Every single day in the USA an average of 123 people kill themselves by suicide. This is more than the number than die by murder and automobile accidents combined. And yet we rarely hear about suicide. In every single month since 9-11-2001 more people died by suicide than were killed in that national tragedy. And yet we never hear about it. Think about that and remember this: "123 a day in the USA"
copyright (c) 2018
William Schaeffer
I know it is an unpleasant topic, but is one that needs to be addressed. Even the news articles try to obscure the facts with percentages and irrelevant data. In my opinion, this is not a "mental health" issue, but a problem with the basic underlying structure of our society. If we approached highway safety the same way we approached the problem of suicide then we would have many driver safety courses and special "driving drugs", but no seat belts, safety glass, or power braking.
ReplyDeletePart of the problem is the way we conceptualize the problem and our relationship to society. There is a very convincing argument by Thomas Szaz M.D. that the entire field of "Mental Health" is a misnomer -- because nothing we can identify is broken (like a bone or a gland). Mental Health is really just a "professional's opinion" of you behavior -- it is a form of social conformity and social stigmatization. Additionally, (in my opinion) the public school system in the USA trains us all to be selfish and uncaring and isolated from real relationships. The very structure and fabric of our society promotes suicide.
ReplyDeleteFor example) I have no real friends, or family, and nobody I know would really care one way or another if I was in trouble or if I was dead. This is my america. Want to loan me $100 ?
ReplyDelete