Hotline Number Signs are Counterintuitive

[AndroidAmongHumans]

I've started a new job recently that requires me to drive over a bridge on a local road, and it has suicide hotline numbers posted on roadside metal signs on each side of the bridge. I would never have thought the bridge I drive over was close enough to the required height to dependably kill yourself from instead of just breaking a few bones, because from the angle of the rest of the surroundings it doesn't look like there's more than a 25-35 foot drop from what I can see from my car windows out over the edge of rhe bridge. However, it turns out that there's a dip in the river that forms kind of a bowl shape underneath the bridge right at the point the road has to go over, so the actual point under the bridge itself is more like 65-75 feet. I would have never known that site was high enough to kill myself off of without seeing those signs, and even though I don't plan on killing myself at that point unless I have no other options, as it's in a populated area and within sight of my work, it's still information about how to kill myself I wouldn't have otherwise have.
I think it's generally really funny in a dramatic irony kind of manner that suicide hotline numbers posted by a site, and not just on a general bulletin board or advertisement, essentially just broadcast that the area is one that's very likely able to reliably kill you and that there's no mechanical way those in charge of that area can physically prevent you from killing yourself there. There's a very significant amount of trains and train stations in my area, and all of the ones that have suicide hotline numbers up by the tracks or platforms are all of the ones that can't put fencing around the tracks to prevent people jumping on them because it'd block traffic or important footpaths. The bridge I learned about recently hasn't had the state budget in it to repair visible cracks in the road surface or the concrete barriers over the bridge for over 5 years, so a sign is up there to "prevent" suicides because no one is going to put the time and money into the bridge to put up higher fences or a net when they can't even keep it from visibly crumbling. The pro-life crowd is so wrapped up in their own messed up logic that they think a sign with a phone number with robotic "listeners" will motivate someone to not kill themselves at a place that has a high likelihood of success, instead of seeing that by showing the number next to a location or piece of machinery, they're broadcasting that you can intentionally kill yourself right there.

 

[cme-dme]

I've never seen a single example of a suicide hotline motivating somebody to not kill themselves. Nothing says "I should kill myself" like a sign saying not to kill myself in front of some train tracks or something. It's incredible how misunderstood mental health is in 2025.

 

[Dot]

Tbf sgns r prbbly usd thre bcse tht plce hs alrdy bn usd fr multple suicdes

S/ if a ste = knwn 2 b a usd suicde locatn thn thy wll pst a sgn jst 2 gt attntn of sme1 wh/ mght b doin smethng implsve or emotnlly drivn

Slf thnk tht thy r d-signd 2 b visul altrn8tve fr tmes of crsis & jst t/ mke ppl stp & thnk fr momnt abt th/ decsn tht thy r makng

 

[nevermore7]

I'm not sure that anti-suicide hotline signs are a good indicator of "this is an effective place to jump." There's a parking garage near me that's only three stories tall and they have those signs. But three stories is not nearly enough to guarantee death. My guess is that those signs aren't there for people who truly want to ctb, but for people who are doing this on impulse, haven't actually thought anything through, didn't do the research, and would actually end up not ctb but just more likely paralyzing themselves for the rest of their lives. I'm still deciding on ctb methods, including maybe jumping. But I'm not sure that I'd trust 65-85 feet. I'm aiming for 150+ feet over land or 250+ feet over water, for me.

 

[Forveleth]

There are a few points here and I think both are correct.

Those signs can stop people from acting on impulse. Those are the people that might decide as they come up to the bridge or maybe are just having a bad day and suddenly want to end it.

That is not this crowd. This site consists of people who have thought long and hard about suicide, who have studied methods, who have spent hours planning. To us, that sign means nothing except maybe to check the height of the bridge. So yeah, for us it is more initiating, but we are not the target audience.

 

[locked*n*loaded]

It's just as likely that the signs were placed there not because jumping from the bridge might kill you, but because it won't.........because others have tried it and it didn't end up killing them, but only severely injuring them, and the "state" was left paying for their medical care. Jumping from 65 to 75 feet is not high enough to lead to a reliable death.

 

[ventingfrustrations]

If I have any advice for people thinking about jumping is to go to on a roller coaster at least for me I thought afterwards that I should not go by jumping I would definitely regret it on the way down
I'm in between two methods in my head as a bus catcher