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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: suicide rate

suicide rate stories: 11 news summaries

  Lithium in Water 
  Cuts Suicide Rate 

Japanese study links trace amounts in water supply to less suicides

May 2, 09 7:26 AM CDT
(Newser) - People in areas where the tap water contains lithium are less likely to kill themselves, according to a new Japanese study. The researchers found that the element—used in high doses to treat mood disorders—appeared to "significantly" reduce the suicide rate even when only tiny amounts of it... More »

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suicide • drinking water • suicide rate • suicide prevention • lithium

 Will the Recession 
 Drive Up Suicides? 

We're better prepared now, but rates are still tied to cultural trends

Feb 9, 09 1:31 PM CST
(Newser) - America is reeling from the financial crisis, and the psychological strain has analysts carefully watching national suicide rates, Time reports. Though three high-profile European businessmen took their own lives recently, suicide rates have held steady at 11 per 100,000 people; during the Great Depression, they spiked at 17 per... More »

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suicide • recession • suicide rate • Great Depression • downturn • financial crisis • economic downturn • recession depression

 Under the Tree: Medical Myths 

Recent study debunks seasonal misconceptions

Dec 21, 08 6:21 PM CST
(Newser) - Bending and breaking under holiday stress? Relax! The British Medical Journal has bah-humbugged six holiday health myths, the New York Times reports:
  • Night eating makes you fat: Calories are calories. When you eat doesn't matter; it's what you eat.
  • Poinsettias are perilous: Reported cases of human
... More »

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health • list • Santa Claus • health risks • suicide rate • toxic plants • poinsettias

Suicide Rate Soars for Middle-Aged

Scientists baffled
by 16% spike
for Boomers

Oct 21, 08 5:02 AM CDT
(Newser) - A sharp rise in the number of middle-aged white people taking their own lives has driven up the US suicide rate by nearly 5% since 1999, the Los Angeles Times reports. Experts are baffled by the nearly 16% hike in this group, but speculate that prescription drug abuse, a drop... More »

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suicide • baby boomer • depression • middle age • suicide rate

 Soldier Suicides Set Record 

115 Army suicides last year

May 30, 08 3:51 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Army recorded it highest ever number of suicides last year, with 115 soldiers killing themselves, Reuters reports. The rate is staying high this year, with 38 soldier suicides so far. The military said the statistics showed no direct link between the increase in suicides and repeated deployments to combat... More »

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suicide • US military • US troops • US Army • soldier • suicide rate

Suicide Kills More LA Cops Than Criminals

Grim nature of job biggest hazard
for officers

Mar 26, 08 5:59 AM CDT
(Newser) - Cops in Los Angeles are more likely to die by their own hand than from a criminal's bullet, the Los Angeles Times reports. Psychologists trying to improve the LAPD's suicide prevention efforts found that 19 police officers in the city killed themselves between 1998 and 2007, while just seven died... More »

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suicide • police • psychology • LAPD • psychiatrist • suicide rate

Suicides
Spike Among Middle-Aged

Sudden rise in demographic
baffles experts

Feb 19, 08 10:10 AM CST
(Newser) - Suicide rates among middle-aged Americans have spiked dramatically in recent years, in contrast to flat or declining rates in younger and older demographics, mystifying experts, reports the New York Times. For people 45 to 54, the rate jumped 20% between 1999 and 2004;  for women, the increase was 31%.... More »

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suicide • depression • hormone replacement therapy • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention • prescription drugs • middle age • midlife crisis • suicide rate • support networks

Antidepressant Warning Preceded Youth Suicide Surge

Unintended effect unfolded as use fell

Sep 6, 07 12:25 PM CDT
(Newser) - Four years after the FDA and other agencies sparked a drop in antidepressant use by labeling the meds a suicide risk for young people, a new study shows the results were exactly the opposite of what regulators intended. From 2003 to 2004, the suicide rate among people under 19 rose... More »

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suicide • FDA • depression • antidepressant • children • youth • Prozac • Paxil • Zoloft • suicide rate

Army Suicides Climb; Rate Highest in 26 Years

99 active-duty soldiers took their own lives in 2006

Aug 16, 07 10:18 AM CDT
(Newser) - American soldiers are killing themselves at the highest rate since the Persian Gulf War, the AP reports. Statistics out today show 99 active-duty soldiers committed suicide in 2006, both the highest single number and the highest rate per deployed since 1991. The problem was worst in Iraq, the most common... More »

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Iraq • Afghanistan • military • suicide • depression • mental health • US Army • soldier • Gulf War • suicide rate • Iraq war

Breast Implants Linked to Triple Suicide Rate

Troubled women may be drawn to
popular surgery

Aug 8, 07 6:55 AM CDT
(Newser) - Women with breast-enlarging implants have a suicide rate three times higher than average,  a new medical study has found. Deaths linked to mental problems, such as alcohol abuse, were also three times higher among women undergoing the increasingly popular cosmetic procedure, the Los Angeles Times reports. Suicides rose sharply... More »

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plastic surgery • suicide • depression • surgery • beauty • breast implants • cosmetic surgery • suicide rate

Suicide Rises Among Young Chinese Women

At risk: young wives in rural areas bypassed
by modernization

May 15, 07 8:13 AM CDT
(Newser) - Young, rural women in China are killing themselves at startling rates. In a country whose overall suicide rate is double the American, suicides are shooting up among young wives caught between the promise of modernizing cities and the traditional subservience of women that persists in the countryside. "Whenever their... More »

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China • suicide • women • women's rights • abuse • modernization • suicide rate

11 Stories


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