As the economy remains in the doldrums, the number of calls for help from people contemplating suicide has increased.

There's no telling if suicides are increasing. The statistics won't be available until sometime next year, but suicide hot lines, crisis call centers and 911 dispatch centers all have reported sharp spikes in suicide-related calls.

Experts, including psychiatrists, said there is no one "cause" for increases in suicides, but that economic woes can trigger self-destructive behaviors in people already suffering from depression. It's important that at-risk people share their feelings with others, that friends and family take such feelings seriously and that at-risk people get professional help.

There are many resources available locally and nationally. The Crisis Call Center in Reno gets calls from Nevada and overflow calls from the Western region.

At the center, general assistance (called "basic needs") calls went up 88 percent and calls concerning suicide went up 140 percent in October 2008 as compared with the same month in 2007. There was an average of 316 suicide-rel