GoodEnoughForMe
n.m.s.s.
tw: suicide.
I didn’t really want to put that word in the title, so I apologize for the “kids these days” sound, but you have fallen for my clickbait!
But that’s part of what I would like to discuss! Everyone has heard about the suicide epidemic and how rates of suicide are sharply rising for both adults and teens. This is very true. In the last 15 years, the per 100k rate of suicide for teens has almost doubled.
But what you might not know is even with that doubling, the current rate is below modern highs. And that’s because starting in 1994, teen suicide rates started to - what can only be described as - plummet at incredibly, miraculously quick rates. By 2006, just 12 years later, and back down near their modern low, they had dropped from around 11 per 100k to around 5. That is a startling change. The current rise started from that near record low in 2006.
There is a quickly growing attempt to figure out the modern rise in rates; smartphones, fentanyl, social isolation, student debt, cost of living, global warming and more have all been either proposed or more seriously looked at as mechanisms.
I’m open to discussions on that question, but the second question is one with, way, way less research. And that is; what caused that sharp decline? For this I’ve seen stuff from “sweet spot of having video games but having to play multiplayer locally and in person as opposed to online” to a study that showed that after Cobain’s suicide, suicides in King County the following year sharply declined (we usually see the opposite effect after celebrity suicide). But to say that there are way less satisfying answers here would be an understatement.
It’s also worth noting that teen girls’ suicide is now at record highs beyond the historical “norm” and I am open to discussion there too.
Your thoughts and any data you might have would be appreciated!
I didn’t really want to put that word in the title, so I apologize for the “kids these days” sound, but you have fallen for my clickbait!
But that’s part of what I would like to discuss! Everyone has heard about the suicide epidemic and how rates of suicide are sharply rising for both adults and teens. This is very true. In the last 15 years, the per 100k rate of suicide for teens has almost doubled.
But what you might not know is even with that doubling, the current rate is below modern highs. And that’s because starting in 1994, teen suicide rates started to - what can only be described as - plummet at incredibly, miraculously quick rates. By 2006, just 12 years later, and back down near their modern low, they had dropped from around 11 per 100k to around 5. That is a startling change. The current rise started from that near record low in 2006.
There is a quickly growing attempt to figure out the modern rise in rates; smartphones, fentanyl, social isolation, student debt, cost of living, global warming and more have all been either proposed or more seriously looked at as mechanisms.
I’m open to discussions on that question, but the second question is one with, way, way less research. And that is; what caused that sharp decline? For this I’ve seen stuff from “sweet spot of having video games but having to play multiplayer locally and in person as opposed to online” to a study that showed that after Cobain’s suicide, suicides in King County the following year sharply declined (we usually see the opposite effect after celebrity suicide). But to say that there are way less satisfying answers here would be an understatement.
It’s also worth noting that teen girls’ suicide is now at record highs beyond the historical “norm” and I am open to discussion there too.
Your thoughts and any data you might have would be appreciated!
