TIME (10/24, Oaklander) reports, “Suicide is one of the most urgent health problems facing America today,” now representing “the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S., claiming 47,000 lives per year.” Not only are US “suicide rates…the highest they’ve been since World War II,” they are also “rising in nearly every state and across age groups and ethnicities.” While it remains unclear as to “what’s driving the rise…experts speculate that many factors may be contributing, including high rates of drug abuse, stress and social isolation.” But, “for all the disparate reasons people die by suicide…research suggests that 83% visit some kind of doctor in the year before their death.” For that reason, “health care facilities are logical places to prevent suicide.” The article details various efforts on the part of “hospitals and behavioral-health centers” to “include research-backed interventions that have been studied for years but haven’t, until now, been widely used.”
Related Links:
— “Suicide Is Preventable. Hospitals and Doctors Are Finally Catching Up, “MANDY OAKLANDER, TIMES, October 24, 2019