The Great Smoky Mountain Journal

By: Wate News, Knoxville, Wire

Posted, Updated: Monday, December 31, 2018 04:29 PM

Tennessee's Suicide Rate Increased In 2016 According To State Figures

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (SOURCE: WATE) - The suicide rate in Tennessee increased in 2016.

The Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network says the data is the highest in the state in over 35 years of record-keeping.

One person between the ages of 10-18 died by suicide every week. One person between the ages of 10-24 died by suicide every four days. At least one person over the age of 45 died by suicide every day.

According to the Tennessee Department of Health's Office of Health Statistics, there were 1,110 recorded suicide deaths.

Seventy-seven percent of suicide deaths were men. Ninety-one percent of suicide deaths were of people who identified as white.

The office says firearms were the most common way suicide occurred.

For more information, visit the Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network's website.