About one million people (in US) attempt suicide a year and cost the nation $500 billion. How is this cost calculated and why is this figure so high ($500,000) for each attempt?

Question

About one million people (in US) attempt suicide a year and cost the nation $500 billion. How is this cost calculated and why is this figure so high ($500,000) for each attempt?

In: 221

Answer 1

Everyone’s gotta get paid, everything costs.

Suicides, by nature, are destructive acts. Bringing someone back from the brink requires a lot work and time to put the pieces back together. First responders, doctors, nurses, all their time, all the things they use, all the space the hospital devotes, the resources it takes just to have a hospital available, it all costs, and they’re all going to do *their goddamned best* to undo whatever damage has been done.

And they all deserve to get paid more than fairly for it. It all costs, everyone gets paid.