Bingham County Sees Suicide Attempts Spike, State Hospital Admissions Up

There is no tracking mechanism to tell us the cause, but some wonder if cutbacks in mental health services may be contributing to more mental emergencies in southeastern Idaho.

Bingham County Sheriff Dave Johnson said his office receives 3 to 4 calls a day from people in trouble.

Johnson tells our station the Bingham County Sheriff has responded to 7 suicide attempts in the first 14 days of February alone.

“I mean one that actually attempted in one way or another to take their life or harm themself,” clarified Johnson. He added they don’t classify all mental health distress calls as suicide attempts — only when an attempt has clearly been made.

Johnson can’t say mental health cutbacks in Idaho are causing the increase, but he said he can see a possible connection. When police are called to a mental health emergency, patients are sometimes transferred to the hospital. After that, many folks end up in the a state mental institution, because community programs have been cut.

“As far as a buffer between state hospital and law enforcement, is definitely needed in every community,” said Johnson. “They need somewhere to go for help but they don’t necessarily need to go to a mental institution.”

State Hospital South director Tracey Sessions agreed. SHS is running at almost 100 percent capacity right now. The average length of a stay is about 30 to 35 days. That’s longer than other states.

“That’s probably because they have more supportive outpatient kind of care,” Sessions said.

When our station asked if a more effective community program between law enforcement action and committal to an institution would help, Sessions said, “Yes.”

With state cutbacks, there is no where else to go but the state hospitals. The sheriff says it comes down to the “almighty dollar.” Sessions said it’s also the eastern Idaho culture.

“I think a lot of Idahoans are prideful people. And they think that when it comes to mental health, we can just pull ourselves up by our boot straps and move on,” she said.

This year’s state tax revenue is higher than expected and a lot of health professionals are hoping some of the money will go to bolstering mental programs in Idaho.

The Bonneville County Sheriff’s office also confirmed to our station an increase in suicides and suicide attempts over the past couple of years.

Idaho Falls Police Department spokeswoman Joelyn Hansen said the department categorizes calls based on how they are initially reported, so there’s not always an indication of whether or not a mental health issue is involved.