There are multiple problems with this post. Suicide prevention falls into similar issues as drug/smoking prevention and pro-life issues. It aims at preventing one action at the end of a series of problems rather than addressing the events that lead to that.
Sending information to contacts is a terrible idea. There would be no way for an automated system to identify the difference between supportive friends, recent exes, abusive or violent partners, incesty/abusive family, pimps, or even employers. The percentage of people who are suicidal and have strong support system is pretty small.
This post is also under the assumption that authority and healthcare providers are helpful. In the US there have been many issues of law enforcement being violent towards people with mental illness, and the majority of things happening today in the psychiatric hospital system is going to be seen as cruel and inhumane 50 years from now. There are many people who develop PTSD and related trauma diagnoses after going to a hospital.
So how could these things better be addressed? When I was in high school, most suicidal teens felt that way because they had parents who encouraged them to commit suicide. This is a felony. Collecting evidence against abusers is extremely difficult to do safely, and much more difficult for minors who have significantly less power in the situation. Phones already record our conversations for the purpose of advertising- why not use it as an easy way for victims to collect evidence? This way when they decide they want to press charges, they don’t have to go through the laborous task of trying to prove events that happened in the past.
Honestly, any other suggestions beyond that are systemic. Efforts to prevent suicide aren’t useful in failing economies, broken healthcare systems, corrupt legal systems, and non-existent domestic violence services, child protective services, and homelessness services. Any interaction with authorities- especially CPS- exponentially worsens the situation because it’s a potentially traumatic interaction with zero follow through or support. The only time I have reported someone is when I believed the abuse they were going through was worse than the worst abuse they would get from the government.
Most people who commit suicide don’t do so as a mistake- they do so after repeated calls for help are ignored. Stories of people who “wouldn’t have done it otherwise” are not representative of the majority of people who die this way. It’s also not representative of “grieving family members” who participated in the abuse.
Thanks for your reply, especially the part regarding sending messages to contacts; I hadn’t appreciated on a deep level how bad that could be. Prior to writing this post, I hadn’t realized how varied people’s perspectives are on the topic of suicide prevention, and your comment (and others) made me realize that, if I choose to keep looking into this, I need to devote more thought and research toward the big picture stuff and talk to / read things by people with more direct experience before (potentially) speculating on possible interventions.
Doing research is always a great way to go. Getting feedback is important, because that’s when you’ll hear things you might not see with the internet search algorythm matrix. For some people it can be difficult to unlearn after they’ve already been exposed to too much information.
There are multiple problems with this post.
Suicide prevention falls into similar issues as drug/smoking prevention and pro-life issues. It aims at preventing one action at the end of a series of problems rather than addressing the events that lead to that.
Sending information to contacts is a terrible idea. There would be no way for an automated system to identify the difference between supportive friends, recent exes, abusive or violent partners, incesty/abusive family, pimps, or even employers. The percentage of people who are suicidal and have strong support system is pretty small.
This post is also under the assumption that authority and healthcare providers are helpful. In the US there have been many issues of law enforcement being violent towards people with mental illness, and the majority of things happening today in the psychiatric hospital system is going to be seen as cruel and inhumane 50 years from now. There are many people who develop PTSD and related trauma diagnoses after going to a hospital.
So how could these things better be addressed?
When I was in high school, most suicidal teens felt that way because they had parents who encouraged them to commit suicide. This is a felony. Collecting evidence against abusers is extremely difficult to do safely, and much more difficult for minors who have significantly less power in the situation. Phones already record our conversations for the purpose of advertising- why not use it as an easy way for victims to collect evidence? This way when they decide they want to press charges, they don’t have to go through the laborous task of trying to prove events that happened in the past.
Honestly, any other suggestions beyond that are systemic. Efforts to prevent suicide aren’t useful in failing economies, broken healthcare systems, corrupt legal systems, and non-existent domestic violence services, child protective services, and homelessness services. Any interaction with authorities- especially CPS- exponentially worsens the situation because it’s a potentially traumatic interaction with zero follow through or support. The only time I have reported someone is when I believed the abuse they were going through was worse than the worst abuse they would get from the government.
Most people who commit suicide don’t do so as a mistake- they do so after repeated calls for help are ignored. Stories of people who “wouldn’t have done it otherwise” are not representative of the majority of people who die this way. It’s also not representative of “grieving family members” who participated in the abuse.
Thanks for your reply, especially the part regarding sending messages to contacts; I hadn’t appreciated on a deep level how bad that could be. Prior to writing this post, I hadn’t realized how varied people’s perspectives are on the topic of suicide prevention, and your comment (and others) made me realize that, if I choose to keep looking into this, I need to devote more thought and research toward the big picture stuff and talk to / read things by people with more direct experience before (potentially) speculating on possible interventions.
Doing research is always a great way to go. Getting feedback is important, because that’s when you’ll hear things you might not see with the internet search algorythm matrix. For some people it can be difficult to unlearn after they’ve already been exposed to too much information.