Virginia's suicide hot lines see spike in calls in recession

Hot lines are a barometer of the times. Calls to crisis lines in Virginia have jumped 20 percent in the past two months.

More noticeable than the volume is the gist of the troubles: People say the economy is pushing them to the edge - and some are contemplating going over.

Widespread financial stress has long been linked to an increase in suicides. Job loss is at the heart of it, kick-starting a "chain of adversity" that feels too heavy for some to bear.

No one can say yet if the current recession is causing people to kill themselves; suicide statistics usually lag by at least a year.

What is clear is that layoffs, foreclosures and tanking investments are battering our psyches. Even those not directly affected feel the strain. They worry about friends or family, and wonder if or when their own time will come.

"Callers are talking about stress and depression and relating that directly to the economic conditions," said Calvin Nunnally of the state's health department. "We're hearing that a lot."

Nunnally's job is to shepherd Virginia's suicide prevention efforts.

Most people, he said, won't crumble in times like these. "This may well get them down, but they'll weather it."

For the chronically depressed, however, or those prone to suicidal thoughts: "This could be the tipping point."

Christy Letsom runs a crisis hot line in downtown Norfolk that collects calls from across the region. Volume there holds steady at around 55 calls a day, but when compared with the same time last year, logs show a 113 percent increase in the number of people who say they're anxious about money or employment.

Most of those callers are between 30 and 50 years old. Men and women are dialing equally. Many are worried not so much for themselves, but for someone else they fear is at risk. Few have called a hot line before.

"These folks are hard-working people who have never experienced the kind of crisis they're in right now," Letsom said. "They're simply overwhelmed."

First priority at the hot line: assess the depth of desperation and head off any immediate danger - such as a potential suicide. Next, volunteers mine a database of agencies to hunt for tangible help, such as low-cost mental health care, housing and social services.

Economic crisis callers usually aren't familiar with community resources such as those. They're accustomed to earning a paycheck that covers their needs, or at least makes them ineligible for assistance programs.

"And they could always fall back on their credit cards," Letsom said.

But now, with credit maxed out and job prospects bleak, more people are feeling hopeless. At the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, calls spiked by more than a third last year - to 568,437, up from 412,768 in 2007.

This year, with the recession deepening, call volume already is heading higher. In January and February, the hot line handled roughly 350 more calls per day than during the same months last year.

Nunnally warns that the longer the downturn drags on, the more people will get "worn down."

More than 12 million Americans already are out of work, and according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, 4 million homeowners are at least one month behind on their house payments. A record 1.5 million homes are in foreclosure.

"When you're talking about jobs and homes," Nunnally said, "you're talking about the loss of big things - things that help define us as a person."

Men tend to take such losses particularly hard: "They see it as their problem and they won't talk to anyone about it. From their position as breadwinner, they can really feel like a failure."

In a military community such as Hampton Roads, money worries combined with war stress double the pressure in many families.

It's critical, experts say, to keep perspective. Hard times have come and gone before.

"We'll get through this," Nunnally said, "and come out better for it."

In the meantime, Letsom said, people should stop blaming themselves.

"We really all kind of overextended ourselves," she said. "Jobs were great, we all thought the economy was great, and that just hasn't turned out to be the reality."

Other people can be the best medicine, Nunnally said:

"Talk to each other. It reminds you that you're not alone."

Joanne Kimberlin, (757) 446-2338, joanne.kimberlin@pilotonline.com