"It's
good news week!" A sprightly announcement on my local news broadcast:
"And there's some GOOD news on the mental health front! Suicide rates
were actually DOWN during the first few months of the pandemic. Mental
health experts are attempting to analyze this unexpected development and
generate statistics for further study." So that means if you are
suicidal, you are definitely in the minority.
BUT. . . I
just had a thought. Perhaps there was no one in the mental health field
who was available to KEEP accurate statistics, or even notice them.
Suicides often fly under the radar as "accidents" anyway, to spare the
family stigma and shame. Meantime, all the "professionals" were hunkered
down at home, particularly in the first couple of months. There's a
pandemic on, for God's sake - let's get our priorities right! It also
seems to prove all those distressed souls actually do better without all
that attention paid to them.
