[Jeff Lebowski]

A few that I found:

http://www.edweek.org/login.html?sou...&baddebt=false

The Western states, especially the region that flanks the long spine of the Rocky Mountains—Montana, Nevada, Colorado, and Utah—consistently have among the highest percentages of teenage suicides in the country. The map below shows an average of state-by-state suicide rates for 1994-97, calculated per 100,000 youths ages 10 to 19. Experts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say one reason for the high rates in the Western half of the country is that residents of prairie and mountain states are more socially isolated. Some also have speculated that the rate is higher because those with a pioneering spirit who migrate West may be disappointed when they arrive at their destinations and their high expectations aren't met. If depression strikes, mental-health care tends to be harder to access in those regions. Less populated states also tend to have fewer community institutions such as parks and recreational activities to bring far-flung people together. Higher suicide rates may also be connected to a larger number of firearms in circulation per capita in the West and the South.

http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_d...&id=13737&cn=9

• The Rocky Mountain and Western states have the highest rates of suicide in the U.S. Interestingly, this statistic isn't weather-related (it’s a myth that cold, rainy, snowy and/or cloudy weather results in a higher rate of suicide; most suicides occur in the springtime), but is related to the concentration of people in these states. Even though there are certainly large cities in these states, overall, the population is more "spread out" than in other parts of the country. See the next bullet point.
• Suicide rates are higher in rural areas. People in rural ares are more likely to attempt suicide with a firearm. Because people who use a firearm are more likely to die (than others who choose a less lethal method), more people in rural areas die from suicide.

After reading this, I am starting to worry for landpoke:

http://www.bluecorncomics.com/suicide.htm

The Rocky Mountain region had a rate of about 17 per 100,000, and Wyoming's rate is the worst in the nation at nearly 22 per 100,000.


States with dominant Republican politics, mostly in the West, have suicide rates higher than the rest of the nation, Litts said.


People living in Western states and especially Wyoming also share the desires of anonymity, privacy, keeping family problems in the family, a tripling of the divorce rate in rural areas compared to most urban areas from 1970 to 1990, the view that suicide is viewed as a failure of the individual and the family, denial that self-inflicted deaths area a problem and a conspiracy of silence that protects the family and the victim's good name, he said.


Other individual and family factors contributing to the high suicide rate include previous suicide attempts, access to firearms, exposure to suicide, the stigma associated with mental health problems and suicide, and economic instability, Litts said.


On a societal level, the agricultural sector has declined, global markets are beyond local control, failure of the family farm causes a public loss of face, loss of a lifestyle, loss of a reason for living and alcohol misuse, Litts said.


Veterans are disproportionately from rural areas and returning vets don't receive the support and care they need, he said.


However, Wyoming and Western cultures have some factors that can counteract the suicide problems caused by the "rugged independence" mentality, Litts said.

This is a good one. It has a table of suicide rates for 2005. Utah is #15, but appears to be the lowest in the region:

http://www.suicide.org/suicide-statistics.html#2005