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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Suicide rates in region exceptionally high

Stigma makes it a tough issue to address, say county officials

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REGIONAL— Suicide is a tough issue to talk about— and that has complicated the work of public health officials in northern St. Louis County who are trying to address the problem in the region.
The deaths of two men to suicide just this year in Tower has highlighted a fact that is driving concern across the public health sector— exceptionally high numbers of males in far northern Minnesota take their own lives each year.
Rates of suicide have been rising slowly but steadily across the U.S. since 2000, a trend that is, in part, responsible for an overall decline in average life expectancy in the U.S., particularly for men over the past several years.
A total of 830 Minnesotans took their own life in 2019, which makes suicide the eighth-leading cause of death in the state. Those statewide statistics mask differences between the Twin Cities area, where the incidence of suicide is comparatively low, and places like St. Louis County, where suicide rates are more than 50 percent above both the state and national average.
According to data from the state medical examiner’s office, which was obtained by the Timberjay through a public records request, the suicide rate in St. Louis County has averaged 22.4 deaths per 100,000 population from 2016-2020. That’s well above the state and national rate, which has averaged around 14 per 100,000 in recent years.
Among men, however, the suicide rate is much higher, averaging 36.02 per 100,000 population in St. Louis County over the past five years. That puts it well above the suicide rate of 22.4 for men nationally. Women in the county also take their own lives at a higher rate than elsewhere, averaging 9.4 per 100,000 population over the past five years. Nationally, the suicide rate among woman is just over six per 100,000.
While the county data is alarming, it actually masks an even greater problem in the far northern portions of the Arrowhead. According to data compiled by St. Louis County for a 2019 suicide prevention grant, the suicide rate for men tops 53 per 100,000 in two legislative districts in the region, 3A and 6B, which represent the border country— from Koochiching to Cook counties— and the East Range.
While the reasons behind these numbers are complex, county officials who spoke to the Timberjay agree that the reluctance of many people to discuss suicide, and the related issue of mental health, makes it harder to address the problem.
“I do think a big part of it is stigma,” said Kelly Sather, a supervisor with St. Louis County Health and Human Services. She said the culture of the region emphasizes self-reliance, which can make people reluctant to seek help when they’re facing challenges in their lives. “We don’t share our business with other people. That’s so built into who we are, and it takes a lot of energy to change that,” said Sather.
Add to that the isolation that frequently comes from rural living, and it can make it difficult to even know when someone is hurting. Sather noted that the same factors play into the high rate of suicide among farmers. “I feel like it’s a very similar mindset,” she said.
According to Sather, virtually everyone experiences mental health struggles from time to time, and that being open about those feelings can help. “What we need is to have honest conversations,” she said.
Public health educator Jana Blomberg agrees, and she’s now overseeing a major grant designed to help reduce stigma and provide space for honest conversations around mental health and suicide. It’s part of a four-year project, known as Thrive Range, that first received funding in late 2019. The program was interrupted shortly after its launch due to the outbreak of COVID-19, which focused county health officials on the pandemic. But with progress on the pandemic front, it’s reopened the conversation on how to address suicide in the region. Blomberg said the program has undergone some restructuring after a contractor originally hired to implement the program opted out. “We’re in the process of re-strategizing,” said Blomberg. The county is now working with the Wilder Foundation to update data on suicide in the county. “That’s helping us re-evaluate where to put the remaining [grant] funds,” said Blomberg. The current grant funding goes through the end of 2023.
“Right now, we’re honing-in on youth and school prevention education and outreach,” said Blomberg, who noted that the county recently hired a full-time staff person to focus on suicide.
The program also maintains a website, at www.thriverange.org, with links to a wide range of mental health resources, a suicide prevention hotline and tips for helping loved ones in crisis.
Medical providers in the region are also taking notice of suicide as a public health challenge facing the region. It’s now not uncommon for doctors or nurses to ask patients if they have had thoughts of suicide. In the past, some might have frowned upon such questions. “Some people still have that idea that if you ask about it, you’re planting that thought in their minds,” said Sather. “But that’s not the case.”
The up-front approach runs counter to some of the former views on handling suicide and mental health, but county officials are working to change the way the topic is discussed. “We know that for some people, it’s really hard to hear… hard to talk about,” said Blomberg. “People are reluctant to ask for help when they’re hurting. They’re worried about what other people will think. That’s probably the biggest thing we hear.”
Yet the stigma around mental health isn’t the only factor that’s made suicide a difficult topic to address in the region. A chronic shortage of psychologists, counselors, and other mental health providers has further complicated the issue.
Blomberg said one of the few pluses from the COVID era is the increased use of tele-health services, a development which has made it at least somewhat easier for rural residents to talk to a mental health provider face-to-face, even if it isn’t in person. Those conversations are critical, according to Sather. “People sharing their stories and their mental health struggles can really help,” she said.
Has COVID-19 impacted rates
of suicide?
Surprisingly, COVID appears to have had at least one other effect on suicide— it’s led to a reduction in the number of people taking their own lives in Minnesota. After posting a record 830 suicides in 2019, 723 Minnesotans took their own life last year, a drop of almost 13 percent. Health officials are quick to note that they still don’t know whether the decline was a statistical fluke or if it had an actual connection to the pandemic, and the life changes that it prompted for many Minnesotans.
“We are not yet sure what impacts the COVID-19 pandemic had on this trend, but it is clear that we must continue to support people and communities to address the causes of suicide,” said Minnesota Commissioner of Health Jan Malcolm.
Although suicides declined in Minnesota in 2020, deaths related to alcohol and drug overdose increased at the same time. All three causes of death, which are often referred to as “deaths of despair,” have been increasing since 2000, particularly among white males without a college degree.
A much-cited 2015 Princeton study determined that vanishing jobs for lower-skilled workers, disintegrating family structures, and other social stresses created the conditions for drug abuse, alcohol abuse, and suicide. The researchers, Anne Case and Angus Deaton, a Nobel laureate in economics, compared the breakdown in economic status and family structures that hit white families beginning in the 2000s to the same trends that led to the disintegration of so many black men and their families in the 1970s and 80s.
Getting to the heart of the despair that has driven these changes is key, according to public health officials. “We need to create an environment where people can talk about mental health,” said Sather. “To have problems doesn’t mean that you have a mental illness. We have to be able to speak openly about our mental health struggles. We all have them.”

Editor’s Note: The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. To speak with a certified listener, anytime, any day, call 1-800-273-8255.