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SEPTEMBER 6, 2013
If you are a smoker...
I HOPE THIS ARTICLE
OFFENDS YOU This article from the web was written by John Gever, Senior Editor, MedPage Today and posted Feb. 5, 2013
Federal survey results indicate that smoking rates are dramatically higher in the mentally ill compared with other Americans. A joint “Vital Signs” report from the CDC and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) indicated that, among adults who reported symptoms consistent with a recognized mental illness, 36.1% were current smokers, compared with 21.4% of the rest of the population. The report, based on data from the 2009-2011 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, also found that 30.9% of all cigarettes consumed in the U.S. were smoked by the mentally ill. In part, this disproportion reflects heavier smoking in the mentally ill, with an average of 331 cigarettes per month compared with 310 in the rest of the smoking population. Individuals classified as mentally ill in the study represented 19.9% of the sample surveyed after weighing to reflect the general population’s demographics. Excluded from smoking analyses were individuals in institutions and those considered to have alcohol and substance use disorders. During a telephone briefing for reporters, Douglas Tipperman, MSW, a tobacco prevention specialist at SAMHSA, said the higher smoking incidence among the mentally ill is an outgrowth of lower quit rates. More than half of the non-mentally ill population who has ever smoked has since quit. But among the mentally ill, only about 34% of ever-smokers have succeeded in quitting, Tipperman said. Several barriers help prevent mentally ill smokers from quitting, said Tipperman and CDC Director Thomas Frieden, MD, MPH, who also spoke at the briefing. These include the symptom relief that some mentally ill people
The mentally ill smoke 30% of all cigarettes
Please see OFFENSIVE page 3
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id you know that in the United States more people die by suicide than by homicide? The suicide toll is 50 percent more than deaths by murder. Did you know that a suicide occurs once every 14 minutes in the United States? Did you know that more than 5,000,000 people in the US have been directly affected by a suicide? Did you know that some 950 veterans under the care of the Department of Veterans Affairs attempt suicide every month? Did you know that every day, more than 20 former members of the US armed forces die by suicide? Did you know that the 349 deaths by suicide in the US military last year exceeded 2012 combat deaths (295) in
Afghanistan? Did you know that veterans are killing themselves at a rate more than double the civilian population? Did you know that the highest suicide rates of any age group occur among people age 65 and above? Did you know that the term “commit” suicide is considered offensive by many mental health professionals, lumping suicide in with people who “commit” crimes? There is no question that suicide is a complex and serious issue. How can you and I make a difference among those we know who might be at risk? How can we help a friend or family member of someone who has died by suicide? Know the signs If someone is talking about suicide,
believe them. Take them seriously. Don’t brush it off as just talk. If they are not talking about suicide but are saying things like “I’d be better off dead,” or “There is no way out;” if they’re seeking access to pills, weapons, or other lethal means; if they’re getting their affairs in order, making out a will, giving away valuable or important possessions; if they have abandoned long-time friends; or if they’re taking risks as though they have a death wish, take those signs seriously. Speak up By all means, speak up. Experts say the best way to find out for sure if someone is contemplating suicide is to ask them. You’re not going to plant the thought in their mind and drive them to it, say mental health professionals. Instead, you’re showing them you take their problems seriously and that you’re someone they can talk to. How do you broach a subject Please see SUICIDE page 2
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