Editorial July 1, 2002 Issue

Suicide—you can help prevent it

Editor

In the Middle East, teenage boys and girls are strapping on bombs and detonating themselves in the hopes of helping liberate their people. Often they are driven by a sense of helplessness, as well as the promise of religious and political martyrdom (and even financial rewards to their families). yet people killing themselves and murdering others can never answer the cry for a better life.

Children killing themselves is not phenomenon limited to war zones. According to the World Health Organization, suicide rates among young people have increased to such an extent that they are now the group at highest risk in a third of all countries. Another study shows the largest relative increase in suicide rates to be among those of advancing years. Globally, there is one suicide every 40 seconds.

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