Colorado Springs Named Second Highest In Suicide Rates

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Updated: 10:57 PM Mar 24, 2008 Colorado Springs Named Second Highest In Suicide Rates A report by a national city and county association finds Colorado Springs has the second highest suicide rate in the nation -- second to Las Vegas. Posted: 10:34 AM Mar 23, 2008 Reporter: Mindy Stone Email Address: mstone@kktv11news.com

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A report by a national city and county association finds Colorado Springs has the second highest suicide rate in the nation -- second to Las Vegas.

The report by the National Association of County & City Health Officials examined suicide rates from 2004 in the largest 54 urban areas in the United States. It found that 26 out of every 100,000 people in Colorado Springs killed themselves. The rate in number one Las Vegas was nearly 35 per 100,000.

Tucson, Arizona, was third with a rate of 25 per 100,000.

Health officials aren't sure why the rate is so high. They say depression is a common factor. But, they don't have concrete evidence to support why. So instead, they focus on prevention.

"Alot of times people who are suicidal will hint at the fact that they won't be around for long," said Ali Negal, El Paso County Department of Health and Environment Injury and Prevention Program Specialist.

Negal says knowing to pick up on these signs and immediately getting someone help can prevent tragedy.

Colorado Springs has a suicide prevention hotline. The number is (719) 596-LIFE.

Latest Comments

Posted by: eulan on Jun 11, 2011 at 12:57 AM

I like db's comment. I think cities that have nice people have low suicide rates. I live in Colorado Springs. I've been here for several years. The suicide rate is very high. It's to the point where if you live here long enough, you'll eventually know someone who has thought about committing suicide or you'll know someone who knows someone who has committed suicide. Handling it feels unusual because when people talk about it, sometimes they try to pretend that they don't understand suicide when maybe some of them have thought about it themselves. There are a lot of people here I've met that are very insecure, and who are under a lot of social pressure to just be... people that they aren't. It is commonplace to run into people who are very judgmental and mean. If you don't have that, or you don't look like this, or you don't go to that church, or you don't have these political views, or you don't use those brands, or you don't wear those things, or you don't talk like, walk like, drive like, etc. there will be plenty of people in your daily life who will let you know that they don't respect people who aren't just the way they think people ought to be. It makes people really tired trying to tolerate a city culture that has embraced a daily dosage of meanness. There are a lot of isolated neighborhoods that are isolated from other neighborhoods. Northern city folk tend to stay on the north side of town, western city folk tend to stay on the west side of town etc. Maybe if people were friendlier and more accepting of different kinds of people and not so focused on making differences divisive then people would feel less lonely and not so misunderstood.

Posted by: Jonathan Location: Colorado on Nov 10, 2010 at 07:49 PM

I feel sorry for Jim. He has a lot of misplaced hate and his only resort is to blame everything on liberals.

Posted by: Josie Location: Owings Mills, MD on Nov 2, 2010 at 06:37 AM

I recently visited Colorado Springs. It was my first time there. I thought it was very beautiful. I liked the climate, the mountains, and also the desert feeling. However, I have lived, for short times, in the desert, and it can be very lonely. Probably all of the suggested reasons here contribute to the high suicide rate, in addition to others, like for those who were sexually abused as children, and there is a large percentage of the population who were, and still are. I was sexually abused as a child, so I can tell you, that though I don't think about it every day, it has affected me throughout my life. The actor Gabriel Byrne was also sexually abused as a child, and he was also a heavy drinker at one time, and suffered from depression for many years.

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