Graph figures compiled from Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention Violent Death Reporting System. Rates not calculated for less than 20 observations.

TRENTON — “To be or not to be?” that is the sad question residents appear to ask themselves in Cape May County more than anywhere else in New Jersey.

State figures point to Cape May County as having yet another unwanted distinction. Along with increasing crime rates and some of the highest cancer rates statewide, this county also had the highest suicide rate in the state from 2004 to 2006.

Over that period, 36 individuals in this county took their own lives for an age-adjusted suicide rate of 11.8 per 100,000 residents. The rates in Camden (9.7), Ocean (9.4) and Cumberland (9.0) counties were the next highest.

Statewide, there were 1,784 suicides for a rate of 6.7.

These figures come from the Violent Death Reporting System of the state’s Office of Injury Surveillance and Prevention (OISP).

According to statistics from that office, this county’s suicide rate is up more than a point over the previous reporting years. From 2003 to 2005, Cape May County had a suicide rate of 10.1, which was the second highest in the state behind only Camden County, 11.4.

An OISP brief released last year notes a relationship between suicide and guns.

“The relationship between firearm prevalence and suicide has been well established in a number of national studies,” the brief stated.

Rural areas in the state, including those in this county, have higher rates of gun ownership. Guns were found in over 18 percent of Cape May County homes, which is in the top third in the state.

“New Jersey has relatively low rates of both suicide and gun ownership, but as can be seen, they are correlated at the county level,” the brief continued. “Counties with higher rates of gun ownership tend to be located in the South or Northwestern part of the state. In general, these counties have above average suicide rates, and the percent of suicides committed with a firearm in these counties is also above average.”

In Cape May County, one out of three suicide deaths involved a gun. Statewide, only 27.7 percent were firearm suicides.

Contact Hart at (609) 886-8600 Ext 35 or at: jhart@cmcherald.com