Data shows more than 400 committed suicide in Iowa in 2013

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) - More than 400 people committed suicide in Iowa in 2013, a 17 percent increase from the previous year, health officials said.

There were 445 such deaths statewide in 2013, the most since at least 1989, according to data released last month by the Iowa Department of Public Health. The suicide rate was 14.4 per 100,000 people, up from 12.8 in 2012. Officials did not cite a reason for the increase, but advocates said the criteria for hospitalization and a lack of other mental health services leave some people more susceptible.

The Telegraph Herald reports (http://bit.ly/1Cg6q31 ) Iowa's suicide rate exceeds those of neighboring Illinois and Wisconsin.

Clete Gartner, a National Alliance on Mental Illness-Dubuque member, said the rules on who can be hospitalized for mental health crises leave some without needed support.

"If they're not admitted in the hospital, basically they're back on the street with no place to go," he said. "If you don't have a family member or a friend to help you in this crisis situation, you're in a bad position."

Officials said changes to Iowa's mental health system might improve crisis intervention in the eastern part of the state.

Gartner said officials are pushing for crisis-intervention training for law enforcement officers as well as the expansion of in-between care services to help stem Iowa's suicide spike. He said this system would allow those considered mentally ill who do not qualify for hospitalization to receive necessary care and supervision.

Mechelle Dhondt is the CEO of the East Central Mental Health Region, an alliance of nine counties' formerly unrelated mental health systems. She said two beds for such an in-between care system should open up in several of the alliance's counties sometime next month.

In addition to this option, Dhondt said officials are looking to launch mobile crisis teams in each county and increase training and communication tools.

"There's always been a hotline you can call, but we're adding a chat line and a text line to try to get to people of the younger generation," Dhondt said.

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Information from: Telegraph Herald, http://www.thonline.com