[Alffe]

1.The peak seasons for suicides are in early spring and early autumn.
In the US, suicides for both men and women peak in April & May, while suicides in women alone show a rise in Sept. & Oct.

2. One suicide can trigger other suicides. Like the flu, suicide can be contagious, encouraging copy cats.

3. More suicides occur between 4 AM and 7 AM, when depression is often at its worst.

4. More suicides occur on Monday.

5. Persons who experience mixed states - fluctuating between depression and mania or hypomania - are most at risk for suicide. (Again, because they have the energy, while a severely depressed person is too lethargic to end his life.)

6. Official statistics show that 30,000 Americans take their lives each year, but that number could be considerably higher since suicide often goes unreported; suicide takes more lives than traffic accidents, lung desease, or AIDS.

7. Worldwide there are more deaths due to suicide than to accidents, homicides, and war combined.

8. About 19 percent of youg people (high school and college students) contemplate or attempt suicide each year. suicide is the second-leading cause of death among people ages 15 to 24.

9. Approximately 6 percent of all people with major depression and about 15 percent of those treated for severe depression take their own lives.

10.The suicide rate among those with dibpolar disorder may be highest among all psychiatric conditions, with one in 10 persons ending their lives, and as high as one in five for those persons with bipolar disorder who have experienced depression severe enough to require hospitalization.

(to be con't)