County suicides reach record

Stacy J. Willis

Tuesday, March 26, 2002 | 10:37 a.m.

The Clark County coroner's office recorded 292 suicides last year, the largest number in county history and 10 more than in 2000.

However, the suicide rate, or number of suicide deaths per number of Clark County residents, dropped in 2001 because the population grew from 1,394,440 to 1,485,855 during that year, according to the state demographer's office.

There were 292 deaths by suicide in 2001, one per every 5,088 people. In 2000, there were 282 suicides, or one per every 4,944 people, according to statistics released Monday.

Of the 292 Clark County suicides in 2001, 257 were deaths of residents, while 30 were of nonresidents and five were people whose residence was unknown.

Nevada has had the highest suicide rate in the nation for more than a decade. The majority of suicides are believed to be a direct result of treatable depression.

"Suicide is preventable," Linda Flatt, community organizer for the Suicide Prevention Advocacy Network, said. Flatt and other suicide prevention activists say there needs to be more education about recognizing the symptoms of suicidal depression and more cooperative public and private efforts to provide prevention programs.

More than half of all suicides are committed by men 25 to 65.

In 1999, Nevada was awarded a $1.5 million federal grant to establish the Suicide Prevention Research Center in Las Vegas, to operate under the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the 2001 legislative session, lawmakers created a committee on suicide prevention, which had its second meeting last week. The committee, chaired by Sen. Ann O'Connell, R-Las Vegas, is charged with developing prevention programs.

O'Connell's committee is expected to deliver a "pro-active plan" for state intervention to the Legislature next session.