Residents in one part of Connecticut are more likely to report having suicidal ideation, but experts say that might be due to a willingness to talk about it.

Emergency departments in South Central Connecticut recorded more frequent mentions of suicidal ideation than facilities in other parts of the state, according to the state Department of Public Health. 

In data collected between April 2024 and April 2025, residents of the towns that make up the South Central Regional Council of Governments told ER personnel they’d had thoughts of suicide at one-and-a-half times the state average. 

But the numbers might point to more of an opportunity than a problem.

“I do wonder if, in the region of South Central Connecticut, stigma has gotten to the point where we are more open to know about suicidal ideation, more than in other regions,” said Dr. Pamela Hoffman, a clinician at Yale Medicine’s pediatric emergency department.

“It’s really wonderful that we’re seeing these numbers, because it means that we can intervene,” she said. “There are suicidal people that are out there that we don’t know about, and this is actually us finding out about it.”

When patients arrive at the ER, suicidal ideation may be assessed by a medical professional, who asks the patient directly if they are thinking of ending their life. The data includes people who may have been treated for other conditions, but they were asked, as per hospital protocol, if they wished to harm themselves, according to a statement by the Department of Public Health.    

“There are hospitals around the nation for which there is not the standard of care to ask about suicidality for all patients,” said Hoffman. “I’ll give credit to our Hartford colleagues” at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, she said, who started universally screening all ER patients for suicidal thoughts five years ago.

Residents of the Capitol Region Council of Governments, which includes Hartford, told ERs they had suicidal thoughts at the second-highest rate in Connecticut.

Suicidal ideation rates at ER visits have remained relatively steady in the last five years, apart from a big drop between Q1 and Q2 2020, which, according to the Department of Public Health, “is the impact of COVID 19 and people being fearful of going to the [emergency department] for routine and non-life-threatening conditions during this time.”

Thoughts of suicide had been on the rise long before COVID, according to Hoffman. In her almost two decades of emergency room practice, she has seen an increase in suicidal thoughts, attempts, and fatalities, while the age of people attempting suicide has gone down. “Younger kids are trying things, more than they ever have,” she said.

The belief that talking about suicide increases the chances a person will act on it has been widely debunked.

“We had a mental health crisis for children even before COVID,” said Hoffman. “Now we’re talking about it, thankfully. Now we’re describing it. Now we’re trying to change it.”

Dr. Christine Cha, a youth suicide researcher at the Yale Child Study Center, said, “There’s no need to wait until a person has already tried to hurt themselves and gone to the [emergency department] to then broach the topic of suicide. The science shows us that asking youth and adults about suicide is not directly harmful or suggestive. It’s OK to ask. And by not asking, we may be giving up countless opportunities to start an important conversation.”

Connecticut ERs saw over 38,000 visits in which suicidal ideation was present last year, according to data from the Department of Public Health.      

Young people aged 10 to 17 had the highest rate of suicidal ideation — 501 per 10,000 visits. In Connecticut, the rate of suicidal ideation per ER visit decreased with age.

Residents of the city of New Haven differed from the typical age pattern. Their rate of suicidal ideation in ER visits increased with age up to the 45-54 range, before decreasing. Researchers could not speak to the reason behind the older ages in New Haven.

Nationwide, men ages 85 and older are the most likely cohort to die by suicide. Fatality is linked to access to lethal means, particularly firearms.

“The folks that die from suicide don’t necessarily have a pattern of hospitalizations or emergency room treatments,” said Brendan Burke, Assistant Child Advocate at the state Office of the Child Advocate. “Some folks have zero contact with helping systems before they die by suicide. Others have years and years of treatment, and they still die by suicide.”

Many who struggle with suicidal thoughts and self harm do not get access to the treatment they need, said Burke. And just because a person is seen at an ER doesn’t mean treatment resources are established or those thoughts are resolved.

“Once they come into my ER, we’ve already failed them,” said Hoffman.

Both Cha and Hoffman are positive about telehealth treatment, which has become more prominent since COVID and is legal in Connecticut. Hoffman said she hopes to see more conversations about suicide at schools and workplaces.

Anyone can experience thoughts of suicide, Burke said. “It’s your neighbor, it’s your school teacher, it’s anybody around us that could get to that point.”

Hoffman suggests that kids save the 988 and 211 hotline numbers in their phone’s contacts before they think they need them.

“I actually encourage them not to name it like ‘crisis’ or ‘suicide hotline.’ I want them to name it something that if their friends started going through their phone, they wouldn’t freak out about it,” Hoffman said.