The number of suicides throughout San Diego County have mostly held steady during three recent years, with 2023’s total notably below what was seen before the pandemic.
There were 363 deaths one year ago, the most recent period available, according to a new report by the San Diego Suicide Prevention Council. More than 410 people died by suicide in 2019.
Older White men remained most at risk, although officials said Black girls and young women recently had the highest rates of suicide attempts, self-harm and suicidal ideation.
“The most important conversations about suicide are often among family, friends and social networks,” Luke Bergmann, the county’s director of behavioral health services, said Monday at a news conference downtown. “My call to action for everyone listening is to have that conversation.”
In general, San Diego County appears to be in a better place than it was a decade ago. The region’s suicide rate in 2013 was higher than both the state and the nation, but by 2022, the county was only slightly above California and significantly below the country overall.
The nationwide suicide rate has repeatedly risen during the past 10 years, the report said.
Local advocates this week asked for more resources to aid young people without losing sight of the dangers faced by older adults. Bergmann praised the expansion of Mobile Crisis Response Teams to schools and pushed for better storage options for firearms, which remain the most common method for suicides. He also asked that residents sign up for trainings through the prevention council that teach how to spot warning signs.
The new data have little to say on why certain groups are more at risk but do give the clearest picture yet as to who’s most in jeopardy.
The suicide rate among residents at least 65 years old increased during five recent years, from 2019 through 2023, according to the report. Every other age group declined over the same period. Similarly, much of the region saw decreasing rates of suicide except for South and East counties. East County had the highest rate overall.
The data from hospitals were slightly older.
In 2022, emergency rooms fielded nearly 3,800 cases where somebody had attempted suicide or purposefully hurt themselves. That number was an increase from both 2019 and 2020. ERs recorded an additional 12,390-plus instances of people thinking about taking their own lives, the lowest total in at least five years.
Sebastian Slovin, 40, a suicide prevention advocate, spoke Monday about the loss of his father. Slovin was 6 years old and living in La Jolla when his dad died by suicide.
“I grew up feeling this sort of shame, this stigma around suicide — even before I knew what it was,” Slovin said. “Because it didn’t seem like I could talk about it, I sort of kept everything bottled up.”
Slovin wondered if there was something wrong with his family and worried that he was destined to die the same way. It wasn’t until years later, while visiting a friend of his dad’s, that Slovin was able to talk openly, and he credits those conversations with setting him on a path toward healing. Finally, he felt free to learn more about both his father and the nature of his death.
“Suicide and the stigma and the shame — I think a lot of the stuff with mental health — it really thrives in the shadows,” Slovin added. “It thrives when it’s scary and we don’t want to talk about it.”
Officials said thousands of people have already enrolled in trainings and the county’s “It’s Up to Us” website at up2sd.org, which raises awareness and offers resources about suicide, saw nearly 330,000 visitors in 2023, more than double the total from the year before.
Leaders on Monday additionally released the first update to the county’s suicide prevention action plan since 2018. The revised report has information about how the pandemic hurt residents’ mental health and is available in multiple languages, including Spanish, among other changes.
Residents can sign up for free suicide prevention trainings at sdchip.org/initiatives/suicide-prevention-council/trainings.
Editor’s note: If you’re struggling with thoughts of hurting yourself, call the national crisis hotline at 988. The local crisis number, which is connected to the county’s Mobile Crisis Response Teams, is 888-724-7240. More resources are available at Up2SD.org.
