DID YOU KNOW?

• Every 43 seconds, someone attempts suicide in the U.S.
• Every 18 minutes, someone dies by suicide in the U.S.
• Suicide is the 11^th leading cause of death overall in the U.S.
• There are more suicides annually in our country than homicides.
• Suicide is the 2^nd leading cause of death among young people ages 15-24; there is a suicide every 1 hr. 40 min. in this age group.
• The suicide rate is the highest in the over 65 age group with a suicide every 1 hr. 27 min.
• Florida ranks 10th in the nation for its suicide rate.
• The ratio for male to female suicide is 4:1.
• Each suicide leaves behind an estimated 8 survivors (relatives and friends) who are left to struggle with the devastating consequences and emotional turmoil. 
• Suicide is the most misunderstood death in America; 90% of people who die by suicide have a diagnosable psychiatric disorder at the time of their death.
• Suicide affects all levels of our socioeconomic culture and is not a moral issue but a health issue.
• Suicide is not a choice as choice implies that a suicidal person can reasonably look at alternatives and consequences.
• Most suicidal people give definite warnings of their intentions as they don’t want to die, they only want to stop the pain; healthy people don’t kill themselves.
• The #1 cause of suicide is untreated or inadequately treated depression
• Depression is a serious brain disease that is caused by an imbalance of brain chemicals which affect how a person thinks, feels and behaves; they are incapable of reasoning or looking at things objectively.
• Depression is not a weakness or character flaw- people can't "just snap out of it". 
• Depression is the most misdiagnosed disease in America.
• One out of every 6 people will suffer with depression in their lifetime.
• Depression can lead to death like cancer, heart disease or any other life-threatening disease can if not properly treated.
• Depression runs in families like other diseases as people inherit a genetic predisposition to mental illness as they do to diabetes or heart disease.
• Depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and anxiety disorders commonly referred to as “mental illnesses”, are actually biological diseases of the brain.
• Many think that men don’t get depression, including men, until it kills them- suicide is now the 9^th leading cause of death in men over the age of 40.
• The stigma of mental illness and the lack of parity for mental health coverage by insurance companies often keep people from getting the help they need.
• Depression is the most expensive illness for employers- it costs them billions of dollars a year in lost productive time.
• In 1997, the U.S. Congress declared suicide a national problem and suicide prevention a national priority.
• In 1999, the U.S. Surgeon General declared suicide a serious public health problem and stated that suicide occurs in the presence of mental illness or substance abuse problems- he said that suicide is an enormous trauma for millions of Americans and has implemented a program called the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention.
• In 2003, scientists identified a gene that causes depression and this finding could help revolutionize the treatment of this disease.