Utahns and suicide
The latest issue of the Wilson Quarterly hit my desk this morning. In its “Findings” section, “Brief notes of interest on all topics,” it includes an item about thoughts of suicide in Utah, under the clever title, “Risk elevated?” (Get it? The state’s advertising slogan is “Life elevated.”)
Apparently, the state leads in the nation in the percentage of people who think about killing themselves, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Utahns don’t often pull the trigger or swallow the bottle of meds (Alaska leads the nation in suicides). They don’t even make half-hearted gestures toward it very often (tiny Rhode Island leads in attempts). Folks here apparently just like to think about it, or so they say.
This is a serious topic that deserves serious discussion. Such thoughts never should be taken lightly. There are few things more troubling than wondering what one could have done to prevent a loved one from taking his or her life.
I know I’m coming to this story a little late. Local papers such as the Standard-Examiner reported on it last October, as did livescience.com and others. But Wilson emailed a psychologist at Indiana University, South Bend, who offered some possible explanations that, frankly, don’t make much sense.
He noted that the Rocky Mountain region leads the nation (in terms of regions, not individual states) in suicide. This, he said, may be due to 1) greater access to firearms; 2) greater distances to medical facilities and 3) “personalities that might be more rugged and individualistic.”
OK … thanks for the answer. Anyone else in the class like to try?
First, I have no idea why access to firearms would generate thoughts of suicide. You can kill yourself a lot of different ways. Why would the fact you own a gun make you think about killing yourself more than, say, having access to prescriptions or living near mountains with high cliffs?
Second, the psychologist seems to be relying on some sort of stereotype of Utah being a rural place with little access to medical care. In fact, Utah is the sixth most urban state in the nation. This Wikipedia entry notes that 80 percent of Utah’s 2.8 million people live along the Wasatch Front, where medical facilities are prevalent. The rest of the state is mostly empty. Perhaps the rest of the region has little access to medical facilities; not here.
Third, I don’t know about folks here being rugged and individualistic. They seem about the same as urban dwellers I’ve known anywhere. How do you measure such a thing, and why would that make you want to entertain dark thoughts? I thought rugged people were supposed to be, well, rugged.
The Standard-Examiner offered this possible factor: “The University of Utah’s Brain Institute also conducted a study last year that found increased altitudes may play a role in suicide. The study, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry in September 2010, showed the risk was nearly one-third higher, at approximately 6,500 feet.”
Who said Utahns don’t get high? The only problem with this one is that folks here don’t generally carry out those thoughts – at least not to an extent that would lead the nation.
Ultimately, no one seems to have answers. Some in the office here suggest it may have to do with Utah’s high rate of prescription anti-depressant use, which can lead to such thoughts.
Maybe the traits that give Utahns a good reputation are to blame. The Wilson story quotes the executive director of the American Association of Suicidology as saying the survey is, after all, self-reporting, and therefore not terribly reliable.
Perhaps, then, Utahns were done in by their own penchant for honesty, which makes them more upfront when responding to surveys.
Whatever the real reason, it would be good for researchers to find some real answers.