Suicide is a growing public health problem in Ohio and across the country as the number of lives lost continues to rise.
In its latest one-page publication, Behavioral Health: Developing a Better Understanding, Suicide - We Need to Talk, the Ohio Association of County Behavioral Health Authorities sheds light on this devastating and growing public health problem in Ohio and across the country as the number of lives lost continues to rise.
Approximately 36,000 Americans die by suicide each year and 8.4 million (3.7%) of Americans had serious thoughts of suicide in the past year. It also hits us hard as a nation when we read that more US soldiers are losing their lives to suicide than from enemy forces – at the staggering rate of one soldier per day so far this year. In the tough realities behind the numbers, there is also help and hope. There are decisions and actions we can take individually and as a society to turn the tide and save lives associated with suicide.