Suicide problem acute in New Jersey

[WhiteTara]

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/article73644012.html

TRENTON, N.J.
For many years New Jersey had the lowest suicide rate of any state in the nation. But that distinction has ebbed recently, just as the nation's rate of suicide rose to the highest level in three decades, according to data released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In 2012, New Jersey posted the lowest suicide rate of any state, according to the CDC. In subsequent years, however, the state's suicide rate has risen by 13 percent, reaching 8.8 deaths per 100,000 people. In 2014, the latest year for which data are available, New Jersey was tied for second place with Massachusetts.

The state's rising suicide rate may suggest middle-class New Jersey residents are still struggling to cope with the aftershocks of the Great Recession, especially in the midst of a nationwide spike of suicides among middle-aged Americans in the prime of their financial lives, mental health experts said. New Jersey's unemployment rate remained higher than the national average until the last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and its rate of home foreclosure remains the highest in the nation, according to RealtyTrac.

"That seems to be the general consensus, that it's related to the recession," said Phil Lubitz, associate director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness of New Jersey. "We've (seen) that wave of suicides that resulted from the financial crisis a little bit later than other parts of the country."

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/article73644012.html#storylink=cpy

[Warpy]

1. Shit pay combined with rapidly rising housing costs

and people are checking out? What a shock.

[GreatGazoo]

2. standard of living in the US has been decling since 1968

Healthcare costs and lack of access are killing thousands of Americans.

Healthcare is sucking up 20% of GDP, leading to bankruptcies and suicides. Reached crisis level years ago and no significant improvements are on the horizon. Clearly broken but no "fix" in the works.

[KamaAina]

3. So that explains the slow bridge traffic!

People lining up to jump off!

Either way you look at it, it's still Christie's fault.