Dylan Curran Profile picture
Sep 10, 2018 12 tweets 3 min read Twitter logo Read on Twitter
Today is #WorldSuicidePreventionDay and while I usually wouldn't participate in hashtags, this one is of particular importance to me. Here's some of the most important statistics regarding suicide in our society today.
In the last 20 years suicide rates have increased by around 25%. More than half of those who died by suicide, had not been diagnosed with a mental health condition. There are only three causes of death which are increasing year over year: drug overdoses, Alzheimer's, and suicide.
Women are four times more likely to attempt suicide, while men are five times more likely to die by suicide. Men are far more likely to use lethal means (firearm, hanging) while women are more likely to use para-lethal means such as self-poisoning with medications.
In 2015, 36% of teens reported feeling desperately sad or hopeless, for girls the rates were higher - around 45%. Teens who used smartphones for more than 5 hours per day were 70% more likely to have suicidal thoughts than those who reported one hour of daily use.
87% of teenage girls used social media every day, they were 14% more likely to be depressed than those who used social media less frequently. While these could definitely be correlations and not causation, it's definitely worth noting.
Suicide is the second leading cause of death for people aged 10-24. Every day, there are an average of over 3041 attempts by young people aged 14-18. Suicide rates seem to spike around young adulthood, going from 1 in 100,000 children aged 10-14 to 13 in 100,000 young adults.
Lesbian, gay, and bisexual kids are 3x more likely than straight kids to attempt suicide at some point in their lives. Medically serious attempts at suicide are 4x more likely among LGBTQ youth than other young people.
41% of trans adults said they had attempted suicide, in one study. The same study found that 61% of trans people who were victims of physical assault had attempted suicide. The study also found the attempted suicide rate remained the same post-operation.
LGBTQ youth who come from families that reject or do not accept them are over 8x more likely to attempt suicide than those whose families do accept them.
Sucide rates vary by race and ethnicity, with the suicide rate among white people being 2.5x higher than black, hispanic and asian suicide rates.

Interestingly, American Indians/Alaskan Natives have a suicide rate 2x higher than white people.
However, older white males (aged over 50) currently have the highest suicide rate of any demographic, older individuals have fewer suicide attempts per suicide, and have often spent time planning it out. Widowhood, serious medical illness, and social isolation are common factors.
I don't have an agenda here, and there is no political bias in this thread, I want to show you the epidemic of suicide among various demographics. We need to take care of ourselves, as well as take care of others. The greatest stories are always full of darkness and suffering.

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More from @iamdylancurran

Oct 4, 2018
One thing that staggers me in today's day and age is the total and utter loss of truth, the destruction of reasonable debate, and the forfeiture of integrity for political gain.
I follow equally left/right Twitter accounts and the juxtaposition of both narratives and stories consistently amazes me. Both sides are meant to balance each other as there is rarely one 'correct' point of view, not drown each other out among the frenzied cries of tribalism.
Are you a strong believer in total freedom of speech and expression no matter the costs? You're a homophobic, xenophobic, transphobic Nazi. Do you think minorities should be protected from bigotry and hate? You're just a safe-space liberal snowflake.
Read 11 tweets
Oct 1, 2018
I've seen a lot of people discussing drugs, their usage, and how and why people die from them yet people continue to take them - I know a good bit about drugs (don't ask), and my best friend died from an overdose this year, so here's my perspective.
Drugs in general serve only two purposes:
A) A method of escape, when reality has too much suffering and people want to temporarily free themselves from that existence.
B) A method of new experience, when reality is a bit too boring and people want to go somewhere exciting.
Method A is what generally leads to addiction (certain drugs are just too good at providing an escape e.g. heroin, fentanyl, weed).

Method B is what generally leads to sudden deaths due to the nature of the drugs e.g. cocaine, MDMA/ecstasy, speed
Read 18 tweets
Sep 25, 2018
The UK's version of the NSA, the GCHQ, was found by the EU Court of Human Rights to be in violation of freedom of expression and the right to privacy on a national surveillance scale.
Through a loophole, UK citizens could have metadata about their communications accessed without any court or administrative approval. UK law enforcement could request the metadata of your communications WITH NO OVERSIGHT.
Metadata is essentially who you're calling and e-mailing, where you are, what websites you're accessing. They could not see the content of your emails, for example, but knowing where you are and who you're in contact with is as important if not more important than the content.
Read 4 tweets
Aug 9, 2018
People were advocating for the government to intervene in the baker situation (using force to compel someone to do something they don't want to).

People (including me) are advocating for the companies THEMSELVES to stand on the side of free speech, no government involvment
There's a reason free speech exists and why it's so detrimental to the Internet, and it's very simple: Who gets to define what is not okay to say? Do you think just because the majority believes something is wrong, that makes it wrong?
If people want to start walking down this never-ending line of Internet censorship, go ahead, the results won't be pretty. Sure, we can all agree Alex Jones is a conspiracy nut, but is he the line now? What's the standard?
Read 5 tweets
Apr 11, 2018
Don't trust Amazon's Alexa or Google Home? Here are several frankly insane patents they've filed over the last five years
Amazon: A system for listening in to conversations for keywords, even when you haven't said 'Alexa'. This would target statements like 'I love skateboarding' then store the statement as text, and use the text to target you with skateboard ads
Google + Amazon: A system for identifying speakers in a conversation and building interest profiles for them. For example, it would find out that you and your brother are separate people, then figure out you love skateboarding while he loves skiing (better ad targeting)
Read 8 tweets
Apr 3, 2018
When you give an app access to your camera and microphone, here are the permissions you're really giving
1.
+ Access both the front and the back camera
+ Record you at any time the app is in the foreground
+ Take pictures and videos without telling you
+ Upload the pictures and videos without telling you
2.
+ Upload the pictures/videos it takes immediately
+ Run real-time face recognition to detect facial features or expressions
+ Live stream the camera onto the internet
+ Detect if the user is on their phone alone, or watching together with a second person
Read 6 tweets

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