|
After a marked decline last year to the lowest number in nearly 60 years, the number of suicidal deaths in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, in 2004 increased to 162, an 18% increase from the 133 suicidal deaths in 2003. MHS monitors trends in suicidal deaths because our Mobile Crisis Team provides Cuyahoga County, Ohio, with 24/7 hotline, suicide prevention, and crisis outreach services. The Mobile Crisis Team is an American Association of Suicidology-approved crisis intervention program.
The Cuyahoga County's Coroner's Office released preliminary data to MHS while preparing its 2004 Statistical Report. The bar graph above presents the trend in the annual number of suicidal deaths in the County during the past 26 years. The average number of suicidal deaths during that period was 183. The highest number was 276, recorded in 1979; the lowest was last year's 133. In 2004, the number of suicidal deaths per 100,000 people was 12, up from 9.8 in 2003, but lower than the rate of 12.2 in 2002, and 12.9 in 2001.
Large year-to-year changes in the number of suicidal deaths are not uncommon, as shown in the graph below of the annual percentage change in the number of suicides.
There were 12,501 new requests for services to the Mobile Crisis Team in 2004, or an average of 34 per day. Of those, 3,767 (an average of 10 per day) were because of depression or concerns about suicide. Members of our staff work with the Cuyahoga County Community Mental Health Board to implement the County's suicide prevention plan. MHS has also established collaborative service protocols with many of the community mental health centers, hospitals, and other providers of healthcare and supportive services that help those in suicidal crisis.
|
