Suicides Increase among Long-Term Unemployed…and Border Patrol Agents
Explanations for rising suicides rates among Americans who have gone long periods without work are easily understood. The same can’t be said for the guardians of the nation’s borders who also are experiencing spikes in suicides.
Among the 14.6 million currently without jobs in the U.S., about 6.6 million are long-term unemployed, meaning they have been out of work for more than six months. The suicide rate for all unemployed is two to three times higher than the national average, and the risk goes even higher the longer someone is without a job.
In Elkhart County, Indiana, where unemployment is 13.7%, the suicide rate is up 40% in 2009. In Macomb County, Michigan, which also has an unemployment rate of 13.7%, the rate increased by 73%.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline saw its call line go from 13,423 calls in 2007 to nearly 40,000 calls a year later.
Many of the unemployed who have taken their lives echo the same sentiments about despair and giving up on ever turning their lives around.
http://www.allgov.com/Top_Stories/ViewNews/Suicides_Increase_among_Long_Term_Unemployed__and_Border_Patrol_Agents_100821