Suicide rates spike in Elkhart and St. Joseph counties

Jan. 10--ELKHART -- The Elkhart County coroner is concerned about a recent spike in suicides in the county.

Coroner James Elliott says there were 27 suicides in Elkhart County in 2015. The previous recorded high was 19 in 2013.

Elkhart County's per capita suicide rate for 2015 was 13.6 per 100,000 residents -- just below the state average for 2013, the most recent year for which the figure is available -- and significantly below that in St. Joseph County.

In St. Joseph County, 45 suicides, or 16.8 per 1000,000 residents, were recorded last year, says county Coroner Randy Magdalinski. Magdalinski and Marie Blunt, head of the St. Joseph County Suicide Prevention center, both say they are concerned and working to understand why the county's rate is higher than the state's.

The most recent year for which annual suicide numbers were available to The Tribune, as of Friday afternoon, for LaPorte and Marshall counties was 2013. LaPorte recorded 20 suicides that year and Marshall County recorded five. LaPorte County Coroner John Sullivan says the annual number for his county has remained about the same for a decade.

In St. Joseph County, Magdalinski says factors vary from economic distress to depression, to mental illness and terminal illness. And mental health specialists, including those in St. Joseph County, are increasingly turning their attention to intervention programs, says Blunt

The rate of Americans who died by their own hands has risen steadily this century, a period marked by war, terrorist attacks and the Great Recession, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Elkhart authorities say that the trauma their residents experienced when the county in 2009 registered the nation's highest rate of unemployment -- and in the economic recovery -- continues to take a toll.

Elliott says that coroners record the manner and cause of death, but there is plenty that they do not know about the victims of suicide, such as what brings them to their desperate act. Magdalinski agrees, saying that a note left behind can provide a great deal of evidence about the person's situation, but many suicide victims do not leave notes.

Both Elkhart and St. Joseph county mental health workers, however, say they are seeing the highest levels of stress among middle-age residents with a high school education or less. Often, they are struggling to make ends meet, while also dealing with issues such as chronic pain, substance abuse and depression.

Nationally, middle-age people have the highest suicide rate, according to the CDC. Elliott says, however, only three of the county's 27 suicide victims were in the ages 45 to 54 demographic, while the majority of the county's suicide victims were between the ages of 20 and 40. Stress, along with the lack of mental health services for people affect those who are at risk of suicide regardless of age, Elkhart authorities say.

Joel McArthur, a licensed mental health counselor of the McArthur Counseling Center in Elkhart, says, "People are expressing more feelings of apathy toward their lives improving." They are not only struggling to find jobs, but those with jobs are experiencing long hours at work and other work stresses.

"Usually it's hitting them all at once and that is creating a feeling of hopelessness," says Katharine Schrock, a licensed clinical social worker and owner of Katharine Schrock Counseling, Goshen. "As they become more isolated and they don't have anyone to reach out to and people aren't reaching out to them I feel like they may become more suicidal."

"Emotionally, they can't handle the stress, and this leads them to abusing alcohol, opiates and stimulants," McArthur added.

Barb Welty, member and spokeswoman of the Elkhart County Suicide Prevention Coalition, likens life to a glass being filled with drops of water. The water represents both good and bad things in a person's life, and it's not clear what drop will cause an overflow.

Welty agrees with Schrock's observation that factors such as the stigma surrounding mental health and suicide, along with the difficulty in finding mental health services, remain barriers to those needing help.

"On average, someone experiencing a mental health crisis (takes) an average of 10 years before they get help," she said. And the delay makes it more difficult to address a looming crisis, the counselors agree.

Blunt adds, "It is very difficult to get an appointment with a psychiatrist because there is a psychiatrist shortage in South Bend."

But the mental health advocates say, the public needs to be made aware of that even though resources are stretched, they are available, and family members and friends should be trained to recognize when someone is in crisis.

"If people are isolating themselves or are depressed or more depressed than normal or if they are depressed when they are not normally depressed, it might be a good idea to talk to them and get them some further assistance," Elliott says.

Mental illness and depression can be treated if they are appropriately addressed, and that will pay dividends beyond decreasing the suicide rate, says Blunt.

"If people are properly cared for, they will become taxpayers because many of these mental illnesses are treatable," Blunt says.

According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, more than 41,000 Americans died at their own hands in 2013, which is the most recent year in which the CDC had complete data available.

The National Institute of Mental Health says the risk factors for suicide include:

--Depression

--Mental illness

--Substance abuse

--Previous suicide attempts

--A family history of mental illness or suicide

--A family history of violence

--Incarceration

--The presence of firearms in the home

Although members of all demographic groups can be at risk, says the CDC, men are more likely to commit suicide than women, although women are more likely to attempt to kill themselves. Whites have the highest suicide rates, followed by Native Americans and Alaskan natives, while blacks and Hispanics have the lowest suicide rates.

A recent Princeton University study linked the rising mortality rates among whites between the ages of 45 and 54 to suicide, as well as illnesses related to alcoholism and drug abuse.

"I am seeing more middle-age and older adults (who) feel that the best part of their life is over," McArthur says. "They lost a good job, and are stuck working another job for minimum wage and they feel helpless to improve their situation."

Blunt and Welty say their agencies offer programs aimed at encouraging people to talk about a topic that is still considered taboo. Welty said that the coalition will focus on encouraging people to talk about issues surrounding mental illness, stress, suicide and suicide prevention. "We have to address the stigma that does not exist ... with physical injuries and illness," Welty said.

hdukes@sbtinfo.com

574-235-6369

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