Mental Health:US Middle-Aged Suicide Climbs

In the most recent data available,suicide now takes more American lives annually than auto accidents.The 2010 figures reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the May 3 issue of its journal "Morbidity and MortalityWeekly Report" show more than 38,000 suicides occurred,versus less than 34,000 car crash fatalities.
A CDC analysis of the data indicated middle-aged adults suffered a spike in suicides,while the rate for other age groups was little changed.In 1999,there were 13.7 suicides per 100,000 adults age 35-64;in 2010,the rate rose to 17.6 per 100,000.That's a 28.4% increase.
According to the CDC,suicide prevention has traditionally been aimed at older and younger people.Now that will have to change,with more attention given to middle-aged adults.Prevention strategies include enhanced social support;community connectedness;and access to mental health and prevention services.
It was speculated that the spike among middle-aged people could be attributed to the Great Recession of 2007-2009 and the economic downturn that followed.
Besides the economy,other factors driving the middle-aged to take their own lives may be stress related to the health problems that increase with age; heavy caregiving responsibilities that are now more common at this stage of life,with elderly parents needing care along with children;substance abuse;and relationship issues.
The most common suicide methods for middle-aged men were firearm and hanging/suffocation,and poisoning and firearm for middle-aged women.

Commentary:Overwrought Weather Warnings Blanket Region

There seem to be more alerts and warnings of every sort now than in the past.One can hardly get through a day without being sternly advised about some risk or other.
Thursday morning in the Washington,D.C. area was a case in point.Every five minutes,radio and television broadcasts were interrupted with tornado warnings,many of them redundant.Thunderstorms were under minute scrutiny for signs of rotation,and the least bit of it set off a hyperactive alert apparatus.By noon,you could have been excused for being a jangle of nerves.
Repeated alert sirens and loud taped warnings over a public address system in an outlying town gave a distinct impression of impending doom.In fact,not one tornado materialized there.If you had heeded the advice given,you would have sat in a windowless corner from 4:30 am to noon.
Try that on for cardiovascular or mental health.
The rotation detected in the storms was strictly in the upper levels.It was a potential for materializing,not an actual event.As well,one whole big county was lumped together,when the suspect rotation was confined to only portions of it.A high level of anxiety was produced in a region where killer tornadoes are almost never encountered,if ever encountered at all.Thankfully,the region carried on Thursday and the work of the nation proceeded.
Ironically,in areas typically hardest hit by severe storms,in the deep South and Midwest,they were perhaps not warned vigorously enough today.Hundreds died and more than a thousand were injured by tornadoes and straight line winds.

Reflection:LeBron's Respectable Decision

ESPN,a holding of Disney,was criticized for devoting an hour special to LeBron James' decision on where to play basketball for the next several years.Both LeBron's decision and ESPN's coverage,in the event,turned out to have a lot of integrity.It was refreshing to see that in the high-priced world of professional sports.The ESPN journalists stayed true to their own profession.They didn't shy away from LeBron.They were in his face with the tough questions,questions that knowledgeable fans were surely asking in their own minds.
As for LeBron James,he handled the whole process as well as any human being could be expected to.Everything he said made sense.By all appearances,he is a well-grounded gentleman,as well as a sports star.To keep his sanity through the media and business madness is the true mark of his character.Congratulations to him for that achievement.We need all the examples of sound behavior we can find in a culture racked by mental illness and extremes of every sort.And ESPN is also praiseworthy for keeping their heads above the dangerous water.
No child who watched the ESPN special went to bed the worse for it,and should have benefited from the reasoned judgement showed by all concerned.That is high praise indeed for contemporary television.
In Cleveland,the response was sharp,with vitriol being directed at LeBron for his mature,rational approach.Cleveland produced and retained a star player for seven years,but ultimately failed to make a championship team possible,as so many other cities have failed;but Cleveland will start over again on the project,not waste time castigating LeBron James for exercising his rights as an athlete and a person.
Disney(DIS)

Health Uncle Early Edition:Mental Health

I will not be in on Friday,so I am publishing early.The state of mental health in America is not looking good at this point.There have been nine mass murders in the past month,many of them murder-suicides.Several of them were also committed by the unemployed.Surely the financial crisis is a factor in tipping people over the edge.No one should be complacent about their state of mind in this economic environment.You may be more troubled than you realize.Consider relaxing your own train of thought with the best spring break you can manage.Read a neglected book or go for that postponed walk.It doesn't have to be elaborate.Have a blessed holiday.