The rise in suicides

"Of the demonstrably wise, there are but two," Mark Twain wrote, "those who commit suicide, and those who keep their reasoning faculties atrophied by drink."

Life is harder than it looks.

Recently there has been a surge in the number of people who have tragically met Mark Twain's first standard of wisdom.

Today, the deputy CEO of France Telecom SA resigned following 24 suicides by company employees in the last 18 months.

In 2007, the U.S. Army reported 115 confirmed suicides, the highest level since the Pentagon began keeping records in 1980. The Army reported 110 active duty Army suicides from January 2009 through August 2009, of which 71 have been confirmed, and 39 are still under investigation. For the same period in 2008, there were 89 suicides among active duty soldiers.

In August, the U.S. Department of Labor reported a 28 percent increase in workplace suicides over the prior year.

There's no shortage of reasons for despondency. France Telecom SA laid off 22,000 people between 2006 and 2008. The stresses of military life are well documented. The pressure of the economic crisis and the rising unemployment rate need no explanation.

And yet, there may be another factor at work in this horrible story.

If you watch a lot of news on television, you can't help but see a lot of commercials for prescription drugs, each one featuring a calm and reassuring voice reading a list of terrifying risks and side effects. Stroke. Heart attack. Bleeding. Suicide.

Suicide?!!

"Some people have had changes in behavior, hostility, agitation, depressed mood, suicidal thoughts or actions while using CHANTIX to help them quit smoking," one cheerful voice-over announces.

"You may have thoughts about suicide when you first start taking an antidepressant such as Paxil, especially if you are younger than 24 years old," another voice chirps.

"In patients with depression, worsening of depression, including risk of suicide may occur," the Ambien CR announcer says soothingly.

If you found this post because you are in the grip of depression, and you're taking any prescription drugs, call a 24-hour pharmacy right now and tell the pharmacist what you're taking and what you're feeling. You may be experiencing a known side effect of a prescription drug.

There may be a solution that's a lot easier than ending a war or fixing the economy.

Find a 24-hour Walgreens at this link:
http://www.walgreens.com/marketing/storelocator/find.jsp?foot=store_locator

Find a 24-hour CVS Pharmacy at this link:
http://www.cvs.com/CVSApp/store/storefinder.jsp

Find a Walmart with a 24-hour pharmacy at this link:
http://www.walmart.com/cservice/ca_storefinder.gsp