CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The 2023 annual report from the Nueces County Medical Examiner was concerning to see, showing data that just a year prior, suicides represented 12.5 percent of lives lost compared to 10 percent a year before.
Nueces County Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities' Victor Valdez tells 3NEWS how some people end up in a place where they're contemplating the value of their life.
"So when somebody is dealing with a situation that could be considered a crisis, there are different factors they may be experiencing," Valdez said.
Factors such as a sudden loss, a change in income, or even experiencing something new can result in what some see as the final straw.
Adults are not the only ones with the cry for mental assistance.
"Youth encounter crises as well," he said. "We see it in the school systems, kids go and talk to their school counselor."
More than half of suicides that occurred last year were men. The report also shows that the most common cause of death was by gunshot wounds.
Valdez's responsibility as program supervisor is to assess each individual thoroughly, so that suicide does not become an option.
"We go in and assess what is going on with the situation, what caused the change because normally it's circumstantial, something happened and there was an onset of this issue and we want to make sure that we get the full story to be able to better help this person," he said
But if one is already having thoughts or has tried to commit suicide, Valdez said immediate action is necessary.
"The important thing that we can do is to try and meet them at that moment and intervene in a quick way to try and reduce suicide from happening," he said.