To think cocaine is to blame for so many suicides? *MNHQ adding content warning*

[Laurel199]

Where I live the suicide rate seems to be particularly high, especially among young men. There also happens to be a huge drug problem, especially among young men. The local police page is just post after post of a man (usually 18-30) being missing then followed by the announcement that his body has been found. Almost every one recently has been someone who takes cocaine. Some are suspicious and possibly as a result of owing someone a lot of money but most are suicide. Last weekend a girl I went to school with’s husband killed himself. He has young children and had built up a huge bill he wasn’t able to pay, she had threatened to leave him so many times over drugs but he just wouldn’t stop. We’ve got the same well-meaning mental health posts on Facebook from friend’s saying if anyone is struggling, reach out etc.

I feel like terming it under this ‘mental health’ umbrella somehow manages to sweep under the carpet this glaringly obvious fact that cocaine is involved every single time. Yet the ‘friends’ of the person who has died continue to deal drugs, continue to be well known for dealing drugs, don’t get caught and put posts on social media about how much they miss their friend 🤔

In a slight side note, but I feel it is related.. I may have turned into a total ‘mum’ nowadays but I went out at the weekend and it’s as if every girl is a replica of each other. People are literally morphing into identical clones of one another. People weren’t enjoying themself but too busy trying to appear to be enjoying themselves on social media. The guys were also trying so hard to appear to be footballers or something. Every time I went to the toilet girls would pile into cubicles together and give a running commentary as they took a line. I just felt quite sad at the entire thing. I remember going on a night out 10-12 years ago, no one was taking drugs that I was aware of. No one was posting anything on social media, people were just having a good time! Everyone looked like themselves and not each other. There was also not a single suicide that I can think of! I just feel like all of this is continually made out to be one big coincidence every single time and at what point is someone going to take some responsibility and start doing something about the people dealing these drugs in the first place?! 🤦🏼‍♀️

As a widow of suicide, I can say it wasn't involved in my late husbands death. I am also in various support groups. Addiction is often an issue in people choosing to take their lives. I've never known anyone link it the club scene or what, I assume you're referring to, in the social media generation.

Sorry but I think you are being unreasonable. Suicide is a complex thing and you can't just pin it down to cocaine if a cocaine user kills him/herself. Also, the people I know who have killed themselves weren't known to be cocaine users, so sounds like an issue that is more prevalent in your area. I am not saying drugs aren't an issue, but I find it odd that you have singled out cocaine in particular.

I do think addiction does have a part to play in some suicides... but addiction can take many forms.

If cocaine use is so prevalent in suicides local to you, perhaps consider the reasons why those people have a drug problem with cocaine. You'll find a lot of recurring themes other than cocaine. Do you not consider, for example, that poor mental health will make you more susceptible to living a chaotic lifestyle and more likely to fall into drugs? You need to look at the bigger picture basically.

Also there aren't more suicides nowadays. It has been on a downward trend over the years going by the rates. I would think that when you were younger you were more shielded from these things, same as not noticing recreational drug use in clubs as that has always been a thing.

why would you not speculate fentanyl overdose vs suicide?

Idiotic theory

Don’t agree. A very simplistic analysis.
And the idea that people didn’t take drugs 10-12 years ago is laughable. You just didn’t notice.

Think it can be a factor sometimes but i don't think it's ever that simple, there are usually many factors involved

You could say this about any addiction though. I know people who have taken their own life who were addicted to cocaine, some to alcohol and one to gambling.

It’s generally an addiction that comes from previous trauma, or complicated mental health issues, and as such is far more complex than just because they liked a bit of sniff. YABU.

Cocaine is certainly a red flag for suicide risk, but it doesn’t cause suicide. Drugs whether addicted or not tend to be the person trying to self medicate whatever is at the root of their distress. It’s this complex roots that cause suicide, not a symptom like drug use.

There has been a link demonstrated between alcohol and cocaine use together and suicide. I don't think your argument can be dismissed as easily as people seem to want to. It's not as simple, obviously, as taking cocaine making someone want to kill themselves, but it's a factor in suicide risk, especially in young men. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/dar.13260 - one study

(and I am not anti-drugs, before anyone starts on me - I think all drugs should be decriminalised)

Suicide has to be one of the most complex and personal issues I can think of, there's no one size fits all answer as to why someone takes their own life. And from personal experience, out of the 6 people I know who have taken their own lives in the past 30 years, non were cocaine related. Now alcohol on the other hand...

The police (in England at least) do not reference suicide on public posts as there is a risk of people copying.

Where are you getting all this detailed information from Op?

Disagree strongly. There is a big problem with young men committing suicide. Famous cases such as Big Brothers Mike Thalassitis, and Roman Kemp made a programme about the death of his best friend. Nothing to do with Cocaine. The MH of young men IS a big problem.

Hmm tough one. I know 3 young men from my age group in the village I grew up in who killed themselves. I also know they carried on with the 'rave scene' and associated drugs well into their twenties and up to their deaths. Whether they were self medicating for wider issues or the constant prolonged drug use caused depression I don't know. My partner used to take a lot of drugs all through his teens and twenties and I know he gets really down about how much time he wasted and how he hasn't got much of a career etc because his priority was getting off his face every weekend. Could be an element of that for some people.

@EmpressCixi

Cocaine is certainly a red flag for suicide risk, but it doesn’t cause suicide. Drugs whether addicted or not tend to be the person trying to self medicate whatever is at the root of their distress. It’s this complex roots that cause suicide, not a symptom like drug use.

I think the Op was saying it’s the large sums of money involved rather than the drug, a bit like gambling.

Sorry but your analysis is far too simplistic. Suicide is a very complex issue.

As for your experience on a night out, I’d suggest you’re going to the wrong places. I go out relatively regularly and don’t see anything like what you describe. I do know that kind of culture exists but I chose not to go to those bars / pubs.

I certainly am not a fan of cocaine which is hugely damaging for mental health etc. It certainly exacerbates depression and anxiety.

But you're massively over-simplifying a very complex problem. Singling out one element in a whole chain of circumstances that lead to someone wanting to take their own life is to ignore the underlying problem.

You're also confusing correlation with causation. In most of these cases you've mentioned taking cocaine is very likely a side effect of an underlying mental problem, as opposed to a cause and its use would have amplified something which was there already.

Think about why people may take mind altering substances in the first place, particularly to excess. Do some reading around dual diagnosis. You sound very naive.

I think it's very comforting to believe that those with drug addictions are trying to self medicate deep underlying trauma. Maybe it's sometimes even true. Its equally true that drugs can fuck you up and fuck your life up and bring you to a point where you make desperate choices to deal with the financial side of addiction- crime, prostitution, suicide .

I don’t agree.
I know many people that have taken their lives and drugs were not involved. I do think there is a higher chance of suicide with addiction but not coke in particular. Often people suffering from depression will self medicate with drink and/or drugs so of course a small percentage of suicides will be people with addiction problems but a lot of just normal run of the mill family members that are just struggling with life in general.

I imagine that drugs and the pressures of social media both have their part to play in some suicides. We need to understand more about mental illness and suicidal thoughts generally. I think to suggest that people didn’t take drugs and there were no suicides 10-12 years ago (I know you’re just talking about your own social contexts) is a bit simplistic.

I've heard of a few suicides in my city since Christmas and each one did a lot of coke. I do think coke has a lot to answer for - it's not a nice drug, it's not even a fun drug like mdma.

I also believe people end up with addictions mostly as they are self medicating their trauma. Otherwise you'd mess about with different drugs in your late teens/early twenties and move on with your life like the majority of people who experiment.

I don't know what the answer is but coke is a horrible drug.

@Porcupineintherough I completely agree. Sometimes it is just the result of bad choices which spiral out of control. I also agree with OP there is an obvious link between cocaine use and suicide. I should know, I've had to stop my brother killing himself twice recently while suffering from paranoid hallucinations after a large dose of cocaine. He's lost his home, his girlfriend, his kid, his job (x3 or x4) and he's about to lose his car. He's £25k in debt. I have no doubt he will end up dead no matter what I do to try and help him. It's a case of when not if, as far as I can see.

I don't disagree that coke use in young people is bad for them, but...

I went out at the weekend and it’s as if every girl is a replica of each other.

When I was going out as a teen, 15 years ago, every girl had a black bodycon skirt, black patent heels, some kind of blouse tucked in, backcombed straight hair, and an envelope style clutch bag. There was exactly the same desire to look like each other.

People weren’t enjoying themself but too busy trying to appear to be enjoying themselves on social media. I spent most of my 17-18 year old nights out taking photos on my digital camera that I knew were going to look cool when I uploaded them to MySpace or Piczo.

The guys were also trying so hard to appear to be footballers or something. Not new! Blame George Best for making footballers into celebrities ;)

Every time I went to the toilet girls would pile into cubicles together and give a running commentary as they took a line. People were piling into the toilets and taking drugs together 15 years ago too.

I remember going on a night out 10-12 years ago, no one was taking drugs that I was aware of. That you were aware of. I can assure you, they were (I was one of them - not proud of it, but it's true!).

No one was posting anything on social media, people were just having a good time! Again, 10 years ago I was already using Facebook via my iPhone and definitely posting photos from nights out. 15 years ago, I was taking photos for MySpace.

Things have changed, sure, but not that much - and certainly not in the timeline you say. I think this is more to do with you being older and having your own kids and this seeming more dangerous and sad as a result of you thinking about your own children doing it.

There will always be fashion trends. Teens/young people will always follow them - they did in the 60s, they did in the 80s, they did when I was a teen, they do now. People have been taking drugs recreationally for centuries but drug use in nightlife isn't remotely new, and a regular feature for at least 40+ years

@Suzyinthesummertime

Think it can be a factor sometimes but i don't think it's ever that simple, there are usually many factors involved

Drugs make the high higher and the lows seem worse. I absolutely agree that a lot of men go missing after a night out and we ( the public) don't get to know the details. Was it after a fight, a bust up with a partner, casual sex gone wrong, just plain pissed or on a downer? I know a couple of young men that committed suicide and both had used coke recently, both had debt issues trying to life the lifestyle they couldn't afford, but I understand why, as being poor is as dull as dirt. I do not know if they used coke the night they died, is that info available publicly?