Suicide rates have increased in rural parts of Georgia. | Daniel Reche/Pexels
Suicide rates have increased in rural parts of Georgia. | Daniel Reche/Pexels
In rural parts of Georgia, suicides increased by more than 8% from 2019 to 2020.
This is in contrast to the rest of the country, where suicide rates were down overall within the same time period, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. CDC officials said the ongoing COVID-19 crisis has factored into the rising numbers.
"Mood swings, behavior changes, isolation, and you will see those changes if there's a problem with a person. Bouts of anger," Dr. Lena Clark, founder of the Miracle Mind Global Network, told Fox 5 Atlanta regarding signs to look out for in a person considering suicide.
Georgia lawmakers have unveiled a bill to deal with the growing crisis of overdose deaths and suicides, Fox 5 Atlanta reported. The bill addresses insurers expanding their benefits to cover mental health disorders, as well as incentives for people training to be mental health professionals.
"I am tired of telling desperate and hurting families that we have no treatment options available in Georgia," House Speaker David Ralston said, introducing the bill. "I am tired of looking in the faces of mothers who have lost a child cause they saw no hope, and I'm tired of seeing the faces of those whose spiral downward has been fed by substance abuse."
Data from the American Medical Association shows suicides are also on the rise in African-American and Asian communities, with an increase of 30% between 2014 and 2019.
"Especially in the minority communities, the African American communities, there's no resource," Clark said. "They don't have money to go and see a psychiatrist or a psychologist. So what they do, they just lock up."
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