(From the Wall Street Journal) The recession and continuing high unemployment are taking a psychological toll on individuals. The number and urgency of calls to employee-assistance programs have risen substantially over the past couple of years, providers say. In particular, there’s been a startling increase in the number of calls regarding violence, psychosis and dementia in the workplace, including calls about suicidal and homicidal threats, program directors say. “All of a sudden the economy tanked and we have had a big jump in the number of calls, and the variety of calls is very different from what we saw a couple of years ago,” says Charles Lattarulo, clinical director of Harris Rothenberg International, a provider of employee and employer assistance programs. Employee assistance programs offer workers and their families access to counselors via a toll-free telephone number or in some cases a Web site. Often, counselors are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to help employees in an emergency. Read more.

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Recession’s Mental Toll