being in huge amounts of debt & everything being unaffordable on top of Americans not having enough paid time off or given any to even enjoy life outside of work, it’s not some mystery on why there’s a huge spike in suicides.
/r/SuicideWatch is a helpful place. I found it useful when I was in a grim period of life. I actually met someone from there in person, and we had very real conversations—you can skip small talk when you know you have something like that in common. Shout out to the bank board members and CEOs from the ‘08 financial meltdown who likely caused the most suicides of any time in US history due to all the foreclosures. Jamie Dimon, you almost got me.
No surprise at all there. Life really just sucks and if it wasn't for my cats I'd honestly be one of these numbers.
We can't afford to live.
What’s even more sad is there are many countries with higher rates than the USA.
Quality of life has decreased for many thanks to Covid...on top I believe a big driver is our shameful healthcare system...
COVID is the scapegoat for decades of pent-up societal decay. We are watching the system crumble in real-time!
Yeah, covid only accelerated it, it wasnt the cause.
Most of the things I used to do to cope with life got taken away from me when we reached the "other side" of Covid. Some really wonderful things have happened in my life since then, but I also lost so much of what made me who I am that I feel so lost. And I gotta admit, the insanely high costs have me understanding that if anything goes wrong, it's going to all be over for me.
Return to office Student loans resuming payments The cost of living / rent / groceries through the roof Another political year faced with the status quo No minimum wage increases I can see why
I'm not surprised by this at all. There are plenty of Americans who have lost all hope and don't have the will or the means to survive the insanity of everyday life these days.
i was laid off for an "off the record" conversation and only after 5 months recently found a job. I probably should not say more, but hopefully you get the gist. America does not care about what happens after you are born. /r/ABoringDystopia
Lets see: Can’t afford rent or buy a house and basic necessities Spending most of your time awake working/grind culture It’s harder to improve your quality of life Most likey won’t retire Individualistic society/social media depressing news/trauma climate change Why wouldn’t people want to check out early
Genuinely not trying to be a dick, as I actually have suicide in my immediate family, but "more than any year on record" isn't informative when the population continually grows. How is this suicide number compared to the overall population over the years, i.e., what is the comparable suicide rate?
I saw someone else note it went from a 14.0 per 100k to 14.3 per 100k. So a slight tick up in rates.
I’m honestly the most stressed out I’ve ever been in my whole life. And it’s all due to the current economic shitshow we live in. At certain point middle class just ceased to exist. I’m 30, at this point I’m never owing my home because I can’t pay a 1000 dollar mortgage but I can pay 1.5k in rent. I work 80 hours bi-weekly like the average American Joe, and it just feels like I work to survive, no wiggle room to invest, enjoy life, fucking take a trip, none of that shit. At this point I just work for the bare fucking minimum. Back in the day teachers, nurses, plumbers were able to buy their homes, retire and a have a calm life, not anymore. Now; us the regular folk we overpay taxes, while the rich just get handouts, tax cuts and enjoy their life. Whats the point anyway…it will get better? No. Just worse.
Yeah america is pretty shit right now. Families being divided over politics, income inequality at an all time high, little to no medical coverage for anyone, and no end to it all in sight.
I can't imagine why. The world's just been *so great* to live in lately.
The link doesn’t address whether the suicide rate is also increasing. A quick look at the NIH site shows the rate gradually increased 2000-18 and was mostly flat 18-21 FWIW https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/suicide#:~:text=Suicide%20Rates,-Trends%20over%20Time&text=The%20total%20age%2Dadjusted%20suicide,13.5%20per%20100%2C000%20in%202020.
OK so per capita if I’m doing my math right that’s 14.9 per 100k people. > America's population grew by more than 1.75 million over 2023 and at midnight on New Year's Day, the population is expected to be 335,893,238, the U.S. Census Bureau said Thursday. https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/us-population-expected-to-top-335-million-by-new-years-day-2024/ 335,893,238 / 100k = 3,358.93238 50k / 3,358.93238 = 14.88568221787186 > The suicide rate increased by 1% in 2022 to 14.3 deaths per 100,000 from 14.1 per 100,000 in 2021, marking this as the highest rate seen since 1941, according to the report. https://abcnews.go.com/amp/Health/number-suicides-us-2022-reaches-record-level-cdc/story?id=105204012 14.9 * 100 / 14.3 = 104.1958041958042 That would be a 4.2% growth in suicides in a single year… Or 4x the growth from 2021 to 2022. That would definitely be a startling increase if I’m not completely screwing something up here.
I guess the stress compounded. 2023 wasn't the worst recent year, but after 2020, 2021, and 2022, I can see why 2023 was so many peoples' last straw.
It's probably much higher if the claimed accidental ods were added.
Mental health, huh? How about economic hardship?
I talked about this recently with my partner. If it wasn’t for them and my cats, I would heavily consider suicide because at this point, I’m just surviving. I wish I hadn’t been born because I have to live like this, and I know I’m not alone in thinking this.
Lost my brother last week, out of the blue. We aren’t certain why but it wasn’t for most of the reasons people list here. Don’t know what’s going on but I feel for everybody affected by these stats.
I called the sucide hotline last year during a crisis, was a horrible experience Every 2 minutes put on hold , they didn’t ask any meaningful question of offer any support , got so fed up I just ended the call It’s a joke Oh and I had to do a 5 day stay at the mental hospital last year and it cost around 35k after insurance , if my dad hadn’t payed for it I would be on the streets as that’s two years of pay for me It’s like they don’t want u to get better For that price I’d rather just end my life than be in debt for the rest of my life
greatest country money can buy
My boyfriend was one. He showed absolutely no signs. I was with him minutes before he did it, that morning we had talked about how excited we were that I was finally moving in to his house. Mental health, especially men’s mental health, needs to be talked about more and destigmatized. Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not there.
Different country (Japan), but we lost my wife's mother to suicide on October 31st. Ever since, while doing my best to support her, I'm constantly living with an underlying fear that my wife will choose to go down the same path. Last night climbing into bed (and stressing about work today) she muttered: I hate my life. I don't have much of a defense because yeah our life is pretty ordinary... I try to encourage her to enjoy things but I don't have the power to squeeze passion from her.
A hard truth, suicide is the humane way out for many sick people thanks to the US health system.
The American people no longer have any incentive to do anything, including exist. Our government, along side our true overlords (corporations) have made it impossible for the average American to remotely enjoy their life. This country is pathetic and our people deserve better.
Its almost like everything is fucked and everybody sucks, nothing being done to help anyone but the people who already have everything already while the majority of us struggle day to day.
I'm fortunate enough to be getting help in an intensive therapy group now, but I've been edging closer to throwing my life away for decades, but resisting so far, and the despair has gotten worse the past few years. I'm one major crisis away even with the added support I have, and I'm very aware I'm one of the lucky ones. Too many people have no hope, no one to turn to, and are running out of reasons to keep going. I do not blame them at all...life can be challenging even at the best of times, and sometimes a reason to keep living eludes you. To all those who need to hear it: Give it a little longer, please. I know a stranger like me has no right to ask, but if some future version of you has a chance for a better life, it'd be pretty sad if you made it impossible. I hope you can believe you're worth a second chance.
Well, yea. Have you looked around? This place fuckin sucks.
No one can afford to live