LOCAL

Suicide deaths in Franklin County increased 10% last year over 2020, county coroner reports

Bethany Bruner
The Columbus Dispatch

The Franklin County Coroner's office announced Friday that suicides in the county rose nearly 10% in 2021 from the previous year, with most cases involving white men between the ages of 25 and 34.

Local and national organizations have raised concerns over the last two years about the impact on mental health as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and concerns that isolation could lead to rises in suicidal ideation and actions.

In 2021, 158 Franklin County residents died by suicide, an increase of 9.7% from 144 in 2020. Data showed that 80% of the people who died by suicide were males and 71% of those males, 115 of the 126, were white. The most common method of suicide continued, as it has in past years, to be by the use of firearms.

The county saw a 21% increase in 2021 in the number of females using firearms as a method of suicide. The coroner's office said there was a 10% decrease last year from 2020 in the number of people who died as a result of intentional intoxication.

Across the state, there was an overall 7% increase in deaths by suicide in 2021, the coroner's office said, but Franklin County remains about 20% below the statewide rate of suicide deaths.

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Suicides in Franklin County most often involved those between 25 and 34 years old, accounting for 37 of the deaths. The county saw a 60% increase in the number of people between the ages of 55 and 64 dying by suicide, going from 15 in 2020 to 24 in 2021.

Twenty-seven people between the ages of 15 and 24 and 16 between the ages of 35 and 44 died by suicide, according to the coroner's office.

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The youngest person to die by suicide in the county, according to the coroner's office, was 12 years old. In 2020, the youngest person was 13 years old. Suicides of people under the age of 15 accounted for just 2% of the overall total in 2021.

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The data released showed that 11 suicides occurred in 2021 in the 43123 Zip code, located in the southwestern portion of the county. Ten suicides occurred in the 43223 Zip code, encompassing portions of the Hilltop and South Side.

The 43085 Zip code, located in and around Worthington, saw a 71% decrease in suicides, from seven in 2020 to two in 2021. The 43068 Zip code in Reynoldsburg saw a 67% decrease in suicides and the 43017 Zip code, located on the Northwest and Far Northwest Sides, saw a 100% decrease with no suicides reported during 2021.

In calculating 2021's data, the coroner's office said it only considered suicides that occurred in Franklin County and excluded from the data people from other counties who may have died at a Franklin County hospital. Anyone who dies in Franklin County, regardless of the county where their injury occurred, is under the jurisdiction of the Franklin County Coroner's office.

If you or someone you know is experiencing a behavioral health crisis, you can reach Ohio's 24/7 Crisis Text Line by texting 4HOPE to 741741 or call the Franklin County Suicide Prevention Hotline at 614-221-5445 or the Teen Suicide Prevention Hotline at 614-294-3300. The national Suicide Prevention Lifeline can be reached by dialing 988 or by dialing 1-800-273-8255/TALK (1-888-628-9454 for Spanish speakers). 

bbruner@dispatch.com

@bethany_bruner