Experts say it's hard to establish any sort of trend when it comes to suicide because each case is deeply personal and unique.
Northwest Arkansas saw a spate of murder-suicides and suicides in public spaces earlier this year.
Benton County authorities reported at least three murder-suicides or attempted murder-suicides in June. Fayetteville police responded to a suicide in a wooded area near a hospital that same month. Additionally, this past spring saw at least two instances of suicides in public spaces in Benton County, according to law enforcement.
Debra Capps, director of advancement and strategy at the Arkansas Crisis Center, said she couldn't comment directly on the specific incidents in the region or conclude they represented a broader trend.
However, the center has seen an increase in demand in recent years, she said.
In 2025, counselors responded to more than 20,000 crisis contacts across Arkansas, a 114% increase over the previous year. That highlights a growing need for accessible mental health support, she said.
The Arkansas Crisis Center answers the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline for Arkansas by phone and is also the state's only provider for 988 text and chat services, Capps said. Support is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and is free and confidential, she added.
"People often ask whether there are certain times of year when we see an increase in people reaching out for support," Capps said. "The reality is that mental health challenges don't follow a calendar. While we may experience fluctuations around holidays, the start of the school year, major life transitions, or other stressful events, there isn't one season that consistently accounts for increases in suicidal thoughts or behaviors."
More people reaching out earlier is a positive trend, Capps said. It means more people are recognizing when they need support and are asking for it, she said.
Every conversation with each person who calls or texts is different because every situation is different, Capps said. One of the most important parts of the Crisis Center intervention is working collaboratively with each person to develop a safety plan, she added.
That plan consists of:
• Identifying coping strategies.
• Listing supportive people the person can contact.
• Discussing practical steps the person can take if their situation becomes more difficult.
When it's appropriate, the counselor will help connect people to the next level of care, whether that's a therapist, outpatient counseling, a support group, inpatient treatment or other community resources, Capps said.
The goal isn't just to help someone through one difficult moment, but to help connect them with the ongoing support they need to continue to heal, she said.
WHAT THE DATA SHOW
Suicide is the leading cause of violent death in Arkansas, according to the Arkansas Department of Health's website.
More than 6,000 people died by suicide in the state from 2014 to 2024 -- around 600 per year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In 2024, people over the age of 80 experienced the highest rates of suicide. Men died at a rate four times higher than women, according to the CDC.
Nationally, suicide is one of the leading causes of death at No. 11, according to Julie Cerel, licensed child clinical psychologist and professor in the College of Social Work at the University of Kentucky. Cerel is also director of the university's Suicide Prevention Exposure Lab.
Studies show half of the U.S. population knows someone who has died by suicide, Cerel said. Some studies seemed to conclude every suicide leaves behind six people who knew the person who took their life, she said. However, the lab's own study found each suicide left behind about 135 people who personally knew the person who died.
This finding broadens the scope of the number of people who are impacted by each death and who themselves become at risk for suicide, Cerel said.
Suicide is never caused by just one thing, Cerel said. While many people experience depression, most of them never die by suicide, she said.
About 14.5 million adults in the U.S., 18 and older, had at least one major depressive episode with severe impairment in 2021, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, representing about 5.7% of adults in the country.
Often people worry if they ask someone if they're thinking about suicide, it'll put that idea into someone's head, but research supports most people feeling relieved when someone reaches out after noticing a change and expressing concern, Cerel said.
"You don't have to be suicidal to call 988," Cerel said. "It's there for anyone in a mental health or substance use crisis, or someone that cares about someone who's in crisis."
Getting police involved is a common fear of those who reach out to 988, but generally that only happens if the person asks for the police to be contacted, has a weapon or has already taken a lethal dose of something, Cerel said.
WHEN LAW ENFORCEMENT DOES RESPOND
Sgt. Stephen Mauk of the Fayetteville Police Department said the department receives a lot of calls on a daily basis from both those struggling with suicidal thoughts and ideations and people who are worried about someone else.
When police arrive on scene, the biggest priority is making the scene safe for first responders and medical personnel, so they can safely access the patient, Mauk said.
The department has a crisis intervention response unit that handles mental health calls and is one of the primary resources the department uses, Mauk said. It's a full-time program where paid staff social workers are paired with an officer trained in crisis intervention response, he said.
One of the main goals of those working in the program is to get the person in crisis linked up with follow-up care, but if there's an emergency and the person is displaying signs of suicidal ideations or presents a danger to themselves, they'll be taken to the emergency room, Mauk said.
All officers are trained in the basic level of crisis intervention response, but there are officers who receive more in-depth training who work within the program, Mauk said. The department has four teams of officers and social workers.
The program has done a lot of good work in trying to get people the care they need, Mauk said. Each person helped is also followed up with and provided contacts for care, counseling or other resources in the community, he said.
Police themselves are not immune to moments of crisis. Officers have recurring exposure to trauma, and law enforcement as a whole has not been the greatest at helping officers with their mental-health needs, Mauk said.
Fayetteville's department has a peer-to-peer program involving stress debriefings on critical calls and calls for service with a trained officer, Mauk said.
The department also provides counseling resources as well as two chaplains for staff, he added.
REACHING THE YOUTH
The Arkansas Crisis Center launched AR Teen Connect on Aug. 4, a peer support line staffed by trained high school students with adult oversight, said Capps, the center's director of advancement and strategy.
The hope is to help create a generation that instinctively reaches for connection when life feels heavy, long before it reaches a moment of crisis, she said.
Teens can call or text (479) 558-9889 on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m, Capps said. Whether they're feeling overwhelmed, lonely, anxious, stressed or simply need someone their own age to listen, AR Teen Connect is open to them to reach out to if need be, she added.
"This resource is for the everyday struggles that, when met with connection and support, are less likely to become crises in the first place," Capps said.
Visit arcrisis.org for additional mental health resources, educational information and ways to connect with services.
"We often say that connection saves lives because we've seen it firsthand," Capps said. "When we create communities where people fe