Shana Burgess cautions people from putting too much stock in year-to-year fluctuations in the number of Johnson County residents who died by suicide.
“No matter what, one death by suicide is one too many,” says the director of Prevention and Community Relations at the Johnson County Mental Health Center. “Behind every number is a person, a family, a community.”
Last year, the number of Johnson County residents who died by suicide was 96, up from 66 in 2024, and 93 the year before that. The 2025 number is a preliminary count and county officials are clear that, until the end of this year, it could change…