The Franklin County Coroner says suicide statistics for the first three quarters of 2020 show an overall decrease, but increases among the youngest and oldest residents.
Suicides among people aged 25 to 64 has decreased from 76% of 2019's numbers to 53% of the 109 suicides from January to September, 2020. But the percentage of suicides among people under 25 increased dramatically, from 13 to nearly 26%.
Similarly, suicides among residents 65 and above nearly doubled in that time period, from 10.4 to just over 21%. Other demographic markers, like gender and ethnicity, were similar to previous years.
Dr. Anahi Ortiz says the numbers are consistent with a CDC survey last summer that found younger adults as well as adult caregivers, were experiencing more mental health issues, as well as substance abuse and suicidal thoughts. And she warns that experts believe the mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including suicide, "are likely to be present for a long time and peak later than the actual pandemic".
Earlier this month Ohio's U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman announced Ohio will receive significant federal funding for mental health and substance abuse treatment through a measure passed by Congress in December.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded Ohio over $32 million grants for Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics. The state Department of Mental Health and Addiction services also received $2.8 million to provide crisis intervention services, mental and substance use disorder treatment, and other related supports Ohioans affected by the pandemic.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, help is available at the Franklin County Suicide Prevention Hotline at 614-221-5445, the Teen Suicide Prevention Hotline at 614-294-3300, or texting "4hope" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741.
