To be, or not to be...

"To be, or not to be…" Anyone who has made it through high school English probably recognizes these words from Shakespeare’s Hamlet.  Have you considered what Hamlet is talking about in this famous monologue?  To put it simply, he is contemplating suicide.

Data from the CDC indicates that suicide is a large and growing issue in the United States.  Based on the CDC numbers, someone dies from suicide every 13 minutes in the US.  And given the relatively low “success” rates of suicide attempts, that means two people attempt suicide every minute in this country.   For some demographics, suicide is a bigger killer than cancer, than drug use, than texting while driving.  Think about the times you hear about these other dangers in an average week.  Now think about the last time you heard a commercial or a discussion on how to prevent suicide.  Scary, isn’t it?

National studies indicate that about 25% of the US population will experience clinical depression in their lifetime.  Similar studies suggest that 9-10% of people contemplated suicide in the last year, with estimates that 20-25% of Americans will contemplate suicide some time in their lives.  Those numbers indicate that most of us know someone who has thought about killing themselves.

Sadly, most people have no idea how to respond to these feelings in themselves or others.  I don't mean that people don’t care.  On the contrary, I think most people would like to prevent suicide.  The problem is knowing what to say or how to react.  Luckily, you have found the answer (if you finish reading this article).  Let’s first look at some of the worst myths about suicide.  Then we will talk about how to best respond to suicidal thoughts.

Don't you have something better to do?

All it takes is a few minutes listening to talk radio, watching the news, reading the paper, or even having a conversation with coworkers -- the conclusion is inevitable.  The world is going to hell in a hand basket, and seems to be in a big hurry to get there!  Wars and economic crises, abuse and crime, lousy jobs, inconsiderate "friends", lazy husbands, undisciplined children, nit-picking wives, noisy neighbors -- everyone has something or someone to complain about.  It is no wonder half of the US population will suffer from anxiety, depression, or other mental illness during their lives (according to NIMH).  And it is no surprise that half of US adults consider themselves "regular" drinkers (from CDC).  (No report seems to study the correlation between those two sets of people.)  Our world is really a mess, right?

Nobody that knows me has every confused me with an orphaned Hayley Mills playing the "glad game". But...

Hold the sugar please

The Lancet, a British medical journal, published the results of a new global diabetes study by the World Health Organization and the Gates Foundation. According to this new study, almost 350 MILLION people worldwide now have some form of diabetes. In the US alone, close to 25 million people are currently diagnosed as diabetic. In a separate report, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) reported that diabetes killed more Americans in 2009 than AIDS and breast cancer combined. These are sobering statistics for the parent of a diabetic child. However, the reports also raise more questions than answers... what is diabetes? what does it do? how prevalent is it really? how do you get it?