Suicide is now the leading cause of injury-related death in America

And I notice that since extended unemployment benefits ended, there seem to be more reports of people going on shooting rampages, which saddens but doesn't surprise me.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2012_09/suicide_is_now_the_leading_cau040064.php

September 23, 2012 3:39 PM
Suicide is now the leading cause of injury-related death in America, and the economy may be to blame

An extremely disturbing new study published in the American Journal of Public Health finds that suicides have replaced car accidents as the leading cause of injury-related death in the U.S. This is partly because deaths from automobile accidents are down — that’s the good news.

But the truly catastrophic news is that the suicide rate has increased dramatically: between 2000 and 2009, according to data from the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, deaths by suicide went up by 15%, and deaths from poisoning increased by a whopping 128%. Moreover, researchers say that many of the poisoning deaths, which are labeled as “accidental,” may actually be intentional. According to the study’s author, Professor Ian Rockett, an epidemiologist at West Virginia University, “Suicides are terribly undercounted; I think the problem is much worse than official data would lead us to believe.” He added “there may be 20 percent or more unrecognized suicides.”

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But there is strong evidence elsewhere that our disastrous economy may be playing a significant role. Last year, a report by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that “[s]uicide rates in the U.S. tend to rise during recessions and fall amid economic booms.”

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And in the midst of this stunning evidence of overwhelming human devastation and tragedy, we have a major party candidate for president who seems to believe that America’s biggest problem is that too many poor people don’t pay enough income taxes. It chills my blood just thinking about it.