BILLINGS — A team looking into Montana’s high suicide rate has found that of the 243 completed suicides in the state in 2014, 81 percent were males and nearly a quarter were veterans.
The Billings Gazette reports that Montana Suicide Mortality Review Team found that there were about 20 suicides per month in 2014, resulting of a rate of 23.8 per 100,000 people, the highest in the United States.
Of those, almost 9 percent of the state’s suicides involved American Indians, who make up just 6 percent of Montana’s population.
The team was appointed by Gov. Steve Bullock in 2013 to look at the factors driving the state’s high suicide and making recommendations on stopping deaths.
State suicide prevention coordinator Karl Rosston says the preliminary ways to reduce suicide risk include training and increased suicide awareness.