HOLLAND, MI (WHTC AM/FM) – Officials with the Ottawa County Department of Public Health say although the pandemic has been difficult for everyone, suicide rates in the county have either stabilized or decreased, and do not indicate a correlation between pandemic restrictions and increased suicides.
In its 2021 Death by Suicide Report released this week, the health department says in 2021 there were 33 deaths by suicide, which is the same number as was reported in 2020, and the suicide rate has stabilized over the last eight years.
In 2021, one teen died by suicide, lower than the 10-year average of two to three teen suicides per year. Among teen suicide fatalities, 2021 was the first year since 2013 in which a teen, aged 13-16, did not die by suicide.
Eight veterans died by suicide in 2021. This is the highest number of veteran deaths in a single year over the past twelve years. Veterans account for only 6% of the population in Ottawa County, but 24% of all suicides.
Ottawa County suicide rates are consistently lower than the State of Michigan and the United States.
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