Suicide rate in isles
gets some attentionFrom 1998 to 2002, more people
killed themselves than died
in traffic accidents
Suicide is the second-leading cause of all deaths in Hawaii's 15 to 34 age group, yet the state's 13-page injury prevention plan only mentions suicide in three sentences, says a California psychiatrist.
Dr. Peter Forster of the University of California, San Francisco, an internationally recognized expert in psychiatric emergency services, stressed that suicide is a preventable public health problem. But he said there are few effective prevention programs across the country.
In Hawaii, he said, suicide is the fourth-leading cause of deaths in the 34 to 44 age group; the fifth-leading cause in the 44 to 54 age group, and the eighth-leading cause of deaths in those older than 54.
"You can see this is not a trivial problem from the standpoint of the health of this state," he said, speaking at a national mental health conference hosted at the Sheraton Waikiki this week by the state Health Department's Adult Mental Health Division and the Hawaii Consortium for Continuing Medical Education.
Surprisingly, Forster said, the No. 1 means of suicide in Hawaii is hanging.
"I don't understand it," he said, noting that firearms are the leading suicide method in other states.
State Health Director Chiyome Fukino said she recognized suicide as a major mental health problem when she took office. One of the first things she did was to propose a position as coordinator for suicide prevention in the injury prevention program.
"It is in the pipeline," she said.
Fukino said Hawaii had 638 suicides from 1998 to 2002, compared with 634 deaths related to vehicular accidents. A breakdown shows 77 percent of the suicides were males and 23 percent females. Older persons committing suicide predominantly were Caucasians, while teen suicides occurred mostly among Hawaiians and part-Hawaiians, she said.
Forster said it is critical to get intervention for suicidal patients out of emergency crisis settings and into community services. It's also essential to reduce stigma associated with seeking mental health services, he said, noting, "Hawaii has incredibly low utilization of mental health services."
Dr. Alan Radke, medical director in the Adult Mental Health Division, said the public mental health system is serving about 5,500 people but the state has an estimated 12,500 mentally ill residents.
Forster suggested that the state link behavioral health and other health care services and train people to recognize at-risk behaviors. Anxiety is the No. 1 risk factor for suicide, he said.
