Addictions and Suicide

Allright folks, time for some cold, hard, statistics.

1.1% of the population in the United States has schizophrenia

10% of those with schizophrenia will ultimately commit suicide

70-80% of those with schizophrenia smoke cigarettes heavily

Those are the facts, now let me discect them a little bit.

In the United States, approximately 3 million people suffer from schizophrenia, that's approx 1.1% of America's population over the age of 15. That pales in comparison to the 19-22% of Americans that suffer from depression, however, on the whole, schizophrenia has a worse prognosis. Aproximately 95% of all American families have someone affected with mental illness in thier immediate family. Schizophrenia alone cost approximately $40 Billion PER YEAR. That comes out of the health care system, Social Security Costs, and many other hidden costs.

If you don't believe me that mental illness is real, then consider that in the U.S. population, approximately .8% of people commit suicide. Among people with mental illness, the figure is around 8-11% nation wide. Consider that among the US population, 23% of people smoke cigarettes, but read above to see the stat of how many with schizophrenia smoke. It's real all right.