The mural on the back wall of Mosaic House in the 500 block of Franklin Street shines in the darkness, offering hope. (Bill Urich – Leading Eagle)
81 people will die by suicide in Berks County in 2023, the highest number of suicides in more than a decade and a 22% increase from the previous year.
There were 21 more suicides last year than in 2022, when the number of suicides dropped to 60 after spiking in 2021, according to numbers provided by the Berks County Coroner's Office.
The 2023 total of 81 suicides is matched only by the 2021 total of 77 suicides during the past decade as the nation emerged from the coronavirus pandemic.
And throughout the first month of this year, suicide rates have only gotten worse. The Berks Coroner's Office recorded 12 suicides in January, an impressive number for a single month, Chief Deputy Coroner George Holmes said.
Officials say this reflects national statistics that show suicides are predominantly white, middle-aged men.
In Berks, 69 people, or 85% of suicides in 2023, were men.
After an independent review of individual cases, Holmes concludes that most people who die by suicide have no support system. Many suffered from alcoholism or addiction to other substances, which contributed to their isolation, he said.
“As they become more isolated, they become more at risk of self-harm,” Holmes said.
Only a third of suicides in Berks last year involved married people. Approximately two-thirds of the people who died by suicide in 2023 were unmarried (6 cases), divorced (14 cases), separated (1 case), or widowed (5 cases).
There is often a triggering life event or situation, such as the death of a loved one, divorce, diagnosis of a terminal illness, impending loss of independent living, or the anniversary of the death of a parent or child.
“We're seeing a lot of suicides, so we're saying something unexpected is happening,” Holmes said.
Almost 50% of Berks' suicide victims last year were over 50 years old.
The largest age group was 50-69 years old, accounting for one third of all cases with 27 cases, followed by 30-49 years old with 24 cases, accounting for 29.6% of all suicide deaths.
There were 14 suicides among people over 70, accounting for 17.3% of the total. Experts say many suicides among the elderly are due to co-occurring health problems.
Nine people aged 21 to 29 committed suicide, accounting for 11.1% of the total, and seven people aged 13 to 20 committed suicide, accounting for 13.6% of the total.
review committee
Late last year, the Berks County Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Program, which oversees publicly funded mental health and substance abuse treatment services, established a Chemical Abuse Council and a Death Investigation Board to further investigate the cause of the suicide.
Pam Seaman, Berks County MH/DD Program Administrator, said, “As you look at the data, over time, you see that white males are actually the highest statistic.'' Deaf,” he said. “But what about in such a situation?”
The committee examines data and considers specific cases to see if there are any missed opportunities to help victims with depression, substance abuse or other problems. However, due to the large number of suicides, there is no information that can lead to answers.
“You don't always know,” Seaman said. “You can't connect the dots or put pieces together because you don't always have all the information. You don't necessarily have information from your family and friends and other people. .”
Once the team has information about a confirmed suicide, members can look back in time to see, for example, whether the person had been in contact with the county's emergency management team or engaged in services supported by Medicaid funds. I'm trying to find out what. Provided to providers by county mental health programs.
Perhaps, based on what the committee learned, they were not.
“But we don't know if they were connected to services elsewhere,” Seaman said.
OK?
Suicide isn't just a Birks problem. This is a national problem, officials say.
“I think there's still a lot of stigma around mental health in general and men in particular,” said Wendy K. Seidel, executive director of the Greater Leading Mental Health Alliance, 1234 Penn Ave., Wyomissing. ” he said. “They're the ones who when you ask them, 'How are you doing?' they say, 'It's okay, it's okay.' They are having fun in the soccer game, but they are the ones who are suffering. ”
Removing the stigma surrounding mental illness and suicide is a focus through the Berks County Suicide Prevention Task Force's ruOK? motion.
The task force was established in 2015 and is made up of community members who believe that suicide prevention is everyone's job.
The group conducts awareness campaigns in a variety of public venues, including a “Breaking the Stigma” event each spring at a Reading Phillies game at FirstEnergy Stadium. This year's event will be held on June 4th.
“We're participating in 'Out of Darkness' walks and health fairs to try to get supplies to people,” said Michele Ruano, deputy administrator for the county's MH/DD program, who is leading the task force. Weber said. “Anyone can be a member of the task force.”
For more information on how to participate, visit ruokberks.com.
The task force promotes ruOK? Logo and website placed on park benches in county park system. Since the task force was formed, six benches have been installed on recreational trails in the Grings Mill Recreation Center area and along Tulpehocken Creek in Spring Township.
Also commissioned was the “Hope” mural that adorns the exterior of the Threshold Rehabilitation Services Mosaic House building in the 500 block of Franklin Street.
The task force asked Schott Productions to produce a suicide awareness film aimed at a specific group of people. The movie will be screened at Goggle Works and some other workplaces.
Nationally, those most at risk for suicide are white middle-aged men, older adults with co-existing medical conditions, and young adults, Ruano-Weber said.
The role of the pandemic
The number of suicides has fluctuated from year to year for more than a decade, but overall has increased. From 2017 to 2023, the average number of suicides per year was just over 67, with 2020 being the only year that it fell below 60.
By comparison, the annual average total from 2010 to 2016 was 63.7, with four years below 60, but the average was skewed by one year, 2013, when there were 83 suicides.
The pandemic has certainly contributed to high suicide rates, and remote work has made people suffering from depression and anxiety even more isolated, mental health officials say. Many turned to drug use as a way to cope.
And the beginning and end of the pandemic were not clearly defined, they said.
“Another concern is that we don't know how many people actually tried to die but didn't,” Ruano-Weber said.
Method
One factor in the data that cannot be ignored is guns.
Firearms were used in 50 of the suicides in Birks in 2023, or about 62%, with hanging being the next most common method used, accounting for about 20% of deaths.
Six people died from ingesting drugs, three others from ingesting chemicals, and two each from suffocation or jumping from high-rise structures. There was one suicide by train and one suicide by knife.
“The most lethal method is access to a firearm,” Ruano-Weber said. “And depending on who you talk to, that can be a political issue. But when you use a firearm, there's no going back and it's almost always lethal.”
be proactive
Seaman said officials want to focus more resources on proactive measures on the front end, as well as looking for answers on the back end. She says mental health treatment is often too reactive.
People who work or volunteer in non-clinical roles can play an important role in prevention by encouraging people suffering from hopelessness and hopelessness to seek help.
The task force is rolling out a training program called QPR (Question-Persuade-Refer) for groups of paraprofessionals such as hairdressers and coaches.
This training equips those who work closely with the public with the skills to explore the nature of their suffering and persuade them to seek help.
“The most important thing is to refer,” Ruano-Weber said. “Knowing what resources are available in the community.”
QPR training sessions are 1-2 hours long and can be conducted remotely.
In addition to prevention, Berks mental health officials are focusing resources on “post-prevention,” which provides immediate support to the victim's family and loved ones at the scene of the suicide, if possible.
The Greater Reading Mental Health Alliance partnered with Berks County MH/DD and the Suicide Prevention Task Force to launch LOSS (Local Support for Suicide Survivors) in July.
The team, two years in the making in Berks, is one of more than 40 active LOSS teams in 15 states and several countries.
In the LOSS model, a team of volunteers (ideally one of whom has experienced loss by suicide) contacts newly bereaved families and provides support and referral information.
Goals include promoting healing and support for individuals affected by suicide and reducing the negative effects of exposure to suicide. For information about the team and how to get introduced, please visit grmha.org/.
“We have packets of information that we take to them,” said Seidel of the Mental Health Alliance. “Right now, with two volunteers, we are trying to get in touch with someone within 48 hours of receiving a referral.”
People who have lost loved ones to suicide need to know they can talk to others who have experienced similar losses, she says. A group of suicide survivors meets monthly in Wyomissing.
“Suicide still has a stigma, and survivors often lose their natural support systems,” Seidel says. “When you run into your neighbors at the grocery store and they realize your son died by suicide, they turn their cart around and walk in the opposite direction.
“Loss through suicide is a very complex grief.”
Help available
crisis intervention hotline
• Phone: 610-379-2007 or toll free 1-888-219-3910
• Text message: 484-816-7865 (RUOK)
