Suicide, Mental Illness, Drugs and Alcohol

Suicide. More than 34,000 suicides occurred in the U.S. This is the equivalent of 94 suicides per day; one suicide every 15 minutes or 11.26 suicides per 100,000 population. [CDC, Suicide: At a Glance, PDF in The Spotlight box] Suicide is the second leading cause of death among 25-34 year olds and the third leading…

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Veterans, Suicide and the Substance Abuse Connection

Veterans, Suicide and the Substance Abuse Connection. It’s real, and it’s rooted in the brain changes caused by the mental health impacts of war – anxiety, depression, PTSD, for example. These impacts often cause a veteran (and any person with a mental illness, for that matter) to turn to drugs or alcohol to self-medicate the…

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