A Savage Libel

[Calm]

And according to the UK statistics since Samaritans was started in the 1960's suicide rates have declined by about 60%.

Good news in an area that has too little most of the time. Thank you for the info you have provided on other things as well.

[cjwright]

Assuming your stats are correct which I have no reason not to (your group does good work imo), you cannot claim that all groups experience thoughts and feelings the same level, only that among those who call hot lines to talk----in particular your organization's hot line----are pretty evenly spread out. This may or may not directly correlate with those who actually experience suicidal thoughts. It is a problem assuming that those who experience thoughts are equally motivated to seek out help through hotline or therapy, thus numbers of both (those who want to talk or those who want help through therapy) are only pointers for further research.

Unless your organization has done a randomized study contacting people and then asking how many of them have had suicidal thoughts, etc. etc.

I hear what you are saying, but on the same token, you can say the same about the statistics available online as they don't give an accurate account of those who experience suicidal thoughts and feelings, but only those that have attempted or actually committed suicide, and it has been recorded as such. People who try to use suicide statistics to make claims that a certain group is more prone to suicide than another don't understand that this subject is too broad to do so.