HJLR Mar/Apr 2019

54 MAR / APR 2019 I  Healthcare Journal of LITTLE ROCK Wake-up Call InApril of 2015, the governor and General Assembly of Arkansas proclaimed suicide as “the leading cause of injury death in Arkan- sas and an urgent and serious public health and welfare problem in the state.”At the time, suicide was the 11th leading cause of death inArkansas, and over twice as many people died by suicide annually than from homicide. In 2018, theAmerican Foundation for Suicide Prevention ranked suicide as the 10th leading cause of death amongArkansans and ranked Arkansas 14th in the nation. Although there are many initiatives in place to prevent sui- cide, there are factors that place Arkansans at risk of suicide. Rural States According to the Centers for Disease Control, suicide is one of the top ten lead- ing causes of death in the United States. Yet the suicide rates are higher in rural America than in urbanAmerica. And the gap in suicide rates between rural and urban areas grew steadily from 1999 to 2015. Since 2007, the gap began widening more quickly. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 20 percent of people in the United States live in a rural column Mental Health arkansans At Risk It would be irresponsible of me to write about mental health and not provide you with resources. Some of this content may cause uncomfortable feelings and thoughts. If so, please contact a mental health professional or the Suicide Prevention Lifeline.