Surgeon General Releases Suicide-Prevention Strategy
Surgeon General Releases Suicide-Prevention Strategy
"Some high school educational programs have not been productive. They were focused just on suicide and basically became educational programs to tell people ways of committing suicide."
Instead, he says, "Programs should be focusing on if you have depression, and you're withdrawn from your family and friends, if your schoolwork is going down, if you're having constant suicidal thinking, if you're having appetite changes, sleep changes, then you really need to get some help.
"It takes a comprehensive strategy to deal with a condition like suicide," Regier says. "It will be difficult to focus on one specific part of this strategy."
But Berman says, "If we can accomplish just a few of these goals, we are going to see a dramatic shift."
That may not be easy. "If we had $100 million to put behind the strategy tomorrow, where would be the first place you would spend it?" Berman asks. "I don't think that we would be in consensus on how to do that.
"Somebody's got to generate dollars to support this. I don't think that's just the feds that have to ante up."
Surgeon General Releases Suicide-Prevention Strategy
"Some high school educational programs have not been productive. They were focused just on suicide and basically became educational programs to tell people ways of committing suicide."
Instead, he says, "Programs should be focusing on if you have depression, and you're withdrawn from your family and friends, if your schoolwork is going down, if you're having constant suicidal thinking, if you're having appetite changes, sleep changes, then you really need to get some help.
"It takes a comprehensive strategy to deal with a condition like suicide," Regier says. "It will be difficult to focus on one specific part of this strategy."
But Berman says, "If we can accomplish just a few of these goals, we are going to see a dramatic shift."
That may not be easy. "If we had $100 million to put behind the strategy tomorrow, where would be the first place you would spend it?" Berman asks. "I don't think that we would be in consensus on how to do that.
"Somebody's got to generate dollars to support this. I don't think that's just the feds that have to ante up."
