Suicide has hit the front page in Montana newspapers recently. There have been four suicides at the Montana State Prison in the past eight months. On Jan. 29, Governor Judy Martz and Gail Gray, director of the Department of Public Health and Human Services, held a press conference dedicated to preventing teen suicides in Montana.

Montana has the second or third highest suicide rate in the country. A check with the Bureau of Vital Statistics shows that in Montana in 2002, there were 269 deaths caused by traffic accidents, 182 suicides, eight AIDS-related deaths, and two deaths caused by hantavirus. So why is it hantavirus gets the headlines?

Why is there such a high suicide rate in Montana? Director Gray said that isolation in the state is an issue, as well as easy access to vehicles and firearms. This may be true, but it is not the cause of suicide. Governor Martz said, "They are looking for a permanent solution to a temporary problem." I would argue that in most cases, it is a permanent solution to a long-standing problem.

Replicated studies by the National Institute of Mental Health and others have shown that 90 percent of suicides are related to undiagnosed, untreated, or inadequately treated mental illness. This is a staggering number.

What do we do about this situation? The governor was absolutely right when she said, "It is not about money. It's about education and it's about awareness." What we need in the state of Montana is a change of attitude. We need to address suicide and mental illness in the open.

First, we must accept that mental illnesses are real. They actually exist. National studies indicate that one in five families in Montana have been touched by mental illness. These are biologically based illnesses that can be treated with medication and appropriate psychotherapy. People do recover from these illnesses and become productive citizens if they can get the appropriate treatments. Getting the appropriate treatment is the problem.

Because many of the people receiving treatment are on Medicaid, the public mental health system must be funded adequately. Last week, Warden Mike Mahoney stated 18 percent of the prison population suffered from a mental illness. The stigma associated with mental illness prevents people from seeking appropriate treatment.

I would argue that the suicide rate in Montana will not change until we treat people with mental illness appropriately whether they are in the public mental health system or the correctional system. Now all we have to do is be committed to that effort.

Dr. Gary Mihelish is the president of NAMI-Montana, and can be reached at 442-4990.