By Patricia Breakey
Delaware County has the highest rate of suicide of any county in the state, ranking 670th out of 3,102 counties nationwide, according to Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics gathered over a 27-year period.
"I have always thought, anecdotally, that we have a high number of suicides compared to our small population, but I didn't think it was that high," said Bonnie Hamilton, Delaware County's public health director.
The CDC numbers show there were 76 suicides from 1979 through 2006, placing the average rate per 100,000 at 15.4. The highest number of suicides was recorded in 1987, when there were 13; a second peak occurred in 2004, when 11 suicides were reported.
The county's total population was 46,085 in 2008, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
Patricia Thomson, Delaware County's mental health director, said she was not aware that long-term statistics indicated such a high suicide rate.
Hamilton said she has been tracking the causes of death in the county during the last few years and the number of suicides has increased, with three recorded in 2006, five in 2007 and seven in 2008.
However, Hamilton said statistics for 2006 to 2008 indicate that the local suicide rate was 7.3 per 100,000, which is not significantly higher than the state average of 6.7 per capita.
Hamilton said a suicide coalition formed in the county in the mid- to late 1990s after several teen suicides. The coalition has since disbanded.
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Glenn Liebman, chief executive officer of the Mental Health Association in New York State, said the county has several indicators of suicide risk that may account for the high numbers.
"The economic downturn has had a real impact and has created a mental health crisis," Liebman said. "Suicide prevention calls have increased dramatically."
Liebman said the rural nature of Delaware County, combined with the aging population, can increase the risk of suicide.
"I wouldn't rule out weather as a factor, either," Liebman said.
Mary Jean Coleman, director of field programs for the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention, said rural agricultural areas tend to have higher suicide rates that relate to people living in more isolated circumstances with limited access to services.
Debra Graham, AFSP's Central New York Chapter chairwoman, said the prevalence of guns in Delaware County may be a factor because firearms are the most common method of suicide.
Suicide-risk factors such as depression, worries about the economy and alcohol use are heightened in rural areas by social isolation, lack of mental health care and the easy availability of guns, Graham said.
According to the NIMH website, firearms are used in suicides by males 56 percent of the time and 31 percent by females. Suffocation and poison are the other leading methods of death.
Graham said every 16 minutes, someone in the United States dies by suicide.
"In a rural area, there is probably a high rate of stigma attached to suicide," Graham said. "It's one of the reasons people don't reach out for help."
Coleman said 90 percent of suicides are associated with psychiatric disorders which often have hereditary components, so survivors of suicide have a higher rate of suicide themselves.
"Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem," Graham said. "People just don't understand that it's not a character flaw and it's not a weakness," she said.
"People who commit suicide have a mental health disease. It's not any different than any other disease like diabetes or cancer, that if left untreated will lead to death," Graham said.
Delaware County's population ranks second statewide for having the largest proportion of senior citizens.
Older Americans are disproportionately likely to die by suicide, Coleman said.
Elderly white men are at the highest risk of suicide, he said.
Hamilton said New York state as a whole ranks very low for suicides, coming in at 49th nationally out of 51, including the District of Columbia.
National Institute of Mental Health figures indicate suicide was the seventh leading cause of death for males and the 16th leading cause of death for females in 2006. Of every 100,000 people age 65 or older, 14.2 died by suicide in 2006. This figure is higher than the national average of 10.9 suicides per 100,000 people in the general population.
State Department of Health statistics indicate that in both 1996 and 2006, when Delaware County sustained devastating flooding, the suicide rates declined.
Graham said in times of disaster, people often pull together and reach out to help one another, resulting in fewer suicides.
Saturday is National Survivors of Suicide Day. For more information, visit the AFSP website at www.afsp.org/survivorday.
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Patricia Breakey can be reached at 746-2894 or at stardelhi@stny.rr.com.
