Recession Claiming Victims

The recession and the corresponding layoffs have taken its toll on many. The crushing weight of debt, foreclosure, and repossession, have driven some to the point that suicide was the only way out.

One example is Debra K. Gibbs, a 54-year-old homemaker in Goshen, in Elkhart County, IN. She didn’t leave a note. "Instead, she simply sent her worried daughter out for soda pop on a summer morning — and then shot herself in the head.

Despondent over a pending home foreclosure and mounting bills, Gibbs took her life on June 23, the day after crews came to repossess her 2007 Chevy Malibu, the last purchase she’d made together with her late husband, Sam.

“She was doing everything she could to hold onto what was hers,” said Gibbs’ daughter, Rebecca Filley, 30, of Cassopolis, Mich. “This was a vivacious, very strong woman, and she was taken to her knees because of money.”

Suicide experts say the reasons for taking one’s own life are complicated, and can’t be attributed to a single factor.

While there hasn't been a link between suicide rates and recent national recessions, which are declared based on many factors, there is a link with circumstances that come along with a recession, such as unemployment and home foreclosure, said John L. McIntosh, a professor of psychology at Indiana University at South Bend who researches suicide trends. Individually, people who’ve lost jobs commit suicide at rates two times to four times as high as those who are employed, the suicide association notes.

Medical and law enforcement officials who’ve watched the rise of suicides in their own communities say they can’t help but see a link with the downturn. “We’ve had many situations where people lost their jobs and that was the reason for why they do what they do,” said Sheriff Mark A. Hackel of Macomb County, Mich.

In that county of about 830,000, 81 people on average committed suicide each year between 1979 and 2006, records from the federal Centers for Disease Control show. But the figure jumped to 104 in 2008 and to 178 in the first seven months of 2009, a rise that has left Hackel’s deputies scrambling to respond to near-daily calls about suicide attempts."

With unemployment now over 10%, Americans more than ever want jobs more than unempoloyment benefits extensions or a health care overhaul. One of the best ways to accomplish this and lower suicides is for the government to reverse course. Go back to using conservative policies that will allow companies to expand and create jobs and income. Then allow people to keep more of what they earn. You'll have fewer foreclosures and repos, and More Americans will have peace of mind. (HT MSNBC. I'm shocked that they would report this!!):

MSNBC: Suicides In The Downturn Raise Worries About Recession’s Real Cost