By BISHOP NASH
The Herald-Dispatch
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — On average, one West Virginian dies by suicide every 24 hours — now a top-10 cause of death in the state overall and the second leading cause of death for teens and young adults aged 15 to 35.
The Mountain State has experienced a 37 percent increase in suicide deaths since 1999, according to a report published this month by the Centers for Disease Control. However, West Virginia is far from an outlier — 50 out of 51 states and Washington, D.C., saw an increase in suicide deaths from 1999 to 2016, including Ohio (36 percent) and Kentucky (36.6 percent).
Though Appalachia reported comparatively sharper increases in suicide deaths compared to the Deep South and Midwest, the highest-single state increases were found in the Great Plains states including North Dakota (57.6 percent), Kansas (45 percent) South Dakota (44.5 percent) and Idaho (43.2 percent). New Hampshire (48.3 percent) and Vermont (48.6 percent) are facing widespread drug addiction issues similar to West Virginia — which the CDC ruled as one of many contributing factors to a substantial nationwide rise in suicide deaths.
Read the entire article: http://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/cdc-suicide-rates-rising-across-the-us/article_06e49aa0-0319-53bc-9d44-645a9e8ea86b.html
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