The Lubbock County Medical Examiners office said the Lubbock County reached their highest suicide rate in history in 2016.
“For the year 2016, we’ve had another 20% increase overall in suicides this year, just for the year itself compared to the prior years, Lubbock County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Sridhar Natarajan said. “It’s also the highest since we’ve been looking at these numbers and it’s the highest that its been.
Dr. Natarajan said through their office, suicide and motor vehicle-related incidents are the most common cases that come into their office, with natural-related deaths following. However, he added the suicide rate has seen more and unusual trends in the last 12 months, with a specific increase in November.
“We have seen a spike in numbers in our population between the 20’s and 30’s,” Dr. Natarajan said.
He added that suicides are approximately 10% of all of their cases. 158 cases have been recorded over the past three years, 60 of those in the last year alone.
“Most often it’s some sort of relationship and the other thing that seems to come up is pressure from coping through your 20’s,” Dr. Natarajan said. “It may be academic, it may be just leaving home, trying to get out on your own, find a place. But the majority look to me like there’s some type of relationship component that has fragmented.”
He said communication and access to resources are the two biggest tools they have noticed to make a positive impact on these situations.
The city of Lubbock offers a suicide hotline service that’s available 24/7 at 806-765-8393. It also offer a text message service at 741-741.
