Almost nine months into 2009, at least 219 New Orleanians have attempted to take their own lives; 47 of them have succeeded.
The number and rate of suicides is higher than in previous years and approaches twice the national rate.
Public health officials and academic researchers say that suicide rates are best viewed over a period of years and can sometimes prove difficult to use in reaching empirical conclusions.
Yet local authorities are confident that the numbers in the New Orleans area illuminate larger realities in a region four years removed from, but still often defined, by hurricane winds and broken levees.
The city, they say, suffers from depression and post-traumatic stress syndrome at a rate far more widespread than before Hurricane Katrina. Representatives of the medical and public health community agree that the issues are a lingering challenge to individual and collective recovery -- a post-storm study posited that one out of three returning residents to the region suffered from depression or PTSD more than a year after Katrina -- and doctors warn that the untreated symptoms only compound.
"How many depressed people do we have? How do you measure that?" said Dr. Jullette Saussy, head of the city's emergency medical response system. But pointing to the suicide statistics, she said, "Do I need to say anything else?"
<snip>
more...
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/capital/index.ssf?/base/news-7/125359681136460.xml&coll=1
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
