More people are calling Johnson County’s mental health crisis hotline when they are struggling, according to new data from the county. While that doesn’t always correlate directly with a decrease in suicides, county health experts said it can often be an indicator.
The most recent data available, released last week, shows early signs of improvement. In 2023, 93 people died by suicide, down from 122 the year before. The number of people who died by suicide in the county had been climbing since 2020, said county epidemiologist Gabe Hawkins.
The news is positive, Hawkins said, but people should be wary of reading too far into the numbers.
“It’s hard to say whether or not that's a sign of things going forward,” Hawkins said. “We can hope and we can be glad that there were fewer suicides, (but) we just can’t say for sure.”
Suicides spiked in Johnson County from 2021 to 2022, going from 94 deaths to 122 — many of them young adults ages 18 to 29.
The data from 2023 shows men in their 20s accounted for half of the drop-off.
Shana Burgess, director of prevention at Johnson County Mental Health Center, said the county has been intentional about telling teens and young adults it’s OK to seek help, whether through the county’s crisis hotline or in person.
“We are putting messaging out constantly, both to get people to familiarize with (hotline) numbers and also normalize calling those numbers,” Burgess said.
Destigmatizing mental health struggles
Burgess said programs like Zero Reasons Why are an important part of the effort to normalize and destigmatize getting mental health help.
The program, founded after five suicides during the 2017-18 school year in the Blue Valley School District, is based on three pillars: more open communication about mental health and suicide, building judgment-free community support and a commitment to mental health, and early and consistent suicide prevention education.
Zero Reasons Why holds events dubbed "yellow-outs," where students wear yellow T-shirts with the campaign logo and hold banner signings where students write messages about their experiences with mental health.
Encouraging people to share their stories helps students and other young people in the county feel more confident opening up about their struggles or identifying when a friend or classmate might be struggling, Burgess said.
Burgess also works with the Johnson County Suicide Prevention Coalition. She said they are focusing on gun safety after data in the report showed that firearms are the primary method for suicides.
While teens and young adults are a primary focus, Burgess said they still need to address the entire community, not just a few at-risk demographics.
Nationwide, suicide was the second leading cause of death in 2021 for people between the ages of 10-14 and 25-34, the third leading cause of death among people ages 15-24, and the fifth leading cause of death for people between 35-44.
“We don’t know what any individual is going through at any moment," Burgess said. "So I think just being very thoughtful to not make assumptions one way or another and encourage help-seeking for all."