LOGAN – The Cache Suicide Prevention Coalition will host a Suicide Prevention and Awareness Walk on Saturday, May 20.
That event is scheduled for 1 to 2 p.m. at the Historic Cache County Courthouse.
With its theme of “Be The Hope,” the walk is part of the continuing partnership between the Cache Suicide Prevention Coalition, the United Way of Cache Valley, the Bear River Health Department and Live On Utah.
In addition to the awareness walk, area non-profits will set up their resource booths at the courthouse to provide education and assistance regarding mental health issues.
Utah’s suicide rate per capita (per 100,000) is nearly double the national rate, according to experts at the University of Utah Health services.
That statistic is sobering in itself, but worse is the fact that suicide is the leading cause of death among Utah teens aged 15 to 19.
More Utah teens die from suicide than the other four leading causes of death combined, including poisoning, car accidents, homicide and other injuries.
Because of that fact, Utah and a stretch of surrounding states in the Intermountain West are considered to be the nation’s “suicide belt.”
Those states, all of which have elevated suicide rates, include Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming, according to a report by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
While youth suicides have slowly risen across the nation, Utah’s rate has soared.
In 2015, the nation’s average teen suicide rate stood at 4.2 per 100,000. That same year, Utah’s stood at more than 11 per capita.
By 2023, Utah’s teen suicide rate had exploded to more than 26 per capita, compared to 13.9 per capita nationwide.
Live On Utah is a statewide effort to prevent suicide by promoting education, providing resources and changing our culture around suicide and mental health.
The Historic Cache County Courthouse is located at 199 N. Main Street in downtown Logan.