POPulations
Here are some of the populations we collaborate with.
Service Members, Veterans, and their Families
Missouri Veterans have high suicide rates, and nationally, the suicide rates of active service members have increased from 2011 to 2020.
- 70% of service members and over 76% of Missouri Veteran suicides were by firearms.
- Nearly all suicides by firearm in the military involved the use of a personally owned firearm.
- Half of female military spouse suicides were by firearm, whereas 33% of the women in the U.S. population used a firearm.
- About 62% of dependents who died by suicide were under 18 years old.
- Male dependents accounted for nearly three-fourths of suicide deaths.
First Responders
- First responders include: law enforcement officers, paramedics, emergency medical technicians (EMTs), mobile response crisis counselors, and qualified mental health counselors who assist Crisis Intervention Trained (CIT) law enforcement officers.
- When these first responders are called to the scene of a suicidal crisis, it is important that they know how to get the individual to help and how to talk to them about lethal means access.
- Firearm owners are most receptive to law enforcement when receiving messages about reducing access to lethal means during a crisis.
- They should be equipped with the knowledge required for these conversations
Faith Community
- Key gatekeepers
- Individuals often reach out to their faith leader for support during crises, which often include mental health challenges and substance misuse.
- Individuals may feel more at ease speaking to their spiritual leader than a behavioral health professional due to stigma and shame
- A broad range of community members attend a faith- based organization
- Many faith leaders have received degrees in counseling
- Others can expand mental health knowledge and suicide prevention skills with lethal means counseling
- Faith is often a protective factor against suicide
- Faith leaders will likely encounter suicide either via direct interaction, or congregants who lost a family member
Occupations at Highest Risk of Suicide
In 2021, nearly 38,000 persons of working age (16–64 years) in the United States died by suicide, which represents a 32% rate increase (13.4 per 100,000 population in 2001 to 17.8 in 2021) in just 2 decades.
- The data showed that suicide deaths for men (28.0 per 100,000) were considerably higher than for women (7.5 per 100,000).
- Suicide deaths were highest in these five major industry groups:
- Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, and Hunting
- Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction
- Construction
- Installation, Maintenance, and Repair
- Manufacturing/Production
