ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Lehigh County is seeing an increase in suicides among its older population, according to the county coroner.
Coroner Daniel Buglio, in his annual report, recently made a note of the increase in the average age of people committing suicide in Lehigh County.
"We've been seeing that increase within, probably the last 18 months,” Buglio said.
Buglio said the average age of a person committing suicide used to be 35 to 40 years old, and the number now has climbed to 50.
He said his office is tracking the data more closely than before and using those numbers for prevention and outreach efforts.
“To be able to provide all that information and have these numbers and say, 'Listen, you're not alone. You're not doing this by yourself. There's other people that we could refer you to,'" Buglio said.
"It's important, I think, that we keep that communication open and that door open for everyone.”
Buglio said many suicides at an older age are related to health or relationship reasons, such as losing a long-time spouse.
“So the loss of a loved one, the loss of a spouse for 50 plus years, and they don't know if they can continue without things like that,” Buglio said.
'A prevention effort'
The data collected is share with the Suicide Prevention Coalition of Lehigh County and the newly formed Lehigh County LOSS — or Local Outreach to Suicide survivors — team so they can provide the necessary resources.
"When we have a suicide anywhere in Lehigh County, we notify the LOSS team, we provide them the information of the surviving next of kin or family member,” Buglio said.
"They'll get in touch with that person, they'll prepare a care package, and they'll typically match a lost team member who experienced the same thing.”
Allison Frantz, coordinator of the Suicide Prevention Coalition of Lehigh County and the LOSS team for Lehigh County, said, "The Suicide Prevention Coalition structure has a steering team that uses the data from the corner to be able to determine where we should target or focus."
"Families of the newly bereaved are four times more likely to die by suicide."Allison Frantz, Suicide Prevention Coalition of Lehigh County
Frantz said the Suicide Prevention Coalition of Lehigh County is a group of people who are passionate about reducing deaths of despair, including suicide, using prevention and intervention methods.
‘Families of the newly bereaved are four times more likely to die by suicide,” she said. “So having resources and having someone there from the LOSS Team is a prevention effort.”
'There is help out there'
The LOSS team, established in March, was made possible through a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, or SAMHSA, from U.S. Rep. Susan Wild, D-Lehigh County
“You're not alone and there is help out there. The team goes out to the families of the newly bereaved. The catch, though, is one person on that team that makes the visit has to have lost someone to suicide.”Allison Frantz, coordinator of the Suicide Prevention Coalition of Lehigh County
“You're not alone and there is help out there,” Frantz said. "The team goes out to the families of the newly bereaved. The catch, though, is one person on that team that makes the visit has to have lost someone to suicide.”
The two entities offer a variety of resources to those who may be struggling or the bereaved. Though many of the programs are offered to people of all ages, not specific to the older population, the Suicide Prevention Coalition of Lehigh County and LOSS Team are involved with the Aging and Behavioral Health Task Force.
“One of the other things that as a coalition, we have done is gone to senior centers and provided information, myth busting, that kind of thing,” Frantz said.
Suicide support groups can be found through the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and those struggling can call the national lifeline at 988.
