Editorial

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Anybody who writes opinion columns needs to grow a thick skin. As a native of New Jersey, AKA “The Insult State,” I come by mine naturally. Personal invective there is an art form. If being called bad names made you cry, you couldn’t drive to the grocery store without your mommy.

So I don’t quite get New York Times columnist Bret Stephens’ wellpublicized hissy fit over a reader likening him to an unpleasant insect. (Although as a frequent recipient of personal abuse and threats from people who find my opinions upsetting, I do understand the impulse.)

In 2017, 720 Louisiana residents died by suicide. That same year, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), over 47,000 Americans died the same way.

These tragic deaths are not rare. In fact, suicide is one of the top 10 causes of death in America and since the mid-2000’s, the national suicide rate has risen by almost 30 percent.