In the United States, a person dies by suicide every 11 minutes. In 2022 alone, more than 49,000 people died by suicide.
Suicide is the eleventh leading cause of death in the United States and among the top leading causes of death in Texas.
In 2022, Texas saw more deaths by suicide than any other state with more than 4,300. That number is a 29.7 percent increase compared to 20 years earlier, according to statistics by the Center for Disease Control (CDC).
“It affects every socioeconomic status. It affects every race, every gender, every age,” said Stacy Tidwell.
Tidwell is the regional administrator for Community Healthcore, the leading mental health authority in East Texas.
A 2022 study published by the Texas Department of Health and Human Services said the suicide mortality rate in non-metro areas is about 30-45 percent higher and increasing faster than the rate in metro areas.
Males are three to four times more likely than females to die by suicide, but the rate of death by suicide among females increased 39.5 percent.
Veterans ranked among the highest number of deaths by suicide in Texas than any other category. The percentage of veterans who died by suicide rose 35.6 percent and is twice the overall Texas rate. The largest at risk section is veterans aged 1834.
“Anyone can be in crisis for a number of reasons,” Tidwell said.
However, she added, the top three reasons for suicide attempts are relationships, altered mental state due to drug use and financial.
Tidwell said the top warning signs of crisis are drastic changes in behavior, withdrawing from events and people who give them joy or drastic changes in hygiene.
The following are additional warning signs, according to Texas Health and Human Services: •Talking about wanting to die or taking their own life;
•Talking about feeling empty, hopeless or having no reason to live;
•Talking about feeling trapped or that there are no solutions;
•Feeling unbearable emotional or physical pain;
•Talking about being a burden to others;
•Giving away important possessions;
•Saying goodbye to friends and family;
•Putting affairs in order, such as making a will;
•Taking great risks that could lead to death, such as driving extremely fast; and
•Talking or thinking about death often.
“When it comes to death by suicide, they were in crisis before they made up their plan. Then they’re no longer in crisis because they have a plan. That’s one of the number one signs. If someone has been talking about taking their own life, major depression or other serious mental health diagnosis, and then they get quiet, that’s when you need to worry the most. Because they’ve now come up with a plan and they’re at peace with that plan,” Tidwell said.
If any of the warning signs are visible, Tidwell said, it is important to take the first steps.
“Intervene as quickly as possible. It could save their life. Call us, call somebody. If they’re not comfortable having the conversation with them, find somebody who is,” she said.
Tidwell did say that there is a small percentage of cases deemed “spur-of-the-mo-ment” suicide deaths. But, she added, even then there were warning signs.
“There will always be signs, it’s just do you see those signs or not. If you’re not trained, sometimes you don’t,” she said.
Community Healthcore holds regular free Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training to teach how to handle crisis and non-crisis situations as well as suicidal warning signs.
A Youth MHFA training is scheduled for February 28. A schedule of available training sessions, locations and registration can be found on their Facebook events page.
Community Healthcore also sees patients in need of mental health services.
“I will say, we see ages 30 to 50 on our adult side and ages 5 to 11 on our adolescent side more than any age ranges,” said Tidwell. “I wish we would get more teenagers in.” Teen suicide attempts, she said, are rising. She said some of the reasons are the societal pressures put on teens as well as bullying.
To encourage more teenagers to seek treatment when necessary, Tidwell said it is important to talk about mental health in every household. It is a practice she said she lives by in her own home.
“Mental health is a topic of health in my household … It is a stigma, we encourage to get help,” she said. “I made it normal in my house to talk about. I made it normal in society that it’s a real thing. Not a lot of parents will do that because they feel like failures or they feel like othmucher people are going to think they’re failures or they can handle it at home because it’s a discipline issue … You have to be able to have that open dialog.”
Community Healthcore serves Bowie, Cass, Gregg, Harrison, Marion, Panola, Red River, Rusk and Upshur counties.
Tidwell encourages anyone in crisis to reach out for help.
“We are equipped in every single emergency room in our touchment area to do crisis evaluations. Get to the emergency center. Be honest with them and tell them what’s going on and they will call us in,” she said. For those who cannot get to an emergency center, Tidwell said to call 911, the national suicide hotline at 988 or call Community Healthcore directly at 800832-1009. Calls to the crisis line can also be made on behalf of someone in crisis.
For more information on mental health awareness and suicide prevention, visit communityhealthcore.com or 988lifeline.org.
