[AmericanEmpire]

Do you think suicide rates will go up post peak crash. There are many people who will probably lose the will to live when their life and world crashes down around them.

Most people have plans and dreams for the future. Ones that oil depletion will take away.

At any rate people are not likely to act rational when the crisis hits.

[elgayna]

From my viewpoint, If it would happen at the rate you are suggesting, then yes ofcourse. If however people are willing to change their habits (change from mass consumption to having what we really need etc etc) and change their views on what's really important, they might stand a chance...

But its looking pretty bleak. It came as a huge shock to me when I found this site. And yet. Still I continue to want things I not neccesarily need

I am learning though )

[OilyMon]

Think back to the Great Depression. On Black Monday or Tuesday it was not uncommon to see people throwing themselves out of thier office windows. Offices are much bigger and buildings are much taller now meaning the number of people next to a window, or on a floor with access to a window that is above falling death height are much greater. I wonder if the same proportion of the work force is at or above falling death height now then was in '29?

[EnergySpin]

Yes suicide rate will go up. Depression rates have been going up for decades. The "go after what you do not need" religion is demanding human sacrifices.
In any case .... life does not come with a guarantee for happiness. We make our own happiness and our future (within the limits of the laws of thermodynamics).
I would like to see how the religion thing plays out. People tend to think that God guarantees heaven on earth (even though the Bible never really says that). People might turn both against and to religion ... and cut each other throats. In the end the anti-consumerists, agnostic, atheists, pro-science pro-environment type will inherit this earth. I'm so optimistic today

[MD]

How many actual window jumpings were there? One or two?

That said, we should be very concerned about irrational behavior resulting from broken expectations/world view.

[parainwater]

I consider life after peak oil an opportunity to use many of the skills
I have that are not needed right now. In some ways I actually look
forward to it. However, I have a wide variety of health problems that
I am dependent on medications for. This part scares the heck out of
me. Without my meds I would die a slow miserable death while my family got to watch.
I am sure however that I would self terminate before it became
unbearable.

[Cool Hand Linc]

I remember reading something about 9 people jumping by noon on Black Thursday. Can't remember where or say if its accurate.

[Tyler_JC]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('OilyMon', 'T')hink back to the Great Depression. On Black Monday or Tuesday it was not uncommon to see people throwing themselves out of thier office windows. Offices are much bigger and buildings are much taller now meaning the number of people next to a window, or on a floor with access to a window that is above falling death height are much greater. I wonder if the same proportion of the work force is at or above falling death height now then was in '29?

[gnm]

Suicide?

GEEEEEEEEZZZZZZZ,

Some people have NO patience.

Time will have us all.....

-G

[MicroHydro]

Suicide rates will be high among (formerly) middle class middle aged white males. They will have lost a lot, with little hope of recouping their losses.

Interestingly current suicide rates are lower among non-white men, women, and lower income people in general. Those with low expectations have a higher tolerance for adversity. This will probably continue to be true.

The homeless might not even notice PO, and have already perfected the skills for living without an income.

[Liamj]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('OilyMon', '
')Suicide rates will be high among (formerly) middle class middle aged white males. They will have lost a lot, with little hope of recouping their losses.

[Grimnir]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('OilyMon', 'T')hink back to the Great Depression. On Black Monday or Tuesday it was not uncommon to see people throwing themselves out of thier office windows.

[Phil]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'D')o you think suicide rates will go up post peak crash?

[doufus]

Indeed there would be more suicides but also more people "saved"
by a system that made more sense to them and used their skills.
However it will be VERY rough. James Michener (the author of the great
sth pacific novels) could never throw away tiny bits of soap no matter
how rich he was- he'd clump them together. I know my g/mother could
NEVER throw away food. She'd eat it after the meal was over- not because
she was hungry but after so much deprivation it was unthinkable to
throw it out. She was always slim too cos she worked so hard physically
and lived to 96. Fantastic woman.

But the coach potatoes are in for a shock as well as the rambo survivalists
with a ton of guns but not the fitness to run a km. Most of us are going
to feel the impact of manual labour. Try swinging a pick or axe for a day
and see what i mean, then back up the next day and the next.

Look at old photos of people from the 20s and 30s. Obesity was NEVER
a problem, hormone issues were nonexistent and the gymn consisted
of every hand tool in the shed.

Counting calories will not be problematic I think. And the spandex,
walkman in the ears and mineral substitute drinks will be a little
out of place.

Is there any way of estimating the energy stored in fat American
asses since this could be crucial to integrity of the ecocnomy at
some point.

[Liamj]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('doufus', 'I')s there any way of estimating the energy stored in fat ..
asses since this could be crucial to integrity of the ecocnomy at
some point.

[Tyler_JC]

Most people in the US are fat.

Think about that, the majority of the population is overweight. Meaning that the average isn't a healthy number.

How exactly are these pathetic fat people going to pick up a hoe and start working on the garden?

Isn't it easier for them to complain to their Congressman to fix the problem by invading another oil rich country?

That's why I laugh a little when I hear people talk about needing 50 guns to defend themselves against the Zombie Suburbanites.

Your average soccer mom isn't going to turn into a barbarian horde leader. Most of these people haven't even seen a real gun, let alone have the ability to shoot another person.

I expect a lot of people to "camp" in their house after the bank tells them to leave. After all, where are they going to go? The family farm?

The increase in the death rate will come from the following:

The elderly who require expensive medical care.
The poor, inner city gang members who will kill each other as they have for generations.
Anyone else who requires expensive medical care.
Increased disease because of the breakdown in public health.
Anyone requiring government handouts to eat.
Anyone who has totally lost hope and sees that bottle of sleeping pills as the solution.

And of course, plenty of 18-24 year olds in oil rich "terrorist" nations.

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', '
')
That's why I laugh a little when I hear people talk about needing 50 guns to defend themselves against the Zombie Suburbanites.

Your average soccer mom isn't going to turn into a barbarian horde leader. Most of these people haven't even seen a real gun, let alone have the ability to shoot another person.

[Pops]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', ' ')

Most people can't tie a knot to save their life (or end it).

[EnergySpin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pops', '
')
The struggle to simply get by, should that happen on a wide scale, doesn’t seem as depressing to me as the endless struggle to get more. No wonder there is a pill out there for every possible or imagined mental malady.

When so many have so much time to sit on their butts and do nothing but pout over what they don’t have I’m not surprised to see people think they have something wrong. I’m sure there are people with physiological problems, I think there are many more with ‘I want’ problems.

[Pops]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('EnergySpin', ' ')
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'H')e acknowledges that people with higher income are, on average, happier, but raising everybody’s income does not increase the everybody’s happiness, because in comparison to others income has not improved.