Suicide is on the rise in Utah and the TriCounty Health District is among the highest in the state. TriCounty Health Director Jordan Mathis attended the Uintah County Commission meeting on Monday, stating that it’s time to create an open dialogue around this issue in the community as a whole. The state of Utah has the 5th highest rate of suicide in the nation and TriCounty Health District is the second highest in Utah. Nationally, suicide is trending upward but Utah is trending upward at a much higher rate and the data is based on ages 10 and up. Also alarming is that the intermountain west is considered the nation’s suicide belt. People are more successful in their attempts here, says Mathis, with firearms listed as the most common means. Perhaps most disturbing is the data that shows that since 2016, suicide is the leading cause of death in children ages 10 to 17 in Utah. Data collected primarily in grades 8, 10, and 12 in the school districts reports that 16.6 percent of Utah students had seriously considered suicide in the last 12 months. 13.5 percent of Utah students made suicide plans and 7.6 percent reported attempting suicide in the last 12 months. “We’re never going to be able to address this if we sweep it under the rug,” stated Mathis. “Every single person in our community can become a preventative factor for suicide in our community…Every person can become a preventative factor…If we don’t talk about it, don’t look to address it, we are going to continue to have the same issues we have.” TriCounty Health is holding a presentation and discussion on this growing issue
on September 27th at 6:00pm
at the TriCounty Health Vernal location.
