CDC report: The Blue Ridge Parkway ties for tops in nation for suicides, attempted suicide attempts in national parks

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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This is a sobering report from livescience.com. The report shows that from 2003 to 2009, six people attempted suicide in on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and 15 people killed themselves. In the Grand Canyon for the same period, there 10 attempts and 11 suicides, giving each park 21 total suicides and attempted suicides:

A new report has placed the Blue Ridge Parkway and Grand Canyon National Park at the top of America’s national parks in a grim statistic: suicide attempts.

The research, published today (Dec. 2) in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, found that between 2003 and 2009, there were 286 suicide attempts on national park property. Of those, 194 succeeded in ending their lives.

According to the report, more than three-quarters of suicides occur at home, but suicides in public places like national parks can be traumatic to both park staff and witnesses. They can also be expensive. In one case, the report found, the search for a missing suicide victim cost almost $200,000.

National park suicides are more likely than average to involve a jump or a car crash: In 19 percent of attempts, the person fell from a cliff or a bridge, and in 6 percent of cases, people attempted suicide by vehicle, sometimes driving off a cliff. In comparison, 2 percent of suicides nationally involve a jump, and less than 1 percent are transportation-related, the report noted.

In keeping with national trends, the most common suicide method in national parks was by firearm. Men made up 83 percent of park suicides.

Thanks to @bentmatches for the heads-up.