Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for North Carolinians between the ages of 10-18, according to the State Health Department.
UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State University both have directly dealt with the effects of student suicides in recent years.
Multiple students on both campuses took their own lives during the 2022-2023 school year. Two of those deaths at NC State occurred in less than a day.
Health leaders from across North Carolina gathered Thursday to discuss how to curb the concerning trend during the first statewide Suicide Prevention Summit.
“The numbers we have right now in terms of mental health in kids, suicide rates across the board in elderly, rural white people, all the way through the Black youth are the worst they’ve ever been,” shared Dr. Patrick Sullivan.
Sullivan is a psychiatrist with a focus on depression.
Two years ago, he started the UNC Suicide Prevention Initiative which is part of the Carolina Across 100 initiative. The effort is aimed at making mental health resources more widely available.
He shared the program was born in the wake of a donation from a UNC graduate and his wife. The couple lost both of their sons to suicide.
“I was of course very familiar with suicide and the risk of suicide and all of the data on it, but data is one thing, talking to humans with lived experience is another,” Sullivan shared.
The goal of Carolina Across 100 is to better the wellbeing of North Carolinians by sharing support and resources across every county.
“It is almost always the case that if we work together as a team, we make faster, better progress,” said Sullivan. “Other projects have looked at things like the generation of youth who are no longer in school or in the workforce 18-24. How can they be reached; how can they be helped and what to do they need?”
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kody Kinsley told WRAL News that North Carolinians have reached out to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline 100,000 times in the past year.
He also noted the state’s new Peer Warmline received an additional 5,000 calls in April alone.
“Tragically, when people lose their life to suicide it’s often shrouded in stigma and fear and families don’t want to talk about it. We have got to break through that,” said Kinsley. “We have to help support families and try to get ahead of these crises before they happen.”
According to the latest state data, 1,412 people took their own lives in North Carolina in 2021. That’s 452 more deaths than the number of homicides the NC State Bureau of Investigations recorded for the same year.
White males made up 78% of recorded suicides. Of them, those ages 10-18 and 85+ are at the highest risk.
Kinsley said he hopes the state’s recent suicide action plan will further help raise awareness of the ongoing issue.
“We have put $15 million in new behavioral health urgent care centers across the state, $22 million in facility-based crisis centers,” said Kinsley. “We are building buildings in counties all across North Carolina because we want behavioral health to be in the imagination and the eyelines of every single person as they’re driving, as they’re moving, because this is an issue just like any other health issue and if you ignore it, it gets worse.”
Kinsley said another focus of the state is developing better ways to reach at-risk groups, including the LGBTQIA+ community.
“We’ve insured our 988 Crisis Line has specific, competent care for people in our LGBTQIA+ community,” Kinsley stated. “I’d also say that this June, PRIDE Month, it’s important that people can be seen, they can be heard, and can be seen for who they are. Suicide is deeply tied to stigma and stigmatizing any aspect of who we are is a problem.”
The concerning trend isn’t unique to North Carolina. Recent data from the CDC shows suicide rates are increasing nationwide.
According to the center’s most recent Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 22% of kids between grades 9-12 reported thoughts of taking their own lives.
Mental health resources
Get Help: County-by-county guide to mental health and crisis resources in NC
If you're having suicidal thoughts or a mental health crisis, call or text 988 or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255. Veterans can press “1” after dialing 988 to connect directly to the Veterans Crisis Lifeline. For texts, veterans should continue to text the Veterans Crisis Lifeline short code: 838255.
