The Stigma of Suicide
Link (http://www.tucsonweekly.com/gbase/Currents/Content?oid=111377)
5/28/2008
"Excerpt: Numbers from the Arizona Department of Health Services,
published in March of this year, exemplify the uphill fight
Arizonans are facing in their efforts to prevent suicide. For the
third consecutive year, suicide among Arizonans 65 and older
increased. Elderly white men continue to be the most vulnerable
population. Native Americans age 15 to 19 committed suicide at a
rate 2.8 times higher than all Arizona adolescents. Lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender youth on average are one-third more likely
to attempt suicide. Arizona's suicide rate of 15.9 people per
100,000 is above the national average of 11 per 100,000, with all
states in the West higher than the national average, except for
California. Every 17 minutes in the United States, somebody kills
themselves."