(Photo via Pexels).
Cortland County’s mental health assessment is clear: acute needs for more services and prevention efforts are on the rise.
A coalition of organizations and public partners conducted the assessment to measure comprehensive needs for suicide prevention from January 2020 to August that year.
The assessment involved data collection in the form of a community readiness survey of key informants, stated in a press release issued by the county. Organizations involved include Cortland County Mental Health Department, Cortland LGBTQ Center, various school districts and police departments across the county, SUNY Cortland, Access to Independence, among others.
The group, Speak Up Cortland Suicide Prevention, was formed in 2019. A report on the findings of the assessment was compiled and updated with the help of the county’s epidemiology manager and members of New York state’s local team of public health fellows between August last year and March this year.
The report can be viewed by clicking here.
Findings
From 2017-2019, Cortland County had a rate of 11.2 deaths attributed to suicide per 100,000 residents, which is higher than New York state where the rate is 8.7 for every 100,000 people.
In 2018, the latest year of data available, the county had a self-harm hospitalization rate of 127 per 100,000 members of the population. This figure was the highest when compared to the
compared to seven counties neighboring Cortland.
Similarly, when it comes to emergency department visits in 2018, Cortland County had a rate of 153 self-harm emergency department visits per 100,000 people. This is also the sixth highest rate in New York state.
Individuals under the age of 19 accounted for the highest number of emergency department visits related to suicide ideation/attempts at Guthrie Cortland Medical Center from October 2020 to December 2022, according to a press release issued by the county.
The local data included in this assessment also identified that marginalized groups, in particular, the county’s LGBTQ+ community members are at particular risk for suicide ideation and attempts. The 2022 Community Health Assessment Survey, used to compile the report, found that survey respondents that self-identified as LGBQ+ were 4 times more likely to report they have attempted suicide in their lifetime than respondents that self-identified cisgender. Cortland County Youth Survey Data shows similar trends.
Some risk factors likely associated with suicide mentioned by the county’s press release include:
- Mental Health Disorders
- Depression
- Substance use
- Chronic Illness/disability
- Financial problems
- BullyingHopelessness
- Social isolation
Sharon MacDougall, the county mental health department’s director of community services, attributed the need to increase prevention services in part to the pandemic.
“This suicide prevention assessment will help us to use data informed decisions connected with our community feedback,” she said in a statement.
Nicole Anjeski, county public health director, noted suicide as a subject is typically an uncomfortable discussion to have.
“But what is not always understood is that suicide is a serious public health problem,” she said in a statement. “Both economic and human costs of suicidal behavior does not only affect individuals, but also families, communities and society. It is important for public health to emphasize efforts to prevent suicide before it occurs. This requires not only reducing risk factors that may put people at risk but also increasing the factors that protect people from engaging in suicidal behavior.”
