Suicide and attempted suicides affect more people than you might realize, and when the economic downturn results in upheavals, such as lost jobs and homes, the numbers rise. According to a SAMHSA press release,

“This is a critical situation – calls into suicide crisis centers have substantially increased during the past year – 54,054 calls in the last recorded month alone — with between 20 to 30 percent of calls being specifically linked to economic distress,” said SAMHSA Acting Administrator, Eric Broderick, D.D.S., M.P.H. “These funds will help provide desperately needed assistance to those on the front lines, responding to this urgent public health need.”

Suicide is a permanent solution answer to a temporary problem and that’s what economic crisis are. No-one is saying it’s easy to get through this type of crisis, but it is do-able.

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• In the United States, please call 1-800-273-TALK if you feel yourself sliding to the edge and considering suicide.
• In Canada, check out the Centre for Suicide Prevention to find what number you should call.
• In the United Kingdom, Suicide.org lists numbers for you.
• Australia’s Suicide.org lists their prevention organizations as well, as does New Zealand’s Suicide.org.
• Internationally, for a list of many other countries and their help lines, go to Worldwide Suicide Crisis Hotlines.

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Photo courtesy PhotoXpress.com

Post from: Blisstree

U.S. Suicide Help Calls Rising

Well, this is an interesting new take on suicide prevention.

According to Byron L. Lam, M.D. of Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami School of Medicine, and his colleagues, “improved treatments of visual impairment and factors causing poor health could potentially reduce suicide risk.”

This news comes to me via Science Daily article Visual Impairment May Be Associated With Higher Suicide Risk, but the findings came to Lam and colleagues after a study (supported by grants from the National Eye Institute and the National Institute on Occupational Safety and Health) that reviewed data from national health surveys taken between the years of 1986 and 1996 by 137,479 participants.

Of course, Lam and colleagues aren’t suggesting that eye glasses alone will help with suicide prevention, but that the treatment of vision problems and other factors causing poor health could help decrease suicide risk.

Good day to buy stock in Bausch & Lomb?

Image: morgueFile

Post from: Blisstree

Could Spectacles Reduce Suicide Risk?