I agree, and although they're "just" a symptom they are a particularly haunting one. The taboo surrounding these deaths doesn't help, either.

Edit: thank you, surapaneni, for correcting my mistake.

Got you covered.

Regarding suicides (separate to this article, where cause is unknown) - there is nothing particular to tech which means suicides. Suicides cut across all demographics, though it is particularly prevalent amongst young adults. People who work in mental health and related areas understand the reasons behind suicides pretty well.

When it comes to avoiding them, the answer involves lots of tax dollars thrown at a demographic with little political power. Suicides will never be eradicated, but they can be reduced with well-targeted mental health programs.

Understanding and solutions are available, it's just that it's a complex problem with no single solution, so the general public isn't really interested in understanding it... and as they don't understand it, they're also not really interested in funding it.

I believe there are many studies linking tech work to poor mental health, so no, I don't agree that this is just 'law of averages' thing.

And there are many studies linking menial work to poor mental health, legal work to poor mental health, medical work to poor mental health, shift work to poor mental health, so on and so forth, right on down to linking unemployment with poor mental health. It's also a bit disingenuous to say 'no-one knows why' and then turn around and say 'there are many studies into these things'.

We have a reasonable understanding of the various causes of suicide, though not perfect. And if what you're saying is true, that IT is special and backed by many studies, then we have a reasonable understanding there, too. And a reasonable understanding of what can be done about it.

I guess my point is that while it's normal to express sympathy by using the "it's all a big sad mystery" response, it's not actually helpful beyond being a very short term salve. It's not a mystery when you actually look at it, and there are things that can be done - it's just not socially viable.

edit: some of the things we can do around suicide is promoting the idea of counselling and trying to remove the taboo. Encourage people to call helplines if they're not in a good way, and getting to counselling before they reach that stage helps. Reduce the taboo and let people know that while it's not pleasant talking about this stuff to loved ones, it's better than the alternative. Improve mental health clinical services and subsidise the cost of appropriate medication. Raise awareness of the issue itself without getting into hysteria, so people know that it's there and can look for markers in friends and family, but also that something can be done about it. That it's not unique to feel suicidal. Run outreach programs to demographics identified as at-risk, and do that in a manner that will be socially acceptable to those demographics. A lot of tax dollars need to be spent here, because a lot of people don't have loved ones in their private lives to look out for them, and some who do have loved ones don't have loved ones capable of looking out for them.

There's a lot that can be done, and a lot more that can be done if society is willing to throw in the dollars. It's a hard problem, but it's not an unsolvable ball of mystery.

Data I've seen shows builders are at high risk in my area.

Suicide is very common. In the UK it's the leading cause of death for men aged 20 to 49. In the US one person dies by suicide every 13 minutes.

Financial stress is a risk factor for suicide, so there's some increased risk for founders there.