Election 2010: Will Candidates Address the Facts? Check out State Suicide Rates and New Obama Administration Numbers; Unemployed Persons and Veterans are Especially at Risk

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Sep 14, 2010, 09:30 ET

ARLINGTON, Va., Sept. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has issued the second alert in a series reminding editors, reporters and others to ask candidates for public office what they will do about the nation's mental health crisis.

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State budget cuts in mental health services are putting lives at risk. Federal mental health block grants also have been cut or frozen over the past 10 years.

The latest alert highlights state suicide rates and ranks with special concern for unemployed persons and veterans. Approximately 35,000 Americans die from suicide each year. The most recent state-by-state data is from 2007, before the current economic crisis even began.

On September 10, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported additional numbers:

One suicide occurs every 15 minutes; almost 100 suicides a day.
More than a million people attempt to take their own lives each year.

Approximately 60 million Americans experience a mental health disorder, including depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), in any given year. Less than one-third receives mental health care.

Unemployed persons and veterans are at higher risk. Unemployed persons are four times more likely to report symptoms of mental illness. Male veterans are twice as likely to die by suicide than civilians.

Rank/State	Deaths	Rate (persons per 100,000)

1 Alaska	149	21.8
2 Montana	196	20.5
3 New Mexico	401	20.4
4 Wyoming	101	19.3
5 Nevada	471	18.4
6 Colorado	811	16.7
7 West Virginia	300	16.6
8 Arizona	1,016	16.0
9 Oregon	594	15.9
10 Kentucky	649	15.3
11 Idaho	223	14.9
11 North Dakota	95	14.9
13 Oklahoma	531	14.7
14 Maine	191	14.5
15 Utah	378	14.3
15 Vermont	89	14.3
17 Arkansas	402	14.2
17 Florida	2,587	14.2
19 Kansas	382	13.8
20 Missouri	808	13.7
20 Tennessee	844	13.7
22 Mississippi	396	13.6
23 Washington	865	13.4
24 Wisconsin	729	13.0
25 Alabama	592	12.8
25 South Dakota	102	12.8
27 Indiana	790	12.5
28 Louisiana	522	12.2
29 New Hampshire	158	12.0
29 South Carolina	530	12.0
31 North Carolina	1,077	11.9
32 Pennsylvania	1,441	11.6
33 Virginia	880	11.4
34 Ohio	1,295	11.3
35 Michigan	1,131	11.2
36 Delaware	95	11.0
36 Minnesota	572	11.0
38 Iowa	322	10.8
39 Georgia	997	10.4
39 Hawaii	133	10.4
41 Nebraska	181	10.2
41 Texas	2,433	10.2
43 California	3,602	9.9
44 Maryland	518	9.2
45 Rhode Island	96	9.1
46 Illinois	1,108	8.6
47 Massachusetts	516	8.0
48 Connecticut	271	7.7
49 New York	1,396	7.2
50 New Jersey	596	6.9
51 D.C.	36	6.1

Source: American Association of Suicidology

About NAMI

NAMI is the nation's largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to improving the lives of individuals and families affected by mental illness. NAMI is non-partisan and does not endorse candidates.

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SOURCE National Alliance on Mental Illness