GREENFIELD — The Hancock County coroner’s office investigated more deaths in 2020 than it did the previous year, seeing increases in a number of categories of mortality, including natural causes and suicides.
The coroner’s office investigated 161 deaths during 2020. That’s an increase over 2019, when it investigated 107 deaths. Coroner David Stillinger said it is normal for the number of deaths in a year to fluctuate.
“You can’t always explain extra deaths or lack of deaths,” he said.
Stillinger added that deaths were abnormally low in 2019, and that some of the increase is explained by the growing population of Hancock County.
The largest proportion of deaths investigated by the coroner were found to be of natural causes. That’s a broad category that includes any internal cause, like disease or other medical condition. The coroner investigated 126 natural deaths in 2020, making up approximately 78% of the total cases.
In 2019, the coroner’s office investigated 77 natural deaths, representing about 73% of its investigations.
Of the year’s natural deaths, five were attributed to COVID-19. The county has seen 107 total deaths due to the coronavirus, but most of those do not require the coroner’s involvement because they occur in medical settings.
The coroner’s office recorded 22 accidental deaths, or 13.7% of its investigations. That category includes drug overdoses, motor vehicle accidents and other accidents.
Of those accidental deaths, 14 were caused by drug overdoses. Three were specified to be fentanyl, one methamphetamine, one prescription medication and nine from the use of multiple drugs.
In 2019, the coroner’s office investigated 11 drug overdoses, all of which were found to be caused by the use of multiple drugs. One person also died of hypothermia due to alcohol intoxication.
Ten of the 2020 deaths, 6.2% of those investigated, were suicides. Two deaths recorded are still listed as of undetermined cause, pending toxicology results, and one was a homicide.
The number of suicides investigated by the office doubled compared to 2019, when it investigated five.
Kim Hall, director of Mental Health Partners of Hancock County, said she believes COVID-19 and the conditions of self-isolation many people are still living in have contributed to mental health issues.
“We’ve had to increase the amount of money we spend on counseling for each individual,” she said.
Hall said depression and suicidal thoughts can be triggered by a number of issues that COVID-19 contributes to, including unemployment, domestic abuse and exacerbation of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Representatives of Healthy365, which conducts suicide prevention training in Hancock County, said in a statement that the pandemic can contribute to mental health struggles in several ways.
“The pandemic has increased isolation, fear, anxiety and hopelessness,” the statement said. “At H365, it is our hope that we can encourage everyone to be mindful of those around them; to be more alert to changes in behavior or personality; and to be proactive in helping change the perception that there is no hope. There are many community resources available to help in providing support to those who struggle. Suicide itself is only one of the problems. The bigger issue is that we have so many people struggling with such intense emotional pain that they feel suicide is their only solution.”
Issues with addiction can also rise with the isolation of staying home and anxiety about the economy, Hall said. During the winter, she said, it’s important for people to take care of their mental health by continuing to get outside and connect with friends in whatever way they can.
“Bundle up and take a walk,” she said.
Hall said there are services available in Hancock County for people who need help with struggles like addiction or suicidal thinking, but the problem is that people may not know where to go for help and may fear not being able to pay for treatment. Nonprofits that deal with the issue like Mental Health Partners always need more funding, she said.
More information about services provided by Mental Health Providers is available by calling 317-462-2877 or visiting mentalhealthpartnershc.com. The National Suicide Hotline can be reached at 800-273-8255.
To respond to the increased number of investigations, Stillinger asked for and received additional funding from the Hancock County Council. However, he is still looking to restructure the way deputy coroners are paid in the county, something he believes is unfair.
“There are times we see that they have been paid probably below minimum wage,” Stillinger said.
Working for the coroner’s office can be a thankless job, Stillinger said, and he wants to compensate the deputies fairly for it. He is working on tracking hours worked by the office’s employees and hopes to use those numbers of make a pitch to the county government for restructuring the way pay is determined.