While mortality rates have decreased, the rate of suicides has remained steady.
A significantly higher proportion of white men die from suicide than African American men.
A lack of a social network increased the suicide risk.
At one point, army suicide rates were low than the general population due to psychological screenings, but they have increased to surpass those seen in gen-pop.
80% who attempt suicide explicitly deny it beforehand.
There are institutional interventions for suicide, but as an individual, a safe thing to do is ask if somebody is contemplating suicide. It does not increase the chances of an attempt and can only start a conversation.
There is a paradox between more openly discussing suicide and the “viral effect”. There is only evidence for this effect when a person idolises a victim of suicide.
Eventually, biometric indicators will reliably predict a high risk of a suicide attempt, and then it will be a question of ethics as to when to intervene.