经济学人下载:全球自杀率下降的背后(3)

Efforts to curb access to the means to kill oneself can help, too. Suicide is surprisingly impulsive. A study of young Chinese women who had tried to kill themselves showed that three-fifths had been contemplating suicide for less than two hours, and one in ten for less than a minute. Of 515 people who had survived the leap from San Francisco’s Golden Gate bridge between 1937 and 1971, 94% were still alive in 1978—which suggests that a suicide postponed is likely to be a suicide prevented.
限制自杀途径也能有所帮助。自杀通常都是意料之外的冲动所致。一项针对试图自杀的中国年轻女性的研究表明，五分之三的女性在不到两个小时的时间里一直在考虑自杀，十分之一在不到一分钟的时间里就考虑过自杀。在1937到1971年间，从旧金山金门大桥跳下去的515名幸存者，94%在1978年仍然在世——这表明推迟自杀很可能就是预防自杀。

Governments can do a lot to put self-slaughter a little further out of reach. The most toxic pesticides account for one-seventh of suicides. When South Korea outlawed paraquat in 2011, it saw a decline in suicides but no drop in agricultural output. Requiring potentially lethal medicines to be sold only in small quantities, as some countries have done with aspirin and paracetamol, has also been shown to help. But the most effective measure of all is limiting access to guns. Half of all Americans who commit suicide shoot themselves, and the overall rate in America is about twice that in Britain, which has strict gun controls. The difference in gun ownership largely accounts for the state-by-state variation in suicide rates.
各国政府可以采取更多措施让自杀更难实现。自杀的人当中用有毒农药的人数最多，占七分之一。2011年，韩国宣布“百草枯”为违禁品，但并没有影响农业产出。致命的药物规定只能以少量出售，正如某些国家限制购买阿司匹林和扑热息痛，也起到了帮助抑制自杀的作用。但最有效的措施还是限枪。半数自杀的美国人是开枪自杀的，美国整体自杀率约为严格控枪的英国的两倍。枪支拥有率的差异很大程度上解释了各州自杀率的差异。

The media can also do their bit. Suicide is strangely contagious. When Robin Williams, an actor, killed himself in 2014, his method and motives were reported in great detail. Researchers calculated that there were 1,800 more suicides than would otherwise have been expected in the next four months, often using the same method. Journalists should cover such tragedies in less detail, and with more restraint.
媒体也可尽自己的力量。自杀有怪异的传染性。2014年，演员罗宾·威廉姆斯自杀时，其自杀方法和动机被详细报道。研究人员计算出，在接下来的四个月里，自杀人数比原本预计的要多出1800人，自杀方法都相同。记者在报道此类悲剧时，应少些细节，多些限制。

For a few people—those who are terminally ill, in severe pain and determined to die—suicide may be the least terrible option. In such circumstances, and with firm safeguards, doctors should be allowed to assist. But many of the 800,000 people who kill themselves each year act in haste, and more could be saved with better health services, labour-market policies and curbs on booze, guns, pesticide and pills. America, in particular, could spare much pain by learning from the progress elsewhere.
对少数人来说——那些身患绝症、痛苦不堪、决心求死的人——自杀或许并非糟糕的选择。在这种情况下，在有严格保障的前提下，应允许医生提供协助。但每年自杀的80万人当中，有很多在匆忙中结束自己的生命，更多人本可能会因更好的医疗服务、劳动力市场政策和对酒精、枪支、杀虫剂和药片的限制而挽救生命。特别是美国，可从别国吸取先进经验，从而减轻很多痛苦。