INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Partnership to Prevent Firearm Violence announced today the U. S. Surgeon General’s report on suicide highlights the need to intensify efforts to heighten the public’s awareness about the risk factors linked to suicide, and reduce the stigma associated with mental illness.

Each year, 30,000 Americans take their own lives, and suicide is now the eighth leading cause of death in the United States.

According to U. S. Surgeon General David Satcher’s report released recently, suicide is a serious public health problem and claims more American lives that homicide. The Surgeon General’s “call to action” recommends that each state adopt a suicide prevention plan.

To combat this problem, the Partnership has teamed up with a number of statewide public health groups to form a suicide coalition. The coalition will:

* Distribute information and education about the risk factors associated with suicide.

* Recommend removal of all lethal weapons, including firearms from the home if a family member is depressed.

* Disseminate information to the public about what communities can do to protect their loved ones, such as developing strong social support networks, and providing better access to clinical interventions.

* Develop and implement strategies to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness, substance abuse, and suicide.

“It is so important for citizens to know that suicide affects a broad range of people throughout the state, and we need to work together to bring these numbers down,” said Marilyn Bull, M.D., medical director of the Indiana Partnership to Prevent Firearm Violence.

In Indiana, suicide has become a public health epidemic. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Indiana’s suicide rate is higher than the national average. During the period from 1996-1998, the rate of suicide for Hoosiers was 12.25 per 100,000—making it the second highest rate in the Midwest. Suicide is the ninth leading cause of death for Indiana residents. Kentucky had the highest rate of suicide in the Midwest, or 12.74 per 100,000.

According to the CDC, from 1990-98, over 400 suicides in Indiana were completed each year with a firearm and three out of five involved a firearm. In 1999, suicide or 10.44 per 100,000 claimed 621 Hoosier lives. The objective from the Healthy People 2010 Report is 5.0 per 100,000.

Some other startling facts about suicide in Indiana include:

* Suicide is the third leading cause of death for young people ages 15-24.

* During 1996-1998, white males accounted for 77 % of all suicides.

* Nearly three out of five suicides from 1996-1998 (63%) were committed with a firearm.

* 83% of all firearm suicides were committed by white men.

* From 1994-1998, for black males ages 15-24, the suicide rate rose from 15.18 to 37.19 per 100,000.

“The trend among African American male suicides is alarming,” said Virginia A. Caine, M.D., director of the Marion County Health Department. “Suicide is preventable and we are collaborating with the Partnership and a variety of agencies to address this ever growing problem among all races.”

“There are a number of places where people can get help in Indiana,” said Marjorie Towell, executive director of the Mental Health Association in Marion County “For over 30 years, our agency has maintained a crisis and suicide intervention service that provides the public with crisis counseling and referral information.”

Additionally, the Mental Health Association provides “Teen Link”, a special telephone hotline developed especially for teenagers. “People should not be afraid to talk about depression or mental illness—sometimes we all need help,” said Towell. “We are glad to be part of this national campaign.”

Other coalition members collaborating on a statewide strategy to reduce the death toll resulting from suicide include Riley Hospital’s Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics, Marion County Health Department, the Indiana State Department of Health, the Mental Health Division of Family and Social Services, and the Mental Health Association in Marion County.