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Fairfield County Suicide Rates Hit 20-Year High

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – No matter where the blame goes – the bad economy, deep depression or staggering social pressures – suicides in Fairfield County are at a 20-year high, according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for Connecticut.

At a rate of more than one per day, 371 suicides were reported in Connecticut in 2011. It was the most cases reported since 1991, when the office recorded 362 suicides in the state.

“Reading about these statistics, it seems alarming to me,” says Julia Turner, who chairs the board of directors at the Southern Connecticut Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. “I feel we’ve been hearing a lot about our neighbors [committing suicide] in the last year.”

Fairfield County saw the third-highest suicide rate statewide last year, with 64 out of a population of 918,714, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. New Haven County had the most, with 99 suicides reported out of 862,989 people, followed by Hartford County, with 87 suicides out of 894,478. 

Looking nationwide, however, Connecticut was ranked 47th out of all states in 2009, at a rate of nine per 100,000. Though Connecticut may be low in completed suicides, it had the second-highest rate of reported suicide attempts in the nation, according to a report released in October by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

During this time, 1 percent of Connecticut residents surveyed said they had attempted suicide, compared with the national average of .5 percent. The highest rate – 1.5 percent – was in Rhode Island.

“We are living in a part of the country that’s more stressful, faster-paced and with high expectations,” said Stephanie Haen, director of behavioral health for Family Centers of Greenwich, an organization that looks at suicide from a preventative angle. “The folks who lost their jobs and stocks in 2008, and now may be in that second wave where they’ve blown through their savings and still can’t find a job, are dealing with long-term depression and anxiety that definitely contributes to the rate of suicide.”

Those who attempted suicide accounted for 1.3 percent of the total female population and.6 percent of males in Connecticut during 2008 and 2009, the study said. In addition, 3 percent of Hispanic responders, .3 percent of black residents and .8 of white people admitted to trying suicide. 

About two-thirds of people who commit suicide are depressed at the time, according to the American Association of Suicidology. Nationwide, 16.1 percent of adults have been diagnosed with depression at some point in their lives. Turner says the AFSP is working to “destigmatize” conversations about depression and other mental health disorders, as part of its suicide prevention programs.

“We’re trying to get our neighbors, the members of our community, to be more open to the discussion of depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses,” Turner says, “so that people aren’t afraid to get help, in order to make themselves feel better, so that they ultimately don’t go down that road.”

The Southern Connecticut Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention runs many programs in the Fairfield area to deal with the issue. It holds fundraisers for scientific research into the causes of suicide and advocates for public policies to enact prevention programs.

The organization also works in schools and community groups, raising awareness of mental health issues and providing grief counseling for communities affected by suicides. For example, following the death of Fairfield Prep student Bradley Helt, the group ran seminars at local churches and schools unsure of how to deal with the loss.

“It’s a matter of people reaching out and asking for help,” Turner says. “But you can’t make a person pay attention to you. A lot of our work, unfortunately, comes after a loss.”

The state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services also offers many suicide prevention and counseling services, including crisis intervention, family counseling and in-school prevention programs. To find out about the state’s services, call the state’s Infoline at 211.

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