Talking about suicide. Making statements about hopelessness, or helplessness. Preoccupation with death. Loss of interest in things. Giving one's things away. Setting business in order. Suddenly happier, calmer. Disturbances in eating or sleeping. Previous attempts made of suicide.
Please click the video image to watch a video, hosted by www.afsp.com The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.Video.
Many suicides are preventable if people get the appropriate treatment.
Every suicidal person deserves treatment.
Every 41 seconds someone in this country attempts suicide.
Every 16.7 minutes, someone completes suicide.
Over 85 people a day die by suicide.
People can do something about suicide.
Yearly at least 750,000 productive years of life (under age 65) are lost to suicide.
Many millions of hours are spent by survivors trying to cope with their loss.
Suicide is the eighth leading cause of all deaths, third in age group 15-24.
In the past 40 years, the suicide rate in 15-19 year olds has quadrupled.
Suicide causes are multifaceted: biological, sociological, psychological and societal.
More Facts About Depression Women suffer from depression twice as much as men. This two-to-one ratio exists regardless of racial and ethnic background or economic status.
Depression in people 65 and older increases the risk of stroke and other medical complications. The economic cost of depressive illnesses is $30 million to $44 billion a year. More Americans (19 million) suffer from depression than coronary heart disease (12 million), cancer (10 million), and HIV/AIDS (1 million). Even though effective treatments are available, only one in three depressed people gets help.
Depression and Suicide Although most depressed people are not suicidal, two-thirds of those who die by suicide suffer from a depressive illness. About 15 percent of the population will suffer from depression at some time during their life. Thirty percent of all depressed inpatients attempt suicide.
Medical Illness and Depression Researchers believe that after an initial attack of severe depression 70 percent of people are vulnerable to another episode. The following illnesses are commonly associated with later-life depression: cancer, Parkinson's disease, heart disease, stroke and Alzheimer's disease. Research shows that depression and heart disease often accompany each other and that each can lead to the other. While roughly one in six people have an episode of major depression, the number goes to one in two for people with heart disease. About 25 percent of cancer patients suffer from clinical depression. Depression in people 65 and older increases the risk of stroke and other medical complications. Nearly eight out of ten patients with depressive illness will improve through treatment with medicine and psychotherapy.
Of the many millions of Americans who suffer from depression in any given year, over 80% can be effectively treated, but only 30% actually seek help, and of that number, slightly more than 15% are accurately diagnosed and effectively treated.
Although most gun owners reportedly keep a firearm in their home for "protection" of "self-defense," 83% of gun related deaths in these homes are the result of a suicide, often by someone other than the gun owner.
From suicides that occurred between 1970 and 1995, there are an estimated 4.53 million survivors in the U.S.; this number grows by 186,000 per year.
The number one cause of suicide is depression undiagnosed, untreated, or ineffectively treated.
The mission of Suicide Prevention Services is to save lives and restore hope through...
Prevention to maintain a well researched, highly skilled public health campaign about suicide and how to detect warning signs and intervene with loved ones. to conduct local educational forums to keep the general sector and professionals informed about the latest knowledge in the treatment of high-risk individuals.
Intervention to maintain existing crises intervention teams in the community and integrate these services further into the natural networks of all community organizations. to expand intervention to all settings and the earliest warning signs, rather than waiting for life-threatening crises. to increase the capacity for all services and organizations to screen for depression and high-risk behavior. to coordinate consultation with all settings in order to create innovative intervention teams and models to support and treat attempters of suicide.
Postvention to provide compassionate support to families and friends who have lost someone to suicide and to honor the memory of those who have died by suicide. to eliminate the stigma, guilt, and shame of suicide.
How to Help: Question: Stay and ask the person if they are suicidal. Persuade: Listen carefully and let the person talk. Take what is said seriously. Assist them in looking for alternative resources. Refer: Convince the other person to look for help immediately. Go with them. Call Suicide Prevention Services at 630-482-9696 to schedule a "Question, Persuade, Refer" public education presentation for your school, church, organization, or workplace.
Statistics on this page are provided by: The American Association of Suicidology.
More Facts About Depression Women suffer from depression twice as much as men. This two-to-one ratio exists regardless of racial and ethnic background or economic status. 
Of the many millions of Americans who suffer from depression in any given year, over 80% can be effectively treated, but only 30% actually seek help, and of that number, slightly more than 15% are accurately diagnosed and effectively treated. 