Oregon Public Broadcasting

Mental health professionals are digging into a new review of Oregon’s suicide statistics that came out this month. Most of the reported information is not new but still alarming. 

The state’s average suicide rate has climbed 35 percent higher than the national average, as of 2007.

One of the newer disturbing trends is a  55 percent increase in suicides among women age 45 to 54.  It’s not clear what’s behind that.

Suzanne, who asked that we not use her last name, is 57. She lives in a low-income apartment building in downtown Portland. And she says she’s been struggling with severe depression since she was 14.

A few years later, she started cutting herself. In her adult life she tried to commit suicide several times. She sits at the table in her modest, one-bedroom apartment. Her eyes are steady as she remembers.

Suzanne:  “The day after my 30th birthday I, um, got into a car. I was going down to Florida for a job, and took a bottle of bourbon with me and drank it until I was so drunk I just hoped I would pass out and hit a piling.”

Her car ended up lurching down an exit ramp, saving her. But there were other serious attempts, the worst 7 or 8 years ago, when her husband told Suzanne he was gay and in love with someone else.

She waited until he was away for a weekend to visit a friend, then sat down with some vodka and a collection of pills she’d been hoarding.

Suzanne “I just took like four, five at a time, washed them down so they’d stay down, little bit of vodka. I fell, hit my head twice, on a corner in the bathroom. It was like an abattoir. My husband came home from his weekend and there was blood everywhere. I don’t think he’s ever forgiven me for that.”

Anyone who works in mental health can tell you Oregon’s got a problem with suicide. But the report issued this month is particularly grim – constant increases since the year 2000.

As of 2007, the suicide rate for Oregonians was 15.2 per 100,000 people. That’s 35 percent higher than the national average, 11.3.

Lisa Millet runs the injury and violence prevention program at Oregon’s Public Health Department.

Lisa Millet:  “Suicide was up in every age group, except the 10-24 age group. We continue to have very high suicide rates among men, particularly male veterans and older adult males.”

The largest group of people who take their own lives, by a substantial margin, is men older than 65. Suicide risk rates spike particularly high in men over 85.

But Donna Noonan, who is a youth suicide prevention coordinator for the state, says one causal factor cuts across demographics: loss.

Donna Noonan: “For older people, they might lose their spouse, they lose their mobility, they lose a job, they could lose a pet. Their friends are dying. So they are losing all the things that have kept them productive and alive. The losses add up.”

Many people who take their own lives may never explain what’s going on to a hotline counselor. Once a suicide has happened, the victim may not have family or friends who can talk to police and explain.  Or those who can explain may not know all the facts.

Lisa Millet with Oregon Public Health says one thing is clear to her: most people who kill themselves have an identified mental health issue. And they still face huge barriers to recovery.

Lisa Millet:  “People won’t get help because it’s dangerous for them to get help. We’ve seen that in the military, a lot of people in the military won’t get help because they don’t want to get diagnosed with a depressive state or some other illness that would wash them out. That is the same in the private sector as well.  Many people will pay for medications they take with cash so that it’s not reported to their insurer. They don’t want their employer to know.”

Suzanne, the suicide attempt survivor we met earlier, says things have been different for her since she got on appropriate medication.

It’s hard for her to say what will bring people with suicidal thoughts to overcome their fears about stigma, to come into the fold and get help.

Suzanne: “They have to make the decision themselves, and decide what is it that you want.”

She gestures around the tiny space she shares with a big orange and white tabby.

Suzanne:   “I mean this is not exactly what I had planned for the rest of my life as I was getting older. But I’m sedated sufficiently to be happy with it.”

Another disturbing fact in this month’s report is what it  doesn’t say. Millet says the report only tracks through 2007 – before the recession sent thousands of people reeling into economic turmoil.

Lisa Millet: “We anticipate the rates won’t be getting much better in the near future.”

Tillamook County Sheriff Todd Anderson isn’t surprised by the trend. He says his scenic jurisdiction draws a tragic class of visitors: people who come to the beach to end their lives.

Todd Anderson: “We have a number  of people, it seems like, every year, who come to Neahkanie Mountain, north of Manzanita, and jump from Neahkanie Mountain. We’ve also had people from the metropolitan area come over and drive into the forest and commit suicide.”

In July, Anderson was sorry to find three hangings among his county’s statistics. He says while the sheriff’s department deals with a lot of painful cases, suicides can be among the saddest to investigate.

Todd Anderson “Often times, there aren’t friends or family to tell the direct story. Most often, the individual is by themselves. What we find is suicide is always a question and never an answer.”

Preliminary numbers for 2008, that are still under review,  reflect suicide rates topping 580. The preliminary numbers for 2009 show the state may have broken its record, with more than 620 reported suicides.