Suicides Rates on the Rise in U.S.

Amid the startling news of the deaths of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain came a disturbing new statistic from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Since 1999, the suicide rate in the United States has risen 28 percent.

Despite growing efforts toward prevention and awareness, suicide rates increased in almost every state between 1999 and 2016. Since 1999, rates rose more than 30 percent in half the states and, in 2016 alone, nearly 45,000 lives were lost to suicide. 

While nearly half of those who lost their life to suicide had a diagnosed mental illness, other factors also played a role, including relationship problems, financial troubles, health issues and substance abuse. 

This is further proof that using alcohol or drugs to self-medicate or escape life’s stressors is risky business.

Recognizing the Redflags

It’s important to recognize the following warning signs of suicide in yourself or someone you love. 

• Talking about suicide — for example, making statements such as "I'm going to kill myself," "I wish I were dead" or "I wish I hadn't been born"
• Withdrawing from social contact and wanting to be left alone
• Mood swings, such as being emotionally high one day and deeply discouraged the next
• Being preoccupied with death, dying or violence
• Feeling trapped or hopeless 
• Increasing use of alcohol or drugs
• Changes in eating or sleeping patterns
• Risky or self-destructive behavior (driving recklessly, substance abuse, cutting)
• Giving away belongings or getting affairs in order for no logical explanation 
• Saying goodbye to people as if they won't be seen again
• Personality changes or being severely anxious or agitated

Suicide is preventable and any suicidal thought or ideation warrants immediate attention. You can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 (TALK) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.

Getting Help for Depression and Addiction
For men and women struggling with mental illness and addictive tendencies, rehabilitation may seem like an impossible journey. Complete Harmony offers integrated therapeutic, holistic, and medical support for clients dealing with co-existing addiction and mental illness. Our experience with mental illness is broad and deep. For more info, call 866-930-4673.

Study Links Sleep Loss and Depression

Making sleep a priority is perhaps the best thing you can do to stop negative thinking and safeguard your mental health. In fact, a new study links chronic lack of sleep with an increased risk of depression. 

Researchers from Binghamton University says the connection is due to a phenomenon called repetitive negative thinking (RNT), which the study authors define as “abstract, perseverative, negative focus on one's problems and experiences that is difficult to control.” And an inability to suppress negative thoughts is a common symptom of both mood and anxiety disorders.

Study participants were asked to view negative images (guns, knives, threatening animals), positive images (nature, sports) or neutral ones (household items). It turned out that people who slept fewer hours looked at the negative images longer and had more trouble disengaging from them. 

While more research is needed, study authors say that a lack of sleep may deteriorate the neural processes that normally suppress or shed negative thoughts and negative incoming information.

“[The connection] may be explained by a reduction in available cognitive resources, particularly those needed to inhibit information and handle novel information,” the authors write in their paper. “It is possible that sleep disruption deals a ‘second hit’ to attention control in individuals who are already vulnerable in their subjective and/or physiological responses to negative information.”

Sleeping for Sobriety

Maintaining a proper sleep schedule can certainly go a long way toward helping your recovery. Here are a few reasons why:

• You’ll have better emotional control.
• You'll have increased energy and optimism. 
• You’ll have more focus and better memory. 
• You’ll have a stronger immune system. 

Are You Struggling With Depression and Addiction?

Co-occurring conditions like depression may exist prior to substance abuse, or develop as a side effect of drug and alcohol dependency. Using traditional and holistic therapies, Complete Harmony has a proven history of successfully addressing the secondary health challenges that complicate substance abuse. To learn more, call 866-930-4673.