[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 14283-14284]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              HELPING FAMILIES IN MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Murphy) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MURPHY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, ``cowardly,'' ``a heathen,'' 
``selfish''--those are the words some used to describe Robin Williams' 
suicide. These underscore that there is a great deal of ignorance and 
misunderstanding about suicide.
  Myths surrounding suicide are pervasive and persistent. Given that 
September is National Suicide Prevention Month, we have an opportunity 
to dispel these common misconceptions, such as ``suicide is not that 
common.'' This year, 9.3 million adults will have serious thoughts of 
suicide, 2.7 million will make suicide plans, 1.3 million will attempt 
suicide, and nearly 40,000 will die by suicide. One suicide occurs 
every 16 minutes, and one veteran commits suicide every hour. More will 
die by suicide this year than in car accidents.
  Here is another misconception: ``Those who die by suicide should just 
have sucked it up.'' But the vast majority of individuals who have died 
by suicide had a diagnosable mental illness. Mental illness is a 
contributing factor in 90 percent of suicides, and the risk of suicide 
increases more than 50 percent in individuals experiencing depression.
  Consider this mistaken belief: ``Suicide is well planned and a 
thoughtful act.'' Twenty-five percent of people who attempt suicide do 
so within 5 minutes of their initial decision, and 75 percent do so 
within the first hour.
  Although there is a lot we know about suicide, these myths continue 
to perpetuate because we don't understand enough why certain 
populations are at higher risk and what is happening in the brain at 
the time of suicide.
  A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
found that in the last decade, here is what happened with suicide 
rates:
  The rate for those 35 to 64 years of age increased 28 percent; for 
women, it increased 31 percent; for white Americans, it increased 40 
percent; for American Indian and Alaska Natives, it increased 65 
percent; and the use of suffocation or hanging increased 81 percent. 
And despite a continued focus on youth suicide, it remains either the 
second- or third-leading cause of death for those between the ages 10 
and 25. Rates have also increased dramatically among elderly White men.
  The report goes on to note that ``additional research is needed to 
understand the cause of the increase and why the extent of the increase 
varies.''
  Suicide is a public health crisis demanding a policy response that, 
to date, has been tepid at best. The impulsive nature and correlation 
with mental illness requires us to treat suicide as a mental health 
crisis. To this end, I have introduced the Helping Families in Mental 
Health Crisis Act, H.R. 3717, which authorizes research at the National 
Institute of Mental Health to enhance our understanding of suicide and 
advance evidence-based approaches to prevention that are not solely 
centered around raising awareness.
  Families of those with serious mental illness already are aware that 
there is a problem. Unfortunately, a small percentage of those with 
serious mental illness are not aware they have a problem, but everybody 
is also painfully aware they cannot get help when someone is in mental 
health crisis.
  We can save lives and help families in mental health crisis, but only 
if we, as

[[Page 14284]]

a Nation, have the courage to confront mental illness head on rather 
than just use phony, feel-good measures.
  My legislation also reauthorizes the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act, 
which is the largest youth suicide prevention and early intervention 
program in the country. However, this program does not address the full 
scope of suicide, which can affect individuals of any age.
  Thus, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and 
Investigations, which I chair, will continue its investigation into our 
Nation's broken mental health system by looking at proven strategies to 
reduce the staggering number of suicides. It begins with fixing our 
broken mental health system and providing hope and evidence-based 
treatment to individuals and families in crisis. I call upon Members to 
cosponsor that bill.
  Mr. Speaker, we need to tell Americans that if someone you know needs 
help, they should call 1-800-273-8255 for the National Suicide 
Prevention Lifeline. They can also find more online at www.afsp.org, 
the Web site of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
  It is clear that this is a national crisis. If we saw any other 
disease in this country that had numbers as high as these--1 million 
attempts and 40,000 deaths--we would call upon Americans, the National 
Institutes of Health, and others to take action. Certainly, we would 
call upon Congress to take action. This is demanding our action, for 
every day more and more take their lives from this serious public 
health problem. Let us address this. Let us no longer ignore it. So 
many more lives are at stake.

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