Report says suicide rates in Virginia are slowly increasing

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A new state report says that suicide rates in Virginia have been slowly increasing in the last two decades.

A recently released report from the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services said suicides have increased since 1999 and there was a 5.4 percent increase from 2015 to 2016.

Handguns were the most common cause of death in suicides, used in 58 percent of all cases in Virginia, the report said.

The report also found that men were more than three times more likely to die by suicide than women. Suicide rates among whites were higher than every other race.