House Bill 9233

    Florida House of Representatives - 1999                HR 9233

        By Representative Arnall






  1                         House Resolution

  2         A resolution encouraging suicide prevention

  3         efforts.

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  5         WHEREAS, suicide, the eighth leading cause of all

  6  deaths in the United States and the third leading cause for

  7  young persons ages 15 through 24, annually claims over 31,000

  8  lives nationwide, and

  9         WHEREAS, each year, suicide attempts, estimated to

10  exceed 750,000 nationally, adversely impact the lives of

11  millions of family members and cause over 186,000, including

12  many Floridians, to mourn a tragic suicide death for the first

13  time, and

14         WHEREAS, the suicide rate per 100,000 persons has

15  remained relatively stable over the past 40 years for the

16  general population, but that rate has nearly quadrupled for

17  young persons and is highest for adults over 65, and

18         WHEREAS, the stigma associated with mental illness

19  works against suicide prevention by keeping persons at risk of

20  committing suicide from seeking lifesaving help and seriously

21  inhibits surviving family members from regaining meaningful

22  lives, and

23         WHEREAS, suicide deaths impose a huge unrecognized and

24  unmeasured economic burden on the State of Florida in terms of

25  potential years of life lost and medical costs incurred, and

26         WHEREAS, suicide is a complex, multifaceted,

27  biological, sociological, psychological, and societal problem,

28  and

29         WHEREAS, many suicides are currently preventable, and

30  there is an urgent need for the development of more effective

31  suicide prevention programs, and

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 1999                HR 9233

    54-363A-99






  1         WHEREAS, suicide prevention opportunities continue to

  2  increase due to advances in clinical research, mental disorder

  3  treatments, neuroscience, and the development of

  4  community-based initiatives that await evaluation, and

  5         WHEREAS, suicide prevention efforts should be

  6  encouraged to the maximum extent possible, NOW, THEREFORE,

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  8  Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of

  9  Florida:

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11         That the House of Representatives of the State of

12  Florida hereby endorses the need for the development of more

13  effective suicide prevention programs and encourages all

14  Floridians to increase their awareness of this pervasive

15  problem and the various suicide prevention efforts available.

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