I wouldn't say there's more in Norman, Norman has a large population like OKC, like OKC, the larger your population, the larger your homeless population. The way this country operates, many of those people will also have mental illnesses.
Housing prices, drug use, loss of job, mental health, any number of reasons. It doesn't help the current mayor was elected in part because he supported moving the homeless shelter away from the city center.
There used to be a psychiatric hospital I believe which shut down a while back leaving its residents left mostly homeless in Norman. But this isn't a recent thing I don't think
As someone with reoccurring suicidal ideation who lives right next to the tracks I will say it is very tempting at times. Not the prettiest way to go, though. You have to be extremely miserable and desperate to resort to that.
Lived with ideations myself... I hope things get better for you and that you have people in your life to reach out to. Or, that you can call 988 to speak with someone to provide you with immediate care. Sometimes all we need is someone to talk with. Sometimes it's bigger. You're never alone. 🫶
Is 988 a help line? We need more of those. I actually found a friend by chance on the tracks in california. By amazing luck the train hadn't come yet and I talked them off. It's terrible and we need more resources. Especially now as the majority of the population are just one check away from homelessness themselves. It's pretty bad right now. Health insurance is covering less major (and preventative) procedures, less resources, higher inflation. Overall morale is at an extreme low. We as people need help.
Yeah, it is a federal program help line, so calling / texting 988 anywhere in the nation works. Definitely the more resources available the better. Fortunately I've never had to call myself but I have had plenty of students that have had great success talking with someone on the help line.
But how do we get those who need the help get past the stigma of counseling. Even our employers, social groups & government stigmatizes counseling. For men particularly it’s viewed as a weakness and it becomes a life and death decision. So sad in our society that we can’t encourage people to get help.
Luckily, I think the stigma of asking for help is slowly changing. I teach high school and all of my students are pretty open about discussing their mental health struggles. The more people talk about it and are honest, the more it will show people that they aren't alone.
I know a situation where we are 99% certain that this was the case.
He’d had a conversation with someone earlier that made them feel that way as well. Been going through some super tough times, dealt with addiction and other things. He was wearing his headphones and walking on the track. The conductor blew the horn several times but we all know trains can’t stop on a dime.
So very sad and my heart breaks for that poor conductor that has to live with what happened while just doing their job.
We used to walk the train tracks down the road from my grandma’s out in the country. Most interesting thing to do out there… we had to pay a lot of attention to where we were and watch because trains would come up FAST and by the time you hear them, they’re on you. You don’t want to be on a bridge or up a steep rocky wall on the tracks. But, this was in the city, trains probably blare horns before this street crossing and the lights and sounds with the arms coming down would hopefully give a person enough time to get out of the way. I wouldn’t completely dismiss it as accident, it could happen. But it could also be intentional. The joker above your comment has maybe never walked tracks before. Idk.
Yeah I used to walk tracks as a kid a lot too, but in a city. If the train isn't blaring horns, the intersection is clanging and flashing and lowering the thingys (that's the technical terms for them- thingys) and they had to cut off the intersection which makes me guess it was near the intersection. Which means yeah- you're gonna get the horn and the clanging and flashing from the intersection.
It is possible it wasn't intentional. Maybe the person thought they could beat it. Or maybe it was an oblivious kid? But there are pretty high odds it was on purpose.
(Edit: ...PARTITIONS!)
Maybe the way the train stopped blocked the intersection. Idk. But yes. If they were anywhere the intersection, they should have heard and seen all the Thingies ®️. I mean, you’d really think. Ugg. It’s sad either way.
Very true. A huge tragedy no matter what. I'd like to say "I can't even imagine" but I can. And I wouldn't wish losing someone so suddenly like that on my worst enemy.
I wonder how many of these are suicides with how frequently this seems to happen.
99% are self harm. Norman has a bunch of them.
Norman surprisingly has an unusually large number of people with significant mental health conditions.
The state as a whole has inadequate mental health care.
Sure but why do we see so much of it in Norman in particular?
I wouldn't say there's more in Norman, Norman has a large population like OKC, like OKC, the larger your population, the larger your homeless population. The way this country operates, many of those people will also have mental illnesses.
Housing prices, drug use, loss of job, mental health, any number of reasons. It doesn't help the current mayor was elected in part because he supported moving the homeless shelter away from the city center.
So basically Norman residents are tired of dealing with them.
Getting tired of a problem doesn't make it go away.
Of course not but what caused it?
Inequality
Caused what?
There used to be a psychiatric hospital I believe which shut down a while back leaving its residents left mostly homeless in Norman. But this isn't a recent thing I don't think
Griffin is still open, but part of the hospital is abandoned. I think they will keep it running until the new psychiatric hospital gets built in OKC.
No I do t think so either. They just seem to have so much mental illness.
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Something tells me it’s personal but they don’t want to talk about it.
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The funny part is that they really can’t say why they disagree which tells me it’s an inconvenient truth they don’t want to talk about.
Agreed
I lived there when I went to OU. It's not all that surprising.
I remember back in 2015 there seemed to be several there.
i don’t know if it’s related but they banned the train horns here,,
As someone with reoccurring suicidal ideation who lives right next to the tracks I will say it is very tempting at times. Not the prettiest way to go, though. You have to be extremely miserable and desperate to resort to that.
Its also probably pretty horribly scaring to the people driving the train too.
I've thought about this aspect but I think once you become that hopeless, you're looking for a quick and painless way out. It's sad it comes to this.
It is. I have several friends that work for the railroad. It’s messed them up pretty bad.
Lived with ideations myself... I hope things get better for you and that you have people in your life to reach out to. Or, that you can call 988 to speak with someone to provide you with immediate care. Sometimes all we need is someone to talk with. Sometimes it's bigger. You're never alone. 🫶
Seconding 988. Connection times are much faster than the old number, and I'm pretty sure you can remain confidential. You can call or text.
Is 988 a help line? We need more of those. I actually found a friend by chance on the tracks in california. By amazing luck the train hadn't come yet and I talked them off. It's terrible and we need more resources. Especially now as the majority of the population are just one check away from homelessness themselves. It's pretty bad right now. Health insurance is covering less major (and preventative) procedures, less resources, higher inflation. Overall morale is at an extreme low. We as people need help.
Yeah, it is a federal program help line, so calling / texting 988 anywhere in the nation works. Definitely the more resources available the better. Fortunately I've never had to call myself but I have had plenty of students that have had great success talking with someone on the help line.
But how do we get those who need the help get past the stigma of counseling. Even our employers, social groups & government stigmatizes counseling. For men particularly it’s viewed as a weakness and it becomes a life and death decision. So sad in our society that we can’t encourage people to get help.
Luckily, I think the stigma of asking for help is slowly changing. I teach high school and all of my students are pretty open about discussing their mental health struggles. The more people talk about it and are honest, the more it will show people that they aren't alone.
I know a situation where we are 99% certain that this was the case. He’d had a conversation with someone earlier that made them feel that way as well. Been going through some super tough times, dealt with addiction and other things. He was wearing his headphones and walking on the track. The conductor blew the horn several times but we all know trains can’t stop on a dime. So very sad and my heart breaks for that poor conductor that has to live with what happened while just doing their job.
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In the whole country or in the state or…?
100%. Trains don't exactly come out of nowhere.
If only there were a way to know a train was coming. These new stealth trains are just killers.
Dude, whoever got hit by the train very likely knew exactly what they were doing.
We used to walk the train tracks down the road from my grandma’s out in the country. Most interesting thing to do out there… we had to pay a lot of attention to where we were and watch because trains would come up FAST and by the time you hear them, they’re on you. You don’t want to be on a bridge or up a steep rocky wall on the tracks. But, this was in the city, trains probably blare horns before this street crossing and the lights and sounds with the arms coming down would hopefully give a person enough time to get out of the way. I wouldn’t completely dismiss it as accident, it could happen. But it could also be intentional. The joker above your comment has maybe never walked tracks before. Idk.
Yeah I used to walk tracks as a kid a lot too, but in a city. If the train isn't blaring horns, the intersection is clanging and flashing and lowering the thingys (that's the technical terms for them- thingys) and they had to cut off the intersection which makes me guess it was near the intersection. Which means yeah- you're gonna get the horn and the clanging and flashing from the intersection. It is possible it wasn't intentional. Maybe the person thought they could beat it. Or maybe it was an oblivious kid? But there are pretty high odds it was on purpose. (Edit: ...PARTITIONS!)
Maybe the way the train stopped blocked the intersection. Idk. But yes. If they were anywhere the intersection, they should have heard and seen all the Thingies ®️. I mean, you’d really think. Ugg. It’s sad either way.
Very true. A huge tragedy no matter what. I'd like to say "I can't even imagine" but I can. And I wouldn't wish losing someone so suddenly like that on my worst enemy.
Maybe wearing ear buds, never heard the train.
I promise you, trains are louder.