[S]tatistics show that Vermont has one of the highest per capita suicide rates in the nation.
The number of Vermonters who have taken their own lives has increased from about 80 a year to more than 100 over the past 15 years, according to statistics from the Vermont Suicide Prevention Center.
“While suicide is increasing nationally, sadly it is increasing at an even higher rate than the national average in Vermont,” said Dr. JoEllen Tarallo-Falk, the center’s director.
At a conference on Thursday in Montpelier, the center unveiled a program to prevent suicide.
According to statistics from 2013, suicides occur in Vermont at a rate of 17.9 per 100,000 people — significantly higher than the national rate of 13 of every 100,000.
The number of suicides in Vermont each year is more than twice the number of traffic fatalities, Tarallo-Falk said. According to Vermont Health Department data, 112 Vermonters died by suicide in 2013; the Vermont State Police reported 46 highway deaths that year.
In an effort to try to raise awareness about suicide prevention, the center launched a new set of suicide prevention recommendations last week for organizations, schools and policymakers.
The center says suicide is a public health problem, and suicide screening, intervention and treatment should be a part of regular health care services.
Much of the initiative involves increasing public knowledge and reducing stigma around suicide and mental health issues.
“We need to establish a system that allows all Vermonters to recognize the warning signs,” Charlie Biss, director of maternal and child health at the Department for Mental Health, said.
The center has recently partnered with the Vermont Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs to boost efforts related to firearm safety, Tarallo-Falk said.
The groups are participating in implementing the Gun Shop Project — an initiative pioneered in New Hampshire that was passed by the Legislature this year. The project uses firearms sellers as a conduit for raising awareness about mental health and suicide prevention.
Chris Bradley, of the Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs, said that supporting the project, for him, was a “no-brainer.”
“We just have to be a little more aware that depression exists,” Bradley said.
Ann Braden, of Gun Sense Vermont, who attended the Vermont Suicide Prevention Center event Thursday, said that her group was “thrilled” to see the Gun Shop Project pass. Braden said she came to the conference because firearms are often the means of suicide in Vermont.
“Restricting the numbers of firearms-related suicides is really important,” Braden said.
The new platform comes as the Vermont Suicide Prevention Center is on track to take a serious financial hit come the end of the year. Federal funding, which supplied some $700,000 of the group’s budget, was not renewed. That will leave the group relying on a $100,000 appropriation from the state.
If no additional funding becomes available, Tarallo-Falk said, the Suicide Prevention Center will be forced to “greatly scale back our work.”
Tarallo-Falk said the group will look to the state and the Agency of Human Services to find money in their budgets to put toward suicide prevention efforts. They will also look for other funding sources and partner with other groups.
Tarallo-Falk emphasized the importance of explicitly earmarking funds to address suicide prevention.
“What we name, we take action on,” Tarallo-Falk told VTDigger.
Guns are not the only problem, she said.
“Our medicine cabinets are a huge issue,” Tarallo-Falk said. “Pharmaceuticals are everywhere. They are potent poisons in many cases.”
Betty Barrett, of Newport, who spoke to reporters at the conference, survived a suicide attempt more than 25 years ago. When she came out of the hospital, she had access to mental health care that helped support her.
Then, several years later, Barrett’s son took his life. “It just tore my heart out of my chest,” she said.
Barrett said that she speaks out about her experiences because she believes that suicide is preventable.
“We have to understand that nobody just gets depressed about nothing,” Barrett said. “There are so many underlying factors.”
