For the first time in four years, Wyoming’s suicide rate fell pretty substantially. In 2022, the number of suicides among Wyoming residents decreased by 21.6 percent from 2021.
“We're definitely excited to see that drop. More than 20 percent drop is notable,” said Andi Summerville with the Wyoming Association of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Centers. She said a lot has changed in the past couple of years.
“We are coming off of a global pandemic, where we saw a couple of years of a lot of isolation and a lot of stress factors, including economic factors that we think impacted the suicide data,” said Summerville.
She said the past 18 months have been positive around mental health discussions, including the introduction of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. But in order to continue this trend, the state needs to continue working on these helpful tools.
“How we can use [988] to improve those and keep them going,” said Summerville. “[And] that we keep talking about mental health. We keep working on stigma and trying to provide better access to care so that people can reach out and receive services in a way that meets them where they're at.”
Summerville said continuing the discussions about mental health with business, policy leaders and senior leadership is also important.
The data comes from the Wyoming Department of Health’s Vital Statistics Services. It also showed that about 72 percent of suicide deaths in 2022 were due to firearms. The last time the suicide rate decreased in the state was in 2018, with a five percent decrease.
If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, call 988.
