In 2008, the Butler County coroner investigated 53 suspected suicides. That was the most since at least 1999, according to data provided by the coroner’s office.
Last year, 64 people killed themselves.
That was 14 more than in 2021, or a 28% increase. It was a 68% increase from 2020.
Scott Rasmus, executive director of the county’s mental health and recovery board, said the pandemic was the biggest factor in the increase.
“A lot of people suffered real trauma,” he told the Journal-News.
Martin Schneider, administrator for the Butler County coroner, called the increase troubling. These are the number of suspected suicides since 2018, according to the coroner’s office:
- 2018: 42 people
- 2019: 47 people
- 2020: 38 people
- 2021: 50 people
- 2022: 64 people
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Rasmus pointed out the previous Butler County high in 2008 coincided with the most severe economic crisis since the Great Depression. And he said the only issue that effects a greater percentage of the population than mental illness is obesity. Nationally, he said, one in five people struggle with addiction or mental health disorders.
It’s closer to one in four locally, Rasmus said.
“It’s not just war. It’s global warming. It’s pandemics and new pandemics,” he said. “Our residents across butler county are much more stressed out and much more apt to seek mental health services.”
But 50% of the people who need help will not seek it, Rasmus said, largely due to stigma or a lack of awareness about potential options.
In America, about 49,500 people took their own lives last year, according to the Associated Press. That is also the most ever, according to government data posted in August.
In Butler County, suicide was the third-leading cause of death investigated by the coroner last year:
- 184 accidental drug overdoses
- 110 deaths by natural causes
- 64 deaths by suicide
- 34 deaths by accidents
- 30 deaths by traffic crashes
- 18 by homicide
- 9 undetermined
During budget hearings last month, Butler County Coroner Lisa Mannix told county commissioners those who work in suicide prevention want to conduct more psychological autopsies. Those types of autopsies are different than what the coroner normally does. They delve more into why something happened and what the underlying factors were.
“Our goal is to figure out how to prevent future deaths,” Mannix said.
As of Nov. 6, the coroner’s office said 46 people have killed themselves this year. Officials say that means there will likely be more than 50 suicides in the county before the year is over.
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