On the rise: Rural areas seeing greater increase in suicide rates, numbers

“Not only West Virginia, but across the United States,” Barrie Faucett, the director of Prevent Suicide West Virginia, said in a recent telephone interview. “There are a lot of additional risk factors, such as mental health and substance abuse, and when more risk factors pile up, the numbers go up.”

Prevent Suicide West Virginia is the statewide suicide prevention program. It is funded through the Bureau of Behavioral Health and Health Facilities, and the Bureau for Public Health.