Review of Collin Burns 3 Points about Designers

Reflection on Tutorial 22.1.08

Hazel suggested me to do a broad research collection on my suicide subject:



To be honest, I was not sure how to answer some questions which hazel asked me today, such as why suicide in Scotland? Why a designer? Acturaly I haven't thought about these questions yet.

I didn't tell Hazel my idea about increasing suicidal people's fear, because I thought my research outcomes are not enough to support my idea.

I made sure to utilize action research and case study as my methodologies and my methods are literature review, contextual review, focus groups, documents, searching, interviews, photographing, record, brainstorming, mind-mapping, sketches and etc.

My objective is to reduce the suicide rate in Scotland, but so far have no idea how to do.

Got an Idea on My Project

By thinking of pre-suicide factors and barriers, I got an idea which is to increase people's fear about death.

I am thinking if we can get rid of all the quick and 'comfortable' suicide ways/methods, and make suicide tools look more terrible and inefficient to kill people, then when suicidal people exploring which method of suicide can kill themselves fast and less painful, but the answer will be: none.

I mean just like the coal gas way, when people cannot find a proper way to commit suicide, they might be give up to do it. Besides, those tools/equipments not only cannot kill people successfully but also make suicidal people is afraid of using them, so from the psychological angel, people might believe if they commit suicide, they will be suffered huge pains and probably fail to kill themselves, that means, their life will be more miserable than before.

So my research question might be:
a. How can design create great barrier towards suicide?
b. How can design combines with psychological methods to increase suicidal people's fear of death?

Questions

A suicide prevention example that Mike told me on Thursday has confused me for several days. The case is decades ago in Scotland, the suicide rate reached at the highest peak in the UK, the reason is tons of people utilized coal gas to kill themselves, and this was the most efficient and less painful way to commit suicide --- people will definitely die two minutes after they switched the gas on and put their noses near the drain tap. After finding out this problem, the Scottish Government stopped to use coal gas and began to provide natural gas instead, then during the following years, the suicide rate in Scotland dramatically decreased.

I confused why people didn't choose other ways to end them up? Is it because other ways are more suffering and risky than the coal gas way, so after the most appropriate suicide way were not exist anymore, suicidal people would rather to live than utilizing other ways which may very painful to kill themselves.

Another suspicion is I found a practical guide to teach people how to suicide successfully online, I wonder the existing meaning of such websites. Everyone knows that suicide should be prevented not to be encouraged, but such suicide guide is pushing the suicidal people into a extremely dangerous situation.

It is very exhaustive and made me felt terrible and scary. I believe I am a healthy person without any wrongs in my mind, but if I got such uncomfortable feeling after reading the guide, how about the suicidal people? It is really a bad thing to exist.
http://www.satanservice.org/tokus/suicide/guide/
Be prepared when you decide to read it.

Mind-maps of Suicide Factors

Self Understanding on Why People Commited Suicide

1. Suicidal people have been struggling in a tough living circumstance for quite a long time, and they find it harder to cope. In some cases, people feel so bad they end up committing suicide.

2. For the suicidal people death may the only way which can stop the endless misery that people is suffering from.

3. Suicidal people lost all the desire and hope of live, and they believe living is much scarier than death.

4. No one would like to choose a suffering way to end their lives, they would rather die in a quick and less painful way, and they hope their suicide will not fail; otherwise their life will be more painful then before.

5. People who chose to kill themselves are coward and selfish.

6. People who do want to die won't tell others they are going to kill themselves, because they don't want to be saved by others, they are extremely desperate.

7. There should be a complicated causation/background behind people who committed suicide, not that simple as some people assumed.

Books I'm reading