Stefan Gingerich

Thank you. It's great to be here.

Thank you. It's great to be here.

Yeah, I was just going to say, I could talk about this for a while because I've given presentations on exactly what you're saying. often and at great length. But before I do that, I just want to like right off the top mention, if anybody listening is having a mental health crisis or considering suicide or knows somebody who is, the number is 988. Call that, text it 24-7.

Yeah, I was just going to say, I could talk about this for a while because I've given presentations on exactly what you're saying. often and at great length. But before I do that, I just want to like right off the top mention, if anybody listening is having a mental health crisis or considering suicide or knows somebody who is, the number is 988. Call that, text it 24-7.

You can get the help you need. That's nationwide as well as throughout Minnesota, which is where I focus.

You can get the help you need. That's nationwide as well as throughout Minnesota, which is where I focus.

You know, pause the podcast, call that number, come back and listen to us later. Exactly. And as you mentioned, so the trend with regard to suicide in Minnesota, which again is where I focus all my attention and nationally is not a good thing. It's not what we're hoping to see. The numbers have consistently gone up over the past 20 plus years.

You know, pause the podcast, call that number, come back and listen to us later. Exactly. And as you mentioned, so the trend with regard to suicide in Minnesota, which again is where I focus all my attention and nationally is not a good thing. It's not what we're hoping to see. The numbers have consistently gone up over the past 20 plus years.

I do my best when I talk about this with the Suicide Prevention Task Force yesterday or suicide prevention coordinators across the state. to try to find some bright spots. And this podcast is one example. The task force is one example. There are lots of people working hard on these issues to bring a comprehensive public health approach to preventing future increases in suicide.

I do my best when I talk about this with the Suicide Prevention Task Force yesterday or suicide prevention coordinators across the state. to try to find some bright spots. And this podcast is one example. The task force is one example. There are lots of people working hard on these issues to bring a comprehensive public health approach to preventing future increases in suicide.

And at the same time, this is a 20-year trend that we've seen. And so back in 2001 in Minnesota, the rate was 9.6 per 100,000. And now it is, you know, most recently the estimate for 2022 that we're calculating is 14.3. So that's a pretty substantial increase, you know, about a 50% increase or so.

And at the same time, this is a 20-year trend that we've seen. And so back in 2001 in Minnesota, the rate was 9.6 per 100,000. And now it is, you know, most recently the estimate for 2022 that we're calculating is 14.3. So that's a pretty substantial increase, you know, about a 50% increase or so.

And, you know, putting that into context, we think about, you know, something like weight loss and heart disease. Dan, I know you know a lot about this. You don't turn that around in a day and a half. You don't turn around heart disease in a day and a half. You don't turn around a 20-year trend in even a year or a year and a half.

And, you know, putting that into context, we think about, you know, something like weight loss and heart disease. Dan, I know you know a lot about this. You don't turn that around in a day and a half. You don't turn around heart disease in a day and a half. You don't turn around a 20-year trend in even a year or a year and a half.

And so what we kind of are looking for at this point is a slowing of the increase, maybe a few years of decreases that could signal perhaps we're reaching a point where the numbers might start to come down a little more consistently. We've seen a couple of hopeful signs. The optimistic side of me looks at 2017 and 18 in Minnesota, where the numbers came down in 2018 relative to 2017.

And so what we kind of are looking for at this point is a slowing of the increase, maybe a few years of decreases that could signal perhaps we're reaching a point where the numbers might start to come down a little more consistently. We've seen a couple of hopeful signs. The optimistic side of me looks at 2017 and 18 in Minnesota, where the numbers came down in 2018 relative to 2017.

Nationally, those numbers came down in 2019 and 2020, surprisingly enough, with regard to the pandemic and the other social issues that happened in 2020. And so those two years of decreases

Nationally, those numbers came down in 2019 and 2020, surprisingly enough, with regard to the pandemic and the other social issues that happened in 2020. And so those two years of decreases

give you know the optimist in me a little bit of hope that that we're seeing something change whereas in the previous 20 years at least again in minnesota we had only seen two years of decreases over a 18 15 year period so like i said the numbers are going up if you look at the 20-year trend it is increasing yeah um

give you know the optimist in me a little bit of hope that that we're seeing something change whereas in the previous 20 years at least again in minnesota we had only seen two years of decreases over a 18 15 year period so like i said the numbers are going up if you look at the 20-year trend it is increasing yeah um