This doesn't control for the fact that the world sucks now, does it? I read a few months ago that ~25% of young adults had thoughts of suicide in the past year, so I think it's safe to say that the causes are more external than internal at this point.
Disentangling pandemic effects from "normal" life is complex but overall in the US suicide rates are actually down for 2020, though slightly increased for younger Americans. The trend in the US was upwards into 2019 so these are positive developments.
It is very difficult to properly assess 2020-2021 survey data both because the "you should be depressed" messaging is very strong in the media and the bias in who responds to surveys is complicated by the pandemic.
I am a Canadian and we saw an enormous drop in suicides, 30+%, in 2020 despite survey data (and wacky conspiracies) to the contrary.
I don't think it is "safe to say" much of anything about suicide rates or individual motivations, it is a complex issue.
> the bias in who responds to surveys is complicated by the pandemic.
Many people have lost family members and been pushed into poverty. It is incredibly callous to think mental health can be discretely measured without accounting for the environment.
Suicide is not a quantitative measure of mental health.
If the claim that "Suicide is not a quantitative measure of mental health" means that such large fluctuations in the suicide numbers across many jurisdictions with differing underlying rates can't be used to inform any opinions about the impacts of the pandemic on mental health then I emphatically disagree.
I don't know who said you can measure mental health without accounting for the environment, I never made that claim! I literally said "I don't think it is "safe to say" much of anything about suicide rates or individual motivations, it is a complex issue."
It's probably more likely that the internet is amplifying every problem in the world and since young adults grew up with it, it's more integral to their lives.
Additionally, there seems to be a stigma attached to not caring about a particular event, especially if doesn't affect you, all because of the slippery slope argument which is a fallacy.
> This doesn't control for the fact that the world sucks now, does it? I read a few months ago that ~25% of young adults had thoughts of suicide in the past year, so I think it's safe to say that the causes are more external than internal at this point.
How did you come to think depressions' cause must be internal ?
