
Scientists Say Lithium Should Be Added to Drinking Water to Prevent Suicides - AndrewBissell
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/akzyeb/link-between-lithium-in-drinking-water-suicide-study
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vanusa
The article describes an apparent positive correlation between _naturally
occurring_ lithium in drinking water and lower suicide rates.

Nowhere does it say that Li "should be added" to drinking water supplies to
achieve these lower rates.

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t4skf0rc3
We Happy Few

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jfengel
The idea has been around for a while[1]. I'm a bit surprised that there isn't
a major supplement market. It exists, but I don't see a major brand of
lithium-added bottled water.

[1] [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/14/opinion/sunday/should-
we-...](https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/14/opinion/sunday/should-we-all-take-
a-bit-of-lithium.html)

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eesmith
You ain't kidding about "for a while". A Google Scholar search found "Pure
Water for Drinking: A Review of Essential and Toxic Metals in Health and
Disease" from 1983 which says:

> Dawson at the University of Texas has found that admissions to state mental
> hospitals and homicide and suicide rates correlated inversely with the
> lithium content of drinking water (40). He espouses the extremely
> controversial view that it be added to the drinking water up to the level of
> that occurring naturally in other waters with a high lithium content.

(40) is: DAWSON, E. B., FIEVE, R. and SHEARD, M. L.: Shall We Add Lithium to
Drinking Water? In Water, Its Effects on Life Quality. Proceedings Seventh
Water Quality Symposium 47-52, 1974.

Google Scholar says 3 sources cite it, but that it's only known via a
citation.

