Signs abound that the battered economy is causing serious damage to the mental health and family lives of a growing number of Americans. Requests for therapists have soared, Americans say they’re stressed out, and domestic-violence and suicide hotlines are reporting increased calls. There has been a sharp rise in mental trauma even among those who still have jobs: The demand for therapists surged 40 percent from June to December – driven largely by money-related fears – at ComPsych, which runs the nation’s largest employee-assistance mental-health program, says ComPsych chairman and CEO Richard Chaifetz. Nearly half of Americans said they were more stressed than a year ago, and about one-third rated their stress level as ‘extreme in surveys out in September from the American Psychological Association. That was before the stock-market dive. Meanwhile, financial advisers say they’re finding themselves in a new abnormal ‘normal. John Jones, a financial planner at ComPsych, says he’s referring many more workers to counselors. ‘They start crying. They tell me they’re not eating or sleeping. One even said about his family, ‘They’d be better off without me,’ ‘ Jones says. Many colleagues around the nation are having the same experience, he adds. […]