Health, Science, Environment

On today’s Your Call, we’ll have a conversation about the underlying factors of suicide. According to the Centers for Disease Control, every year, more than 38,000 Americans take their own lives. Suicide rates among middle-aged Americans have risen sharply in the past decade. What explains this? What are the warning signs and what can be done to prevent suicide? Join the conversation and call in with your questions on the next Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:

Courtney Brown, hotline coordinator for the San Francisco Suicide Prevention Hotline

The audio for this story is temporarily unavailable.

Miguel Garcia has tears in his eyes while he’s singing a an old Righteous Brothers tune. This song brings back memories. He’s wearing a red Manchester United jersey, navy blue track pants and bright green flip flops.  Sixty one year old Garcia is  used to having a microphone in front of him, so he begins belting out a medley of his favorite songs. He says that his past was at times, well, unhealthy.

You’ve probably heard the Super Bowl pot jokes (“We’re going to have a smokin’ bowl this year”), because the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks are both from America’s only states where recreational marijuana is available (although New York and New Jersey are hosting the game.) It’s mildly funny, and author Clint Werner, author of “Marijuana: Gateway to Health,” sees value in the joking.

Betsy. Buttercup. Bambi. Those are not Disney characters but three of the eight female bison that live at the bison paddock in Golden Gate Park. Sarah King, the primary bison keeper, introduces me to them one afternoon. She works with fellow hoofstock fan, Jim Nappi, Curator of Hoofstock and Marsupials at the San Francisco Zoo. Nappi says he and King share a love for bison.