County suicide rate falls

After a tragically high number of suicides in Gunnison County last year, 2025 statistics so far offer a glimmer of hope that local mental health and suicide prevention strategies are paying off. The number of suicides in Gunnison County decreased from 12 in 2024 to three so far in 2025. Two of the 2025 suicides were from non-residents of Gunnison County.

The recently released Gunnison County State of the Community 2025 report details the who and how of suicide in Gunnison County: 85 percent were male, 75 percent used a gun and 50% were older than 52. These data mirror national trends with males dying by suicide 3.8 times more frequently than women.

Suicide prevention in the Gunnison Valley is one of the goals of Crested Butte State of Mind, a nonprofit that connects people to resources. Director Megan Dougherty explained the results of a valley-wide survey her organization conducted regarding potential suicide factors.

“One third of survey respondents in the valley feel isolated and alone and 56% have more than three poor mental health days in a month,” Dougherty said.

The State of the Community report echoed Dougherty’s comments when it listed the results of its own survey.

“Respondents discussed how loss of hope was associated with social isolation, economic insecurity, substance abuse, housing instability, hyper-individualized attitudes and failure,” the report states.

Michael Barnes, Gunnison County coroner, included alcohol abuse as a significant contributing factor to suicide.

“One of the things in our community that is often part of suicide is alcoholism,” Barnes said. “Alcohol is involved in 50% of suicides in this county.”

Gunnison survey results are similar to other findings. For example, loss of hope, coupled with a lack of purpose were found to be major, though not exclusive, contributors to thoughts about suicide according to the Journal of Positive Psychology. In the Gunnison Valley, mental health professionals often address these and other complex mental health topics with various therapy approaches that are used in face-to-face sessions as well as call-in centers. Therapy in this context refers to talk or text chats with a trained counselor.

According to a 2019 large-scale review study, the most common therapy approach in suicide prevention is Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) or variations of it. According to the Association of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapists, CBT therapy is based on the idea that our thoughts are most responsible for our feelings and behaviors, not external things, like people, situations and events. The focus is on self.

CBT therapists believe that we can change how we think, even if the situation does not change. Psychiatric News reports that 50% of therapists in America use CBT in one form or another. Psychoanalysis is the second most used therapy approach. This suicide prevention method attempts to find the underlying reason for a person’s unconscious wishes and fears.

Is the four-fold reduction in suicide rate unique to Gunnison? A Montreal 12-year study claims a 79% reduction in suicides using highly focused support and follow up. But many studies show low to insignificant reductions in suicide rate.

Ron Watson, a decades-long Gunnison Valley resident founded WeCareGunny.com, a faith-based organization, to problem-solve the Gunnison Valley suicide epidemic.

“What if suicide isn’t a medical or a mental health issue?” he said. “What if it’s a spiritual issue?”

Watson’s work led WeCareGunny.com to become part of GroundWire.net, a 24-7 call-in platform founded by Sean Dunn, a Colorado Springs faith leader. In May 2025, Groundwire.net had over two million website visits.

“Any mental health conversation that does not include faith is incomplete,” Dunn told the Times.

“The overall effect of WeCareGunny.com has been positive,” deputy coroner Melissa Post said.

Callers into the Groundwire.net platform text chat with spiritual coaches who focus on hope and purpose, not primarily on self. Sean explained that Groundwire.net coaches do not try to get callers to discover their problems, rather to accept a spiritual solution.

Watson’s work in the Gunnison Valley has included the involvement of 12 local churches and para-church organizations. They produced flyers, bumper stickers and banners that direct people where to go for help. The effort celebrated the suicide rate reduction with a summer Hope Fest, which attracted over 300 residents and featured free food, local musicians and testimonies of success stories.

“Adding spiritual coaching to the mix of treatment options offered in the Gunnison Valley seems to be the missing element that moved the needle in the right direction on suicide rates,” Watson said.

(Dave Pinkerton is a Gunnison-based freelance writer.)