Springs suicide rate is No. 2 among 54 major U.S. cities

No one knows why, but more Colorado Springs residents kill themselves than do residents in all other major U.S. cities but one.

Only Las Vegas has a higher suicide rate among the largest 54 urban areas in the U.S., according to a 2007 report by the National Association of County & City Health Officials. And while Las Vegas and the cities with the third- and fourth-highest suicide rates have the country's highest death rates overall, Colorado Springs is one of the lowest in that category.

The frequency with which people take their own life here is grim recognition for a place more accustomed to rankings about being one of the best cities to live in or home to the fittest people.
Only speculation and hunches seem to get at why suicides are so high.

Area experts suspect the city's unusually high number of suicides might come from a prevalent up-by-the-bootstraps mentality that makes people shy away from seeking help in a time of need. Or, for a community where people often come and go, maybe the depressed simply don't have a watchful neighbor or family member looking after them.

The ranking comes from the 2007 Big Cities Inventory: The Health of Urban America. This edition was the first time the population of Colorado Springs was big enough for the city to be included.

In 2004, the year measured in the report, 121 people died by suicide in El Paso County, according to the El Paso County Department of Health and Environment. That number dropped to 69 in 2006.

It's too early to tell whether the decrease is the beginning of a trend, and it doesn't likely affect the city's standing nationally, said Dr. Bernadette Albanese, the county's medical director who was also part of the report's editorial board.

"I think it's a very significant public health issue," she said of Colorado Springs' ranking, adding that suicide is the seventh-leading cause of death in El Paso County.

The report says about 26 of every 100,000 people killed themselves in 2004 in Colorado Springs. That compared with nearly 35 in Las Vegas, 25 in Tucson, Ariz., and nearly 23 in Sacramento, Calif. Those cities also have the three highest overall mortality rates, while Colorado Springs is No. 33 in that category.

In dozens of other health categories, Colorado Springs appears to be one of the healthier cities. It ranked No. 36 for overall cancer mortality and No. 31 for pneumonia and flu deaths. It was far from the top in other categories, including homicides and death from car crashes and AIDS.

The latest study came as no surprise to area suicide experts, who say Colorado has long ranked high in state-tostate comparisons. And El Paso County's rate is often higher than the rest of the state's. Colorado also ranks high in alcohol and substance abuse, a common factor in suicides.

Basic underlying factors in suicidal behavior are well-established: isolation, untreated depression and alcohol and drug abuse.

Less certain is why those seem to come in larger doses locally.

Davida Hoffman is a social worker and director of the Child and Family Network for Pikes Peak Mental Health. Teens with suicidal tendencies are a regular part of her caseload.

"This is a very mobile community; people come and go here very frequently," she said. "When you don't have the family to help you when times get tough ... most people don't turn to professionals, they turn to their family."

Susan Golden, a co-founder and consultant for the Suicide Prevention Partnership of the Pikes Peak Region, said that isolation is often compounded by an independent mentality that goes with life in the West, one that thinks people can pull themselves or their friends out of clinical depression.

And there's a stigma that comes with depression, said LaRita Archibald, who also helped start the partnership and founded Heartbeat for Survivors, a survivors support group.

"If your family member has cancer there's no embarrassment in that, but some people feel a mental illness is something to be embarrassed (about)," she said.

Ali Nagel, injury and violence prevention program specialist for the county health department, runs the SAFE Teen program, an education campaign offered to local schools. She said teens, a high-risk age group for suicide, don't like to turn to adults - especially a mental health professional.

For Archibald, whose son committed suicide in 1978 at the age of 24, why the city's suicide rate is so high is not the question. It's how do you bring it down.
"We know it's high, so what we focus on is trying to keep people alive," she said. "People don't have to die this way."

The health department, nonprofits and Pikes Peak Mental Health are trying to spread that idea so people might distinguish between a bad day or undiagnosed depression.

Golden characterized the Big Cities ranking as a "dubious distinction." At the same time, it's one she and others hope will bring public awareness to a problem that often exists in the shadows before becoming a statistic.
Not recognizing it as a problem, Nagel said, is a problem.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0198 or bnewsome@gazette.com

SUICIDE PREVENTION

Signs to watch for:

- Depression (crying, insomnia or excessive sleep, appetite loss, hopelessness)

- Isolation from friends; pushing people away; comments that sound final such as "I'm sorry for everything I've ever done"

- Giving away possessions

- Mood swings

- Loss of interest in favorite activities

- Impulsive or aggressive behavior c Alcohol or drug use c Saying "I want to die," or threats of suicide

If you think a family member of friend is considering suicide:

- Act. A - Acknowledge you are seeing signs of suicide and you take it seriously. B - Be open, honest and direct. C - Care. Ask questions, listen and let the person know you are there for him or her.

- Tell a family member or professional, either with the suicidal person or on his or her behalf.

- Don't be afraid to ask whether the person is considering suicide. Typically, a detailed plan indicates greater risk.

- Don't allow the person to be alone at a crisis point. Remove weapons, alcohol and drugs.

- Don't hesitate to seek professional help, and don't be sworn to secrecy.

- Don't dismiss the threat, even if the person brushes it off as a joke.

- Don't act shocked or judgmental.

- Don't tell the person how much better off he or she is than others; it may increase feelings of guilt or worthlessness.

STATISTICS

- Adolescent boys are three to four times more likely than girls to complete suicide, but girls are more likely to be hospitalized for an attempt.

- White men have the highest rates of suicide, particularly men 65 and older.

SOURCES: Suicide Prevention Partnership of the Pikes Peak Region; American Association of Suicidology; El Paso County Department of Health and Environment