Idaho 7th for suicide
BOISE – The dynamic population growth and migration to urban centers because of a sputtering economy have contributed to Idaho having one of the highest suicide rates in the nation, according to a study.
“When people don’t know each other and they don’t know who to turn to for help, that tends to destabilize social solidarity,” said Boise State University professor Peter Wollheim, the director of Idaho Suicide Prevention Services.
His new analysis of suicide rates, released by Idaho Kids Count today, reinforces the vulnerability of Idaho residents to suicide. The state ranked seventh nationally in suicides overall in 2001 with a rate of 16.4 per 100,000 people. The national rate was 10.8.
The rate was significantly higher in rural areas, especially the northern, southwestern and south-central regions, where the rates were more than 20.
And teenage suicides ranked second nationally at more than 15 per 100,000 teenagers. The national rate was under 6.5.
The economic surge Idaho experienced beginning in the late 1980s attracted hundreds of thousands of people from other states and convinced many Idaho residents to leave struggling rural communities for the cities, where diversification of the state’s economy was under way.
Wollheim said rapid urbanization has had the effect of injecting a substantial number of people into what they see as impersonal cities. It also strips rural communities of human and financial resources they need to remain viable.
The downturn over the past several years only intensified pressure on the social structure.
“Traditional family and community-based support systems are currently under financial and other strains,” the report found. “Population mobility and rapid urbanization may lead to fragmented neighborhoods and the sense of temporary social relationships.”
Wollheim said while Idaho has a high marriage rate, it also has a divorce rate that exceeds the national average, suggesting greater instability for children and adolescents.
“The boom-and-bust economic patterns that distinguish the state’s agriculture, mining and computer industries also place pressures on social stability,” he said.
To its credit, however, Wollheim pointed out that Idaho is among only 21 states with statewide suicide prevention plans. It focuses on developing local community-based programs and increasing public awareness and education of the problem.
But Wollheim agreed it could take years to change some of the most critical factors contributing to Idaho’s high suicide rate – among them the inclination of the state in hard times to pull financial support from mental health and similar programs that often take extended periods of time to prove their worth.
At the same time, he agreed that policy makers have a legitimate concern about the quality of anti-suicide programs because the mental health field “is replete with well-meaning programs that have proven ineffective or even harmful.”