Spring arrives March 20 and many will appreciate the sunshine and warmth it brings after winter's gloom. But for some, spring brings dark, desperate feelings.

 

It's a cruel incongruity, but spring is typically the season when suicide rates spike. Data from the National Center for Health Statistics show routine rises in suicide rates in the U.S. anywhere from March to June nearly every year since 1999.

 

Carol Koplan, adjunct assistant professor at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health, said scientists have speculated for years on a number of causes, everything from the biological effects of sunshine to the psychology of loneliness.

 

"Studies from other countries also report peaks in the spring and summer, however, recently, the UK has had less seasonal variation. The causes for seasonal variations have not been definitively determined," she said.

 

Even without knowing what causes the increases, the public health picture of suicide is grim. More than 38,000 Americans committed suicide in 2010, an average of 105 people every day. In 2012, suicide surpassed traffic fatalities as the top cause of injury-related deaths in the U.S, according to the CDC.

 

Suicide is also a major public health threat in Georgia. In 2010 alone, 1,165 Georgians took their own lives, up from 904 in 2006, according to the Georgia Violent Death Reporting System. By comparison, 682 Georgians were murdered in 2010. The state also has the highest suicide attempt rate in the nation, with 1.5 percent of Georgians reporting they tried to take their own lives within the past year.

 

With such a widespread problem, Georgia has taken major steps to work to prevent suicide. In 2001, stakeholders around the state crafted the Georgia Suicide Prevention Plan, becoming one of the first states to develop a plan to tackle the problem. The plan spells out how to bring suicide prevention into the worlds of education, health care, media, the workplace, religious communities and the criminal justice system.

 

If that seems rather broad, that's because suicide touches many different kinds of people -- from teens in high school to older adults.

 

"There's no one reason for suicide. There are so many components to it," said Sheri McGuinness, president and chief executive officer of the Suicide Prevention Action Network of Georgia (SPAN-GA). "We can't find a cure. There's no pill for it. So there are many places where we need to have an impact."

 

One of the biggest challenges lies in identifying and helping people struggling with their mental health. Major depression, bipolar disorder, substance abuse and other mental health problems are some of the biggest risk factors for suicide. People who attempt suicide or talk about attempting it are at an even higher risk of killing themselves. And then there are those who take their lives on an impulse, perhaps after suffering a traumatic event or a prolonged private struggle.

 

Hopelessness was what haunted McGuinness' husband, Joe, who committed suicide in 1999. McGuinness said he had struggled the last few years of his life and felt increasingly that he was a burden to his wife and their four children. After her husband's death, McGuinness realized the importance of bringing suicide out of the shadows.

 

"There's so much stigma around suicide that it's hard to reach out for help or hard to know what to do," she said.

 

Many groups in Georgia have been working for more than a decade to fight that stigma and start conversations about suicide. Schools around the state host Sources of Strength, a national program that works with young people to change attitudes and behaviors to prevent suicide. Organizations like McGuinness' SPAN-GA and the Georgia Suicide Prevention Coalition work to promote suicide awareness, prevention, intervention and after-care. The groups not only try to keep suicides from happening, but they also work to care for survivors of suicide. Caring for family and friends of those who kill themselves turns out to be an important part of prevention as well, since one in four suicide attempters have a family history of suicide.

 

SPAN-GA hosts Survivors of Suicide (SOS) groups in communities across the state and on April 19-21 the organization will host its second annual Camp SOS for families who have lost a loved one to suicide. For more information on the camp or to register to attend, email georgiasurvivors@gmail.com.

 

If you or someone you know struggles with thoughts of suicide, call the Georgia Crisis and Access Line (GCAL) at 1-800-715-4225 or visit mygCAL.com, where Georgians in crisis can connect with professional social workers and counselors 24 hours a day.