Well that explains why my kids will never be lawyers… They would have to shorten their showers. Something I could never get them to do.
@psych_ : Obviously, I only have a layman’s knowledge of psychology, but I was under the impression that feeling trapped and hopeless was a symptom of depression or a type of depression itself?
@1Dreamer : didn’t mean to suggest you were oversimplifying. It was late, my metaphor was rambling, and I just decided to cut my post off. You’re good 
I don’t know if there’s anything we can do to lessen suicide. Reducing stigma is good, but doesn’t happen overnight. I think the best suicide prevention is being self-aware. I’ve read quite a bit about brain development and mental illness. Again, I am neither a doctor nor expert, but I’ve learned enough about the subject to realize when my brain is lying to me. I can read about child development and realize “hey, I was developmentally normal at age 3/4/5/6. I wasn’t born defective or lacking character.” (Childhood experiences). I can see “your brain on depression” pictures and read about negative thought patterns that are verbatim to mine and realize “hey that’s not real”. I started online therapy when I realized I was standing on the cliff side.
Maybe teaching self-awareness can become the new teaching critical thinking? lol
Note: I’m typing on my iPhone with the word suggestions on. It won’t complete the words “suicide” and “suicidal” the way it won’t suggest cuss words. Interesting.
@jonri That is ridiculous. What about airplane rides, areas where there are no signal, and sleep?
PC, yes, there are things that can be done to reduce suicide rates. Contagion is a significant factor, and communities need to recognize this. LBGTQ kids need more acceptance and less stigmatization. And access to firearms for at-risk students and adults should be reduced. While we can’t elimiate it, it almost certainly can be reduced through awareness, education and increased services.
@jonri --I didn’t mean to imply that there aren’t other professions that are as–or significantly more–demanding than academia. There most definitely are! It’s just that people seem to think that grad school is a leisurely “life of the mind,” when it’s anything but. Extremely high pressure law, IB, medical, etc., jobs–people get that. Otoh, I’ve seen posters on CC honestly believe that full-time faculty only work 10 hours a week. Academia definitely isn’t the most high pressure field, but it is much more high pressure than many people realize.
@PrivateConundrum , that’s often a bit of a chicken and egg situation. Hopeless is a possible symptom of depression, for sure, but situational factors can legitimately cause a person to feel trapped. For example, if you are transgender and live in an environment with no opportunities to transition, you kind of are trapped, at least temporarily. Situational factors and depressive symptoms can both feed off of each other and magnify such feelings.