Posts

Showing posts with the label risk factors

Thanks for the nomination

On the subject of suicide and social media campaigns Suicide is an important public health problem. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the rate of deaths registered as suicide. While the exact reasons for this are unknown, the data seems to suggest that this was largely driven by an increase among men, who continue to be most at risk of killing themselves. For instance, three quarters of suicides are among men and it remains the most common cause of death for men aged 20-49 in the UK. Suicide risk involves contributions from biological, psychological, social and environmental factors. Sharing a picture of yourself on Facebook with a copy-and-pasted description about vague notions of positivity from a half-baked social media campaign doesn’t reduce someone’s risk of suicide in any meaningful way, even if it does arguably raise awareness. At best, it improves the accuracy of Facebook’s facial recognition algorithm. At worst, it fosters a feeling of disappo...