Why is Colorado Springs drug and suicide mortality rate so much higher then Denver? (Pueblo: 2015, neighborhood)

[lovecrowds]

I was just looking at some statistics and despite Denver's reputation for illicit drugs it fares much better on drug and suicide mortality rates compared to El Paso County.

There was a large article on drug use in the state as I suppose they did a report based on new figures coming out from the Colorado Health and Environment division.

The new 2015 vital statistics report from the state is out and I thought there was some interesting numbers.

El Paso Drug Induced Death rate: 21.6
Denver County: 18.2

El Paso County Suicide Rate: 24.9
Denver County Suicide Rate: 13.8

Teller County had a suicide rate of 58 per 100,000 as opposed to 13 per 100,000 in Denver.

Oddly, Yuma County on the plains which is half of the population of Teller County had 0 suicides last year.

file:///C:/Users/matt/Downloads/Denver.pdf
file:///C:/Users/matt/Downloads/El%20Paso.pdf
file:///C:/Users/matt/Downloads/Pueblo.pdf

I have a relative who is a pharmacy technician in Colorado Springs and she says that it is very common for people to doctor shop for opiods in Colorado Springs.

Douglas County has gone from a rate of 6 suicides per 100,000 residents to 16 suicides per 100,000 residents in the last decade.

The rate in Adams County has gone down from 20 per 100,000 to 19 per 100,000 during the same time frame.

Pueblo has seen a huge increase. 27 per 100,000 drug death rate as opposed 18 per 100,000 for Denver. Suicide rate in Pueblo of 27 per 100,000 as opposed to 13 per 100,000 in Denver

file:///C:/Users/matt/Downloads/Pueblo.pdf

[otowi]

One of the reasons is the huge military population in El Paso County (and Teller) and the military's struggle to adequately address the issues of its soldiers returning from war zones.

[smdensbcs]

Originally Posted by otowi

One of the reasons is the huge military population in El Paso County (and Teller) and the military's struggle to adequately address the issues of its soldiers returning from war zones.

This seems pretty intuitively obvious. I'd frankly be very surprised in the "non-military" suicide rate in COS and El Paso County is consistently any higher than greater Denver or Colorado in general. The OP has consistently shown he/she has some sort of axe to grind in his/her observations about COS so it's not surprising they'd post such a horribly disparaging and misleading thread-title. It's just what that particular OP does, for reasons unknown.

[DoodlemomCoS]

While I disagree with just about every post the OP makes regarding CoS, I will say a north CoS neighborhood high school is currently ranked 3rd in the nation for suicides. It was very bad last year with 6 in the course of 1 academic year. It has parents and faculty very concerned.

[lovecrowds]

The link is here.

Colorado department of health and environment

Colorado Health and Environmental Data (CHED)

The statistics are based on data from the Colorado Department of Health and Environment and contain no bias from me.

It is rather odd how despite Denver being the largest city and county in the state, it tends to do have such a lower suicide or substance abuse death rate then other cities in the state.

It is incredible in my opinion that the land of milk and money and one of the most affluent counties in the nation which is Douglas County has a higher suicide rate then Denver.

Pueblo has an suicide rate that twice as high as Denver. The overdose rate is also much, much higher.

I keep hearing how residents of Denver are so concerned about open-air illicit substance abuse consumption but yet per-capita it is lower on this metric then many in Colorado.

[davebarnes]

Drumpf voters.

[BornintheSprings]

Originally Posted by lovecrowds

I was just looking at some statistics and despite Denver's reputation for illicit drugs it fares much better on drug and suicide mortality rates compared to El Paso County.

There was a large article on drug use in the state as I suppose they did a report based on new figures coming out from the Colorado Health and Environment division.

The new 2015 vital statistics report from the state is out and I thought there was some interesting numbers.

El Paso Drug Induced Death rate: 21.6
Denver County: 18.2

El Paso County Suicide Rate: 24.9
Denver County Suicide Rate: 13.8

Teller County had a suicide rate of 58 per 100,000 as opposed to 13 per 100,000 in Denver.

Oddly, Yuma County on the plains which is half of the population of Teller County had 0 suicides last year.

file:///C:/Users/matt/Downloads/Denver.pdf
file:///C:/Users/matt/Downloads/El%20Paso.pdf
file:///C:/Users/matt/Downloads/Pueblo.pdf

I have a relative who is a pharmacy technician in Colorado Springs and she says that it is very common for people to doctor shop for opiods in Colorado Springs.

Douglas County has gone from a rate of 6 suicides per 100,000 residents to 16 suicides per 100,000 residents in the last decade.

The rate in Adams County has gone down from 20 per 100,000 to 19 per 100,000 during the same time frame.

Pueblo has seen a huge increase. 27 per 100,000 drug death rate as opposed 18 per 100,000 for Denver. Suicide rate in Pueblo of 27 per 100,000 as opposed to 13 per 100,000 in Denver

file:///C:/Uisers/matt/Downloads/Pueblo.pdf

Its likely due to your presence lovecrowds.

[Count David]

Population density. Being around other people tends to make people not want to kill themselves.

[Liza18]

As a therapist, I am curious what are the mental health services like in Cos? Are these suicides happening in more rural areas? Specifically what are the mental health services like for the military? I've talked to a few therapists in cos that say that the mental health community is saturated with therapists, especially in private practice. Maybe someone in the mental health community could offer some helpful feedback.

[otowi]

Originally Posted by DoodlemomCoS

While I disagree with just about every post the OP makes regarding CoS, I will say a north CoS neighborhood high school is currently ranked 3rd in the nation for suicides. It was very bad last year with 6 in the course of 1 academic year. It has parents and faculty very concerned.

As someone who works in the area schools, I can thankfully say that appears to be an extreme aberration. One completion every 5 years or so (or less often - for example my school has had 1 completion in the 15 years I've been there) seems to be more the "norm", and maybe one or two non-completions in a year depending on the school size. Even that is too much, of course.

I hope things are better at your school this year! And all the schools, everywhere.