The act of suicide can happen to anyone, any gender, and any age, and Carroll County is not immune to one of the leading causes of death in the United States. United.
In 2020 – the most recent year for which figures are available – there were 582 suicides in Maryland; 18 of them were in Carroll County, the Carroll County Health Department recently reported to the Carroll County Board of Commissioners.
For Carroll County, this is a drop in self-inflicted deaths.
There were at least 26 suicides in Carroll County in 2018, according to the health department — the highest number of such deaths since a seven-year peak of 30 deaths in 2014.
After dropping to 19 suicide deaths in 2015, the numbers had climbed every year. Most suicide deaths in Carroll County have occurred among white men between the ages of 30 and 59.
“As you can see, suicide deaths have declined in Carroll County over the past several years, but there is of course still a great need for initiatives to address mental health and suicide prevention,” said Maggie Kunz, health planner with the Carroll County Health Department. , stated in an email.
Health worker Susan Doyle said in an email that the health department was “pleased” to see suicides dropping.
“The Department of Health has worked with many local and state partners to start or expand services such as Mobile Crisis, Peer Support, Mental Health First Aid, Suicide Prevention Coalition and other initiatives to make our community a safe space where people can reach out for help. and support,” she said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2020 suicide was the 12th leading cause of death in the United States, claiming the lives of more than 45,900 people.
In the United States, there were nearly twice as many suicides (45,979) as homicides (24,576).
In Carroll County, there were 525 emergency room visits involving suicide attempts in fiscal year 2022, according to preliminary county health department data.
According to a youth risk behavior survey of high school students in the 2018-2019 school year, school-aged girls were more likely than boys to “seriously consider” trying to suicide in Carroll County. High school girls were also more likely than boys to report having a suicide plan.
The survey was anonymous and administered to randomly selected high schools and classrooms. Parents and teens were given the opportunity to opt out of the survey.
The results showed that of the 2,380 high school students who responded to the survey, 17.5% of them said they were seriously considering attempting suicide and 14% said they had already a suicide plan in place.
Carroll County Public Schools has a number of programs to address the issue. The student services department has the following programs in place, said Carey Gaddis, school system communications manager:
- All staff receive suicide prevention training.
- Staff attend presentations on suicide prevention from counseling teams at the start of a new school year.
- Suicide Prevention Month is in September. Advisory teams offer activities throughout the month to support learning.
- Health teachers include suicide prevention in their curriculum.
- There is a semi-annual review of suicide prevention at staff meetings.
- May is Mental Health Awareness Month, when schools include suicide prevention activities.
Children, teens and adults with behavioral issues can also seek help from the Carroll County Youth Service Bureau, a nonprofit outpatient mental health clinic that has served the community since 1972.
“One of our longtime community partners is Carroll County Public Schools,” said Bobby Jarrett, director of suicide intervention programs and licensed clinical therapist with the Bureau of Youth Services in an e -mail. “One of CCPS’ oldest initiatives is the Suicide Intervention Program. School counselors or administrators can contact one of our on-call therapists during the school year if they have a student (K-12) who exhibits suicidal or non-suicidal thoughts or behaviors of self-harm.
“Once the level of risk is determined, the therapist conducts a telephone consultation with the student’s parents to determine next steps – ranging from safety planning, resources and psychoeducation for mild risk situations, to same-day emergency assessments for serious or high-risk situations,” he said.
A few years ago, the organization created the Basic Intervention Program to combat suicide and self-harm in young children.
“These cases tend to be lower risk for several reasons, primarily the level of surveillance naturally in place for this age group, as well as the inability to access means,” Jarrett said. “Students (K-5) are still eligible for same-day emergency assessments, the only difference being that we conduct extensive consultations with school counselors and family, to address emotional, behavioral and developmental factors that contribute to suicide reports or non-suicidal self-injurious behaviors.
For more information about the Carroll County Youth Service Bureau, go to https://www.ccysb.org/ or call 410-848-2500 or 1-888-588-8441. The office is located at 59 Kate Wagner Road in Westminster.
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health issues and is considering suicide, call the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, available 24 hours a day.
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