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Oklahoma's rate of violent
death is one-third higher than the national rate,
federal and state reports show.
The
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
last week issued the first detailed statistics
on violent death in Oklahoma and 15 other states.
The system began in 2003; Oklahoma joined the
following year.
Although the federal report
didn't provide state-specific data, the state
Health Department last year released its own
violent-death report using the figures it submitted
to the CDC.
Violent death is defined as
intentional use of physical force, including drugs
or poisons, or unintentional use of a gun.
In 2004 and 2005, the state
saw 1,784 violent death incidents, an average of
863 per year. There were 2.4 violent-death
incidents per day. A single incident could claim
the lives of more than one person.
The state Health Department
uses medical examiner reports, death certificates,
police reports and supplemental homicide reports to
determine whether deaths were violent.
Oklahoma averaged 508 suicides
per year 60 percent of its violent deaths.
The overall rate of violent
deaths in Oklahoma averaged over 2004-05 was 33
percent higher than the U.S. rate in 2004.
"That's largely due to the
rates of suicide and the rates of undetermined
manner of death, said
Sheryll Brown, an epidemiologist with
the state Health Department.
Undetermined manner of death
typically stems from the medical examiner's report
and indicates evidence doesn't favor one cause over
another.
Brown said the system used to
track violent deaths pulls together information
from various sources to provide a comprehensive
picture.
"We can look at information
about the victims; we can look at information about
the suspects; we can look at information about the
weapons and gather information about circumstances
surrounding the deaths, she said.
Many are suicides
Often, those who died violently took their own
lives.
For those in public health and
mental health, the report likely is unsurprising,
Brown said. For the public, the prevalence of
suicide may come as a shock.
"We think of violent deaths as
usually homicides, she said.
Phil Lowe, counseling services
coordinator for Youth Services of Tulsa, said
suicide is the second-leading cause of death for
the young and a leading cause of death for senior
citizens.
Oklahoma, he said, is a
regional leader in suicide prevention efforts and
was among the first states to receive a federal
grant for that purpose. Instead of focusing on
certain groups or communities, Oklahoma's approach
has been to train people to train others to look
for suicide warning signs and how to intervene when
they recognize them.
Friends, loved ones and
medical professionals often miss critical cues.
Moreover, asking someone if he or she is about to
commit suicide is difficult.
"What we teach people is you
ask it pretty straight-up, Lowe said.
Lowe attributed the state's
suicide rate to untreated depression and lack of
mental health services in rural areas.
Breaking up with a boyfriend
or girlfriend often triggers suicidal thoughts in
the young, whereas being diagnosed with illness
often does so in the elderly. Add drugs and
alcohol, and things become volatile.
"It's a problem, Lowe said of
suicide, "but it's a very preventable problem.
Jessica Hawkins, a suicide
prevention program manager for the Oklahoma
Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse
Services, said mental health and suicide are
stigmatized and seldom discussed. Most people, she
said, don't know what warning signs to look for or
where to send a suicidal person for help.
Hawkins said it's incorrect to
assume a suicidal person can't be stopped.
"Most people who seek out help
and get it are never suicidal again in their life,
she said
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