43.0°

Alaska wants to remove itself from the nation's Top 10 list for the number of suicide deaths per capita.

The suicide rate for all age groups in Alaska is two times the national average, so it will take effort to do it. The Legislature outlined its goal in October of 2001 when it created the Statewide Suicide Prevention Council, and recently extended it through 2009.

The council aims to reduce suicides from a three-year average of 21 deaths per 100,000 to 15 deaths. The national average is about 11.

With a budget of a little less than $3 million a year, the council wants to accomplish its goal by 2011.

Reports from the last few years show declines in the suicide rate. That is good news, said state project coordinator James Gallanos, but it's hard to tell if it's a trend.

During the past 10 years, Alaska's number of suicide deaths fluctuated from 16.5 per 100,000 to 23.5 - a high hit in 2004. The rate declined in 2005 to 19.8, and that year Alaska dropped on the nation's list from No. 1 to No. 3. The rate dropped again in 2006, to 19.5 deaths.

"If it continues to decline, it will be better news," Gallanos said.

Eight months on the job, Gallanos recently started "gatekeeper training" in a program designed specifically for Alaska. He teaches people to recognize signs and symptoms of depression, and wants to train others who will help him train more people to become gatekeepers.

But he alone is spreading the program throughout Alaska's regions.

"I can't train the whole state," he said. "We need more funding to get more people out there."

Bill Martin, president of the Tlingit-Haida Central Council, also wants to see more funds and training.

Martin made teenage suicide prevention a top priority for the organization, setting up a group to look at the problem.

Members applied for a federal grant that, if awarded, would be used throughout Southeast Alaska. Martin said he wants to get every tribal leader in the region to put it on their agenda.

"In our culture it's just not something we really wanted to talk about, but the problem is there," Martin said. "Unless we put it on the forefront it's not going to go away."

Martin is familiar with depression, having gone through the experience himself. He said he thinks recognizing signs and symptoms of depression will help.

"You get down in a hole so far, you can't see daylight when you look up," he said. "Depression is a journey and the best thing someone can do is have a connection. ... You need someone there to grab you and pull you back up towards the light."

The state's suicide prevention program, which operates under the Department of Health, also applied for the $1.5 million federal grant. The money would be distributed over three years, and part would help pay for more education and awareness, Gallanos said.

The state and Juneau's tribal group are competing for the funding. Gallanos said his department plans to work within each region to identify needs and resources.

"We hope to partner with communities ... regardless of who gets the funds, we have to work together," he said.

Grant awards are expected to be announced this summer.