Utah health data shows high suicide rate

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – New data from Utah’s Office of Vital Records shows the state has one of the nation’s highest rates of suicide. The Salt Lake Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/xN0q7Y) the data shows 495 people took their own lives in 2011. That’s up from 455 suicides in 2010. Utah Department of Health officials say the increase isn’t statistically significant because the state population also grew. Department of Health Education Coordinator Jenny Johnson says Utah’s suicide rates have long been high. An analysis of Utah’s 2010 deaths found nearly 40 percent of those who committed suicide had conflicts with an intimate partner. Slightly more than half had been diagnosed with mental illness. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study of 2008 and 2009 data found 6.8 percent of Utah adults experienced suicidal thoughts.

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