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Rates of depression and suicide are higher in southwest Missouri than the rest of the state

A man sits on a bench
Mabel Amber
/
Pixabay
A man sits on a bench

The Springfield-Greene County Health Department reports significantly higher rates in the region.

Our weekly program, Making Democracy Work, is a collaboration between KSMU Radio and the League of Women Voters of Southwest Missouri. It's hosted and produced by volunteers from the LWV, and it airs each Monday morning at 9:45 on KSMU. 

In this episode of our local program Making Democracy Work, Erika Fox speaks with Lauren Stockam, public health program representative with the Springfield-Greene County Health Department.

Stockam shares updates and continued expansion of a health campaign to address southwest Missouri’s high rates of depression and suicide, particularly among young men. She reports rates of depression in southwest Missouri are 24% higher, and suicide rates are 20% higher, than the rest of the state.

Stockam talks about the Healthy Living Alliance — a group of agencies in the Ozarks geared toward improving health and well-being in the region. She discusses the roll out of a website and programs to help people plug into available resources and continued goals for utilizing the grant received last year to address these area needs.