McHenry County forms task force to tackle suicide prevention

The number of suicides spiked in McHenry County last year, reaching 29, and likely will top 30 by the end of 2010, officials say, alarming officials enough to address the matter.

Deputy Coroner Robert Locke, along with members of Family Service and Community Mental Health Center, the McHenry County Health Department and Centegra Hospital have joined together to form a task force aimed at addressing the problem.

The Barrington and St. Charles school districts also have launched initiatives to combat suicide deaths in their high schools.

But Shira Greenfield, a McHenry County task force member and a licensed clinical professional counselor at Centegra Hospital, said the problem is different. In McHenry County, the vast majority of suicide victims are white men - with an average age of 51.

Years ago, the coroner's office looked to information about a suicide victim's mental status to explain the suicide, but the past two years, they've been gathering information about economic causes as well.

"We used to see people that had mental health history," Locke said. "Now we're seeing people who are going through bankruptcy, foreclosure and job loss."

The McHenry County Crisis Team has noticed a marked increase in suicides and calls into its crisis line, (800) 892-8900. They've even added a second S.O.S. (Survivor of Suicide) monthly group meeting.

Astrid Larsen, clinical supervisor and interim manager of the McHenry County Crisis Team, said they are at least partially attributing this to the economy.

"Many of the people state they are unemployed or struggling at work or struggling to support their families," Larsen said. "It's creating extra stress they didn't have before."

The challenge in addressing suicide in McHenry County is different, too.

"In the schools, that's a captive audience," Greenfield said. "We have to reach out to 50-year-old men and their loved ones. Where are they? They're everywhere!"

The number of suicides in McHenry County surged after a fairly constant average in the high teens. Even dating back to the 1980s, the average was the same, she said.

Though reaching out to this demographic is difficult, Greenfield said the task force feels a sense of urgency to educate the community.

The task force will coordinate four presentations - one each Tuesday in October - focused on suicide awareness and prevention. They will be held in McHenry, Crystal Lake, Huntley and Woodstock, but specific locations and times have not been decided yet.

Prevention: Most suicide victims in the county are middle-age men