Suicide Numbers In South Dakota Well Above Average

The state's Department of Health recently today, Tuesday, January 20 gave an update about both its operations and programs to the House Health and Human Services committee according to Dakota News Now.

Dakota News Now reports that the director of the Family and Community Health Division, Beth Dokken stated that in 2019 suicide was the ninth leading cause of death here in our state.

“But it is the second leading cause of death among age 15 to 34. So that’s really the key population that- you know of course we want to look at all populations- but really hone in on what can we do particularly in that age group around our prevention efforts and just our collaborative work that we’re doing across departments,” state Beth Dokken.

In 2018, The Mount Rushmore State ranked eighth for having the highest suicide rate in the country.

Dokken also reviled that when a risk behavior survey was completed in 2019, South Dakota high school pupils stated that 23.1% of them had considered taking their own lives.

12.3% of these students also said that they had in the past attempted suicide.

Dokken stated that out of the data reviled through the survey, that Native American individuals were two and a half times higher in suicidal rates than any other ethnicity.

Source: Dakota News Now

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