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Wisconsin suicides climb to highest rate in decades

JANESVILLE — On April 28, 2008, Raymond Eiden learned Janesville’s General Motors Assembly plant was eliminating the night shift he had worked for 27 years. That same day, he took his own life.

“After he heard the news about General Motors, he probably had an overwhelming flood of emotions and couldn’t think beyond that moment,” daughter Vickie Eiden said.

The elimination of the plant’s night shift was followed by news the entire plant would close. Ultimately, about 2,800 people lost their jobs.

Eiden was among 737 Wisconsin residents who took their lives in 2008, when suicides hit the highest level in at least 20 years.

Interviews with mental health experts and an analysis of Wisconsin suicide data by the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism found:

• A total of 6,513 people took their lives in the 10 years from 1999 through 2008.

• The state’s suicide rate continues to rise, exceeds those of neighboring states and has remained higher than the national rate for about a decade.

• Suicide crisis centers in Wisconsin and across the nation report an increase in calls since the recession began.

• Stigma over discussing suicidal thoughts, lack of access to mental health care and insufficient funding continue to serve as barriers to suicide prevention.

Experts say Wisconsin’s high suicide rate, relative to those of neighboring states, could be linked to a high rate of binge drinking, easy access to firearms and lack of mental health care, especially in rural areas.

Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in Wisconsin, behind influenza and pneumonia and surpassing deaths from breast and prostate cancer as well as motor vehicle accidents, according to state Department of Health Services data. Figures for 2009 aren’t yet available.

Read the full story in the March 17, 2010 e-edition of The Stateline News, HERE.