Encouraging signs on a long road

With September as National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, it’s a good time to take stock of the efforts made toward addressing the issue statewide and locally, including the progress made.

Wyoming’s standing among the nation at large when it comes to suicide rates has long reached a point of notoriety.

The state is routinely at or near the highest rate in the country and often at a figure approaching twice the national average.

The simplicity of naming statistics and dreading the implications has become well-trodden territory. But there are now signs of hope that trend may change.

WyoFile reported this week, based on unofficial but sound calculations, that Wyoming’s suicide rate may fall from the top. After carrying the nation’s highest suicide rate since 2018, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Wyoming’s rate may have dropped to 26.66 suicide deaths per 100,000 residents, nearly tied with Alaska for second and even further behind Montana, whose rate WyoFile measured as the highest.

All three of those states stayed near the top but fell below the threshold of 30 per 100,000, which they had been at or above last year.

As good as that news is statewide, the broader trend may not have applied locally. The count in Campbell County reached a new high in 2022, with access to guns and a strong correlation with alcohol use as contributing factors, as they are statewide.

The often hidden, and inherently abstract, nature of suicidal ideation makes it a difficult issue to conceptualize, let alone combat. Any tangible data help.

There’s no clear connecting line to draw and it can be hazy when speculating on causes and effects. But statewide and locally, there’s been a clear effort toward raising awareness — and more open dialogue — about the topic.

Now there’s at least some evidence correlating positive results to those increased endeavors.

As important as it is to seek more information, and follow up with the official data when available, it’s equally important to continue the push toward prevention and awareness that’s already gaining momentum.

Locally, there’s been a push to teach QPR — question, persuade, refer — training to community members who can then apply a layer of defense when encountering others struggling in their own lives. There also have been mobile crisis response teams starting to come together, organized through the local suicide prevention coalition, with the goal of having trained response teams ready for a call into action when needed.

Statewide, the Wyoming 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline has shown to draw callers, and appears to be making a difference in establishing a baseline resort when crisis strikes. Though the lack of stronger funding support from lawmakers to keep the line up in perpetuity remains disappointing.

There’s often a lot of noise in numbers and improving from the highest to third-highest rate in the country still leaves a lot of room to do better. But it’s a promising sign nonetheless, on what’s a long road to addressing an issue we’ve all felt the impact of in our state and community.