The C.D.C. reported last year that Wyoming has the highest suicide rate in the nation, almost 30 deaths per 100,000 people in 2012, far above the national average of 12.6 per 100,000. Not far behind were Alaska, Montana, New Mexico and Utah, all states where isolation can be common. The village of Hooper Bay, Alaska, recently recorded four suicides in two weeks…
So, the CDC reports suicide statistics, but what does the agency do about it? Nothing, because they’re too busy with the opioid war.
Under comments:
n.h ny 3 hours ago
The new York mental health system is a shinning example to the rest of the world that ought to be forecully imposed on anyone. As someone with extensive experience in it, I can tell you that I am mentally ill because of the treatment forced on me because of new York state law. I was recently hospitalized because my parents told me I was going to travel to Belize to kill myself. When I told the officer it was a figure of speech, he pulled his weapon on me. When I told the fine psychiatrists at Westchester hospital, they laughed at me and repeated a liteny of diagnosis applicable for my retention. When I demanded to speak to a lawyer, I was laughed at. When I demanded a hearing, I was laughed at. If I could have put a gun to my head and pulled the trigger, I would have done it in a second. There are no words to describe the feeling of hopelessness that can be imposed on you when you are detained without rights. It is a status reserved for the worst terrorism offenders in Guantanamo. Yet, when it comes to the mentally ill, people who society has deemed as disabled and deserving help, the right to trial is waved. We are supposed to comply, or be beaten, tazered or drugged. Society doesn’t want to help the mentally ill. Society just wants the mentally ill to go away. When a mentally ill person like the young women mentioned in the article kills themself, it is not because they don’t have obamacare, it’s because they have retained enough dignity to die in peace.
Tizzielish Berkeley, CA 3 hours ago
Be forewarned, people. I wrote about my suicidal ideation and my local police just showed up, talking about private matters in my lobby in front of neighbors and building staff, humiliating me. I asked him to leave and he refused. He said he wanted to know if I was all right and I said “you can see I am all right and unless I have committed a crime, I don’t have to talk to you”. Then I got on my elevator and he got on — it is a secure building and no one is admitted to residential floors unless invited by a resident or a cop pursuing crime but he had just said I had committed no crime.
I said “I understand CA law says you can’t force me to get treatment or take meds” He said “That is correct.” So I said “Then why won’t you leave me alone, I don’t have to talk to you, right?” He kept on for some time, asking questions he could only have known because the NYTimes informed him.
Big Brother is watching so if you are lonely and experiencing suicidal ideation, don’t write about it here!
Lepton Grand Rapids MI 5 hours ago
In these communities often the pastor becomes the first point of contact for those struggling with mental illness. This is unfortunate because pastors generally don’t have training dealing with mental illness and depending on the denomination the advice they give can be pretty disastrous.
memosyne Maine 3 hours ago
One pastor in a small town where I practiced family medicine told people that if you are right with God you won’t be depressed. A women’s study group was organized around videos that suggested that depression could be cured by catching up on housework.
All Things Chronic 