Note:
This article discusses suicide. If you or someone you know needs support now, call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.
If you or someone you know needs support in a crisis, and you or they live locally, call Ashland’s local 24/7 crisis number at 419-289-6111.
ASHLAND — Fatal overdoses in Ashland County decreased in 2023, according to a report produced by the Ashland Health Department.
But suicides reached double figures last year, a new reality that has some social workers, health professionals and public safety officials concerned.
There were 11 fatal overdoses in 2023, down from 13 in 2022. But the number is still high, officials said. In 2011, there were four fatal overdoses, for example. In 2012, the county didn’t have any fatal overdoses.
But suicides increased in Ashland County.
“This year was a little surprising to us,” said Vickie Taylor, the health commissioner for the Ashland County Health Department.
Taylor is part of a state-mandated committee that yearly analyzes suicide and opioid overdose fatalities. The committee, consisting of health and social services professionals, relies on coroner’s data, death certificates and records from the Ohio Department of Health.
The health commissioner presented this year’s findings to the Homeless Coalition earlier this month. The group meets virtually every other month and is made up of health professionals, social workers and public safety officials.
The oldest suicide was a 95 year-old man. The youngest was 17. The average age of those who died by suicide in 2023 was 48, according to the report.
The majority (10) were males.
Taylor said the part of the data that is most interesting to her was the manner of death.
The committee tracks three manners of suicide deaths: gun shot, hanging and drugs. Guns have been used in the majority of suicide deaths since 2021, according to the report.
The report shows guns were used in nine of the 12 suicide deaths last year.
It’s a trend that has been consistent since 2021 in Ashland County. In 2022, all four suicide deaths were caused by a gun shot. In 2021, five used a gun, whereas two hanged.
“Accessibility of the firearms is a concern,” Taylor said.
There were more than 50,000 suicides in the U.S. in 2023. More than half of those were caused by firearms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In 2021, 54% of all gun-related deaths in the U.S. were suicides (26,328), while 43% were murders (20,958), according to the CDC.
The remaining gun deaths that year were accidental (549), involved law enforcement (537) or had undetermined circumstances (458).
State and national trends
Ashland County’s fatal overdoses took a slight dip from 13 in 2022 to 11 in 2023 — but the trend continues upward. At least since 2011.
The year-over-year dip is in line with state and national trends.
Provisional data from the CDC show fatal overdoses in Ohio reaching 4,723 deaths from January 2023 to December 2023. That’s a 7.8% decline between 2022 and 2023.
There were roughly 107,500 people who died from overdoses in the U.S. last year, which includes both American citizens and non-citizens who were here when they died, said the CDC.
That’s down 3% from 2022, the agency said.
The county’s suicide deaths are up from previous years. In fact, 2023 was the deadliest year for suicides in Ashland County since 2016, when six people died by suicide.
There were 1,416 suicides in Ohio in 2022 — down from 2021’s 1,766 deaths.
There were more than 50,000 suicides in the U.S. in 2023, up from roughly 49,000 in 2022.
Typically, the Homeless Coalition discusses issues pertaining to emergency housing in the county.
But Jerry Strausbaugh, director of Appleseed Community Mental Health Center, said the suicide and overdose data informs the group’s work.
“Overdose deaths often affect people we might run into,” he said, addressing the group of social workers, medical professionals and public safety officials.
“And with suicide, we might be running into people who are depressed or experiencing things that may lead them to be hopeless and have those kind of thoughts.”
Strausbaugh said it would be helpful for the group to have the information so they can be part of the county-wide conversation on how to react to those realities.