Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
The number of deaths by suicide in Quay County jumped from one in 2019 to seven in 2020, according to data released last week by the New Mexico Department of Health.
The state saw a slight increase in such deaths during the same period.
According to data provided to the Quay County Sun by DOH spokeswoman Katy Diffendorfer, number of deaths by suicide in Quay County in 2020 was the largest in recent memory.
The county recorded five such deaths each in 2016 and 2018, and three in 2017.
The rise of suicide deaths in the county last year confirmed suspicions voiced by local officials and mental-health workers.
The Quay County Health Council in response concentrated more of its efforts on suicide prevention, including the distribution of at least 50 free gun locks. Firearms are used the most during suicide attempts.
County Assessor Janie Hoffman launched her own “Make the Call; Don’t Leave Us Behind” suicide-prevention campaign in late 2020 after she estimated 10 deaths by suicide had occurred that year in the county. She at the time attributed the spike to the instability and isolation from COVID-19 lockdowns.
Hoffman said Saturday the Department of Health’s confirmation of Quay County’s jump in deaths by suicide in 2020 didn’t surprise her.
“I feel like the numbers should have been even higher,” she said during a telephone interview. “Maybe they attributed some deaths to something other than suicide.
“But seven is seven too many. To go from one to seven (in a year) is alarming and as a community something we should be concerned about.”
Older data indicates Quay County already had a high rate of deaths by suicide even before the pandemic. A DOH epidemiologist told the Quay County Commission in June 2019 the county's suicide rate of 33.2 per 100,000 people was the highest in New Mexico except for Taos and Sierra counties.
That rate would equate to about three such deaths per year in the county. However, a mental health counselor in Tucumcari said in late 2020 the official number likely is low because many surviving family members of suicide victims are reluctant to report such deaths.
No updated rates for deaths by suicide in the county were available last week from the agency.
The agency announced last week that 520 New Mexico residents died by suicide in 2020, an increase of five, or slightly less than 1%, compared to 2019.
New Mexico had the fourth-highest age-adjusted rate for suicides in the nation in 2019 (the most recent year for which U.S. data are available). New Mexico had a suicide rate of 24.6 deaths per 100,000 residents in 2020, which was 23% higher than the rate in 2010.
New Mexico for at least a decade has seen elevated suicide rates compared to the rest of the nation.
More data from the agency:
• The most common means of suicide in 2020 were firearms (58%), suffocation or hangings (26%) and poisonings (10%).
• About half of those who died by suicide in 2020 were between age 15 and 44.
• 26 suicides by New Mexico residents occurred among children under 18 years old in both 2020 and 2019.
• Individuals age 55 to 64 saw a slight decrease in deaths by suicide from 2019 to 2020.
• Nearly four times as many males as females died by suicide in 2020, which is similar to rates recorded in previous years.
• The suicide rate for non-Hispanic whites decreased slightly in 2020.
• The southeast health region of New Mexico saw an increase in the suicide rate from rate 21.8 deaths per 100,000 residents during 2019 to 28.9 deaths during 2020.
• The southwest health region saw a decrease in suicides from 23.7 deaths per 100,000 residents during 2019 to 19.8 deaths during 2020.
• New Mexico counties with the highest suicide death rates in 2020 were San Juan, McKinley and Bernalillo.
The agency stated it is working with partners throughout the state to decrease the number of such deaths. Evidence-based strategies include convening a statewide suicide prevention coalition and creating a strategic plan for it.
The DOH also is implementing a program ensuring those who are seen in hospital emergency departments after suicide attempts are referred for behavioral health follow-up.
The Department of Health urges anyone who may feel suicidal or would like to talk with someone who can help to contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or text “HOME” to 741 741.