March 25th, 2010

Reports the Times-Tribune:

It may be a subtle choice over time, or so sudden it leaves families with tainted memories of loved ones who have taken their own lives.

Following a recent health study of Wayne and Pike county residents that identified high suicide rates compared to other rural counties in the state, two local residents want to open the discussion by forming a support group this year to address the issue head on. It will be the first of its kind in the area.

…

Jack Dennis, who manages grants and development for Wayne Memorial Hospital, which commissioned the $65,000 two-year study by HMS Associates of Buffalo, said the findings of high suicide rates in Wayne and Pike counties were a big surprise.

“It was an eye-opener,” Mr. Dennis said. “We really had no idea. It just kind of came out of the woodwork.”

Culling statistics from government agencies and from interviews, the study found that at least 17 of 915 deaths in Pike County in 2004 were suicides. In Wayne County, 26 of 1,169 deaths that year were attributed to suicide.

These rates are much higher than suicide rates in other rural counties when comparing the number of suicides per number of residents. Wayne and Pike’ s suicide rates, for example, rank in the bottom 20 percent out of 48 rural Pennsylvania counties included in the study.

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