New Data Shows Portland Suicides Rise In Spring and Summer

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

By Shelby Sebens, GoLocalPDX Reporter

Suicide rates in Portland are higher in the spring and summer, despite the sunny weather, according to a new study. Some dispute that suicides are seasonal; however, Oregon, which ranks among the most suicide-prone states in the country, has seen a startling rise in self-inflicted homicides in recent years.

An analysis by the Portland Police Bureau’s Behavioral Health Unit found that suicide rates in the city were highest in the spring and summer between April 2011 and June 2013. A national report of adult suicide rates by the Annenberg Public Policy Center from 2012 found the same. Across the nation, more suicides occurred in the spring and summer months.

“People assume it’s going to happen in the winter months,” said Tom Parker, communication director of Lines for Life, a nonprofit dedicated to preventing substance abuse and suicide. “Quite often it has to do with the weather has gotten better and their mood has not.”

The recent death of actor Robin Williams has sparked a national conversation about suicide. While Oregon is renowned as one of the country's most livable states, it also one of the leaders in the number of suicides per capita. .

But the exact reason for the seasonal uptick is unclear. The police study showed an adjusted seasonal average of 8.9 suicides a month for June through August compared with 6.4 in the fall, 6.7 in the winter and 7.1 in the spring.

Parker agreed that, generally, suicide rates nationwide tend to increase in the spring and summer. He said the suicide hotline also sees more calls coming in during spring and summer.

“It’s just the time of year they come out,” he said, adding that the call center gets 17,000 calls a year and is able to de-escalate 90 percent of them.

Other experts disagree

But not everyone agrees that suicide rates flucuate seasonally.

“There is no seasonal variation,” said Lisa Millet, Injury & Violence Prevention Section manager for the Oregon Health Authority . "From year to year there are differences, but if you look across years there is very little variation by season.”

Millet said she is not disparaging the police report, but noted the state tracks every death record and has an epidemiologist and has an entire violent-death reporting system.

From 2003 to 2010 there were about 48 suicides per month in Oregon, with the most occurring in May. Still, the state does not conclude there is any seasonal pattern.

What Millet would confirm is an alarming uptick in suicide rates across the state. The rate jumped from 588 deaths in 2003 to 717 in 2012, the latest year available.

“That’s pretty shocking,” Parker said of the number. “If you were to say we had 700 homicides, people would be going crazy.”

The state is consistently in the top 10 for highest suicide rates in the nation. Portland ranked first on Businessweeks’ list of America’s unhappiest cities. Business Week ranked the top 50 metros areas based on depression rates, suicide, crime, unemployment and more.

The lengthy list of potential factors that make Oregon and Portland epicenters for the sad includes: better access to guns; being part of the western United States, where suicide is traditionally more prevalent; better state tracking of suicides; and a culture of "rugged individualism" that celebrates personal choice over social welfare.

Some have theorized that the Pacific Northwest’s characteristic rain and relative lack of sunshine could contribute to a higher suicide rate, but others say that’s not the case.

“Weather is not a factor in mental illness,” officials with the Mental Health Association of Portland stated in an email to GoLocalPDX. “The vast majority of persons who kill themselves are middle-aged men with untreated alcoholism, mental illness or addiction, who have access to guns, and who are isolated from routine and supportive social contact. Typical cause of death is a firearm.”

The state lists several circumstances that can contribute to suicide, including substance abuse, job loss, and death of a family member.

Parker said the recent death of Williams is hitting home with many in the area.

“Some people are really feeling (Williams's death) deeply,” he said, adding that it’s also opening people up to talk about it.

“Conversation is everything when it comes to suicide and health."