Find Out the Suicide Rate in Fountain Valley

The highest rate of suicide in Orange County from 2009 through 2011 was in Laguna Beach and the lowest was in Villa Park, according to an Orange County Health Care Agency report officials released today.

In Laguna Beach, the only city where the most popular method of suicide was overdose, the rate was 21.1 per 100,000 population over the three-year period analyzed. The number of people who took their own lives there was 17.

In contrast over the same time, in Villa Park there were no suicides. Fountain Valley’s rate was 11.1 per 100,000 with 20 suicides during the three-year period.

Laguna Beach’s rate far outstripped other cities, with Dana Point and Newport Beach posting suicides at 13.5 per 100,000 population. In Dana Point, the total number of suicides over the period studied was 15 and in Newport Beach there were 40 people who killed themselves.

The city with the highest actual suicides from 2009-2011 was Anaheim, which had 72, for a rate of 7.5 per 100,000 population. Fullerton was next with 55, a rate of 13.4 per 100,000 population.

The countywide rate was nine per 100,000 population, a total of 835 suicides. Thirteen of the county’s cities exceeded the county rate.

The county’s rate is less than the state’s 9.9 and the national rate of 12 per 100,000.

Villa Park and Santa Ana were the only cities to make the county’s goal of not exceeding five suicides per 100,000 population.

Annually, about 3,000 people suffered self-inflicted wounds, and about 278 killed themselves, county officials reported.

Mostly it’s men killing themselves with the rate being 75 percent. Men tend to chose violent deaths while women opt for drug overdose or poison.

Non-Hispanic whites accounted for the highest rate of suicides in the county, 15.4 per 100,000 population, trailed by blacks at 8.8 per 100,000, Asian/Pacific Islanders at 6.4 per 100,000 and Latinos at 3.1 per 100,000 population.

Men 75 years or older accounted for the highest rate of suicides, but middle-aged men 45 to 54 have the highest actual number of self-inflicted deaths. The suicide rate among military veterans is three times higher than civilians.

The “major risk factors” for suicide are mental illness, substance abuse and military service, according to the county’s report. Veterans made up 15 percent of suicides in Orange County.

Guns were used in 33.2 percent of suicides, and 33.1 died from hanging or strangulation. Poisoning or drug overdose accounted for 22.5 percent of suicides.

The rate of jumping or lying in front of a moving object such as trains has steadily increased from one in 2009 to four in 2010 and eight in 2011.

Suicide is the top cause of injury-related deaths in the county and the fourth leading cause of premature death, according to county officials.

“Because self-inflicted injury and suicide is a public health problem that is preventable, increased awareness about the behavior, demographics (for example, age, gender, veteran status) and circumstances associated with self- harm may help inform more effective prevention/intervention efforts,” the report reads.

--City News Service

PHOTO Patch file photo.