In January, Walla Walla County, Washington, recorded five suicides, as many as in all of 2010. Coroner Richard Greenwood and Deputy Allison Barnett were new to the office "and had no idea what could be done to stop the number from climbing higher," Sheila Hagar of the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin reports as part of the newspaper's package on the local suicide outbreak. Greenwood began organizing roundtable discussions with area professionals, county officials and clergy. (MapQuest image)
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention ranks Washington about average the in number of suicides per capita, but Walla Walla County Public Health Department Administrator Harvey Crowder notes the county's rate is 50 percent higher than the rest of the state. Barnett said she was wary about several things when taking the deputy coroner job, but she was "had no idea suicide would be one of them." She explained, "I was blindsided — totally unprepared for it. And we’ve been slammed with it."
Public perception may be that suicides are most prevalent among teenagers, but the recent ones in Walla Walla have been "all over the board. Different ages, different socioeconomics, different methods, different education," said Patty Courson, director of the county’s emergency medical services. In a phenomenon that likely affects many rural areas, local therapist Richard Garcia says part of the problem in rural Washington may be a lack of access to mental health services. (Read more)
You can read the entire Union-Bulletin suicide package here. As part of the package the newspaper explained the ethical concerns in reporting about suicides, noting it usually only reports suicides when they occur in public or the person was a public figure. "Our objective has been -- and always will be -- to keep the public informed," Union-Bulletin editor Rick Doyle writes. "But we also try to do it in a way that does as little additional harm to the survivors as possible." (Read more)
Public perception may be that suicides are most prevalent among teenagers, but the recent ones in Walla Walla have been "all over the board. Different ages, different socioeconomics, different methods, different education," said Patty Courson, director of the county’s emergency medical services. In a phenomenon that likely affects many rural areas, local therapist Richard Garcia says part of the problem in rural Washington may be a lack of access to mental health services. (Read more)
You can read the entire Union-Bulletin suicide package here. As part of the package the newspaper explained the ethical concerns in reporting about suicides, noting it usually only reports suicides when they occur in public or the person was a public figure. "Our objective has been -- and always will be -- to keep the public informed," Union-Bulletin editor Rick Doyle writes. "But we also try to do it in a way that does as little additional harm to the survivors as possible." (Read more)
No comments:
Post a Comment