Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) speaks to the National Congress of American Indians earlier this year. Photo from Rep. Don Young

Alaska's suicide rate is the highest in the nation and Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) says the federal government is partly to blame.

In a speech at a senior center on Wednesday, Young said people turn to suicide when they have little else to do. He blamed government "largesse” for failing to instill a sense of self-worth in the state's residents.

“When people had to work and had to provide and had to keep warm by putting participation in cutting wood and catching the fish and killing the animals, we didn’t have the suicide problem,” Young told the seniors, according to audio that was provided to The Alaska Dispatch News and other outlets. “It comes from the largesse of saying you’re not worth anything but you’re going to get something for nothing.”

The comments came a day after Young made controversial comments about suicide during a visit to Wasilla High School. A student there took his own life last week and the Congressman appeared to say it was due to a lack of support from family and friends.

"And then he had the gall to say suicide is a disease,” Young told the seniors, referring to another student at Wasilla who brought up the issue.

“It is not a disease. It is an illness," Young continued. "Now a lot of times that illness should be recognized by a support group and it should be supported by the teachers that recognize this person has an illness. He needs help. Is it his parents or is it his friends who are not supporting him?”

Young is running for re-election. His opponent is Democrat Forrest Dunbar.

“This has gone past the point of bizarre. In the last two days I have gone from shocked, to saddened, to angered,” Dunbar said in a statement. “If Don Young honestly believes that the suicide crisis in Alaska is because of public assistance programs, and he also believes that Wasilla High administrators were ‘coddling’ students dealing with the death of a classmate, then he is completely out of touch."

According to the Alaska Department of Health and Human Services, the state's suicide rate was 21.8 per 100,000 people, nearly double the national rate of 11.5 per 100,000.

Among Alaska Natives, the rate was much higher -- 35.1 per 100,000.

Get the Story:
Young stands behind Wasilla High School comments, adds government to suicide blame list (The Alaska Dispatch News 10/23)
Don Young: Government handouts cause suicide (Politico 10/23)

An Opinion:
Chris Cavanaugh: Young's words salt wounds, reflect need to think differently about suicide (The Alaska Dispatch News 10/23)

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