About 49,500 people took their own lives last year in the U.S., the highest number ever, according to new government data posted Thursday.

  • whats_a_refoogee@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    But that costs money. Selling people pills and self-help books? That makes money.

    I am sorry but this is a ridiculous implication.

    The vast majority of prescribed antidepressants (I’m assuming this is what you mean by pills) are old drugs with long expired patents, which makes them quite cheap. The profit margins have to be pretty low due to competition from generic formulation manufacturers. This is an area that actually could use more investment into R&D.

    Self-help books are usually written by individual authors or small collaborations. It’s profitable but not massive industry. The people profiting from self-help books are not anywhere near to being able to influence people getting homes, job security and work-life balance in either direction.