Political Quotes

“``cowardly,'' ``a heathen,'' ``selfish''--those are the words some used to describe Robin Williams' suicide. These underscore that there is a great deal of ignorance and misunderstanding about suicide. Myths surrounding suicide are pervasive and persistent. Given that September is National Suicide Prevention Month, we have an opportunity to dispel these common misconceptions, such as ``suicide is not that common.'' This year, 9.3 million adults will have serious thoughts of suicide, 2.7 million will make suicide plans, 1.3 million will attempt suicide, and nearly 40,000 will die by suicide. One suicide occurs every 16 minutes, and one veteran commits suicide every hour. More will die by suicide this year than in car accidents. Here is another misconception: ``Those who die by suicide should just have sucked it up.'' But the vast majority of individuals who have died by suicide had a diagnosable mental illness. Mental illness is a contributing factor in 90 percent of suicides, and the risk of suicide increases more than 50 percent in individuals experiencing depression. Consider this mistaken belief: ``Suicide is well planned and a thoughtful act.'' Twenty-five percent of people who attempt suicide do so within 5 minutes of their initial decision, and 75 percent do so within the first hour.…”