Spokane Suicide Rate

Learning that someone I knew had committed suicide gave me pause – since living in Spokane I have known 6 people who committed suicide, plus one attempted suicide.

Curious, I looked up some data. The youth suicide rate in Spokane is 4 to 6 times greater than in the State.

Youth Suicide Rate 2005-2009

The rates are better than they were in 2002-2006 but the disparity between Spokane’s high suicide rates and the rate for the State has grown larger since then.

Data from 20010 and newer is not yet available. Rates vary from year to year due to large changes in small numbers – particularly when broken out by small age groupings.

Washington State itself has an above average number of suicides, ranking 36th out of 50 + 1 (includes Puerto Rico) “states” where a higher number indicates a worse suicide rate than a lower ranking. Thus, Spokane’s 4-6 times higher than the state rate should be interpreted in the context that Washington has a high suicide rate.

Adult Hospitalizations for attempted suicide by Age – Spokane versus Washington State – 2005-2009

Source: Spokane County Regional Health District

The Spokane County Regional Health District says economic disparity and health outcomes are connected – read it for yourself.  There are likely other factors involved, too.

Hmmmm … given the data above, how do we explain this analysis of Tweets claiming that Spokane is happier? The Inlander suggests the study is junk science due to its horrendous methodology.