Suicide Rates in NH - One of the Highest Rates in the Country

Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. In 2017, there were 47,173 American deaths by suicide, and over 1 million attempts. The state of New Hampshire has the second highest suicide rate in New England, and the 19th highest suicide rate in the United States.

According to the CDC, there were 244 suicides in New Hampshire in 2016, meaning the suicide rate is 17.2 per 100,000 residents. The suicide rate in New Hampshire has been shockingly increasing in recent years, climbing from 13.6 per 100,000 residents in 2008, to 19 per 100,000 residents in 2017. It has become the second leading cause of death for residents aged 15-34 in the state of New Hampshire. These numbers are scary. Why is it that the rates in New Hampshire are increasing, when the national average is not?

The suicide rates may be increasing simply because mental illnesses are not being treated. There is significantly less funding provided for inpatient care, as I talked about in my last post, causing higher rates of mentally ill patients to not be treated. This leads often to imprisonment, homelessness, or suicide. However, the CDC suggests that there may be underlying circumstances, like financial issues, that have caused an increase in suicides.

So let’s talk some numbers. Overall, New Hampshire’s poverty rate is 7.7%. This is the percentage of people who had incomes lower than $24,860 for a family of four annually. Of these families, 9.8% of children under the age of 18 are related to families who have an income below the poverty line. Living in constant poverty can cause many stressors due to food insecurity, housing insecurity, income insecurity, etc. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, stressors as such can cause mental health and substance abuse problems for parents, in turn leading to child abuse or neglect. This neglect and abuse can create mental health problems for the children, leading to depression, which, when left untreated, can lead to suicide.

In New Hampshire, there is a large lack of community support systems, and residents of any age have trouble finding a place to go when these stressors start causing a major impact on their day-to-day life. In 2017, New Hampshire state Suicide Prevention Council (SPC) worked with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and the Youth Suicide Prevention Assembly (YSPA) to create a state-wide Suicide Prevention Plan. This plan includes increased funding, as well as an increase in community support groups, which have been found to significantly aid people struggling with mental illnesses like anxiety or depression. The hopes of this plan is to decrease the rate of suicide in the state, and to raise awareness on the necessary funding and education needed to do so.