The Essex County Accessibility Advisory Committee says the number of local people with mental health issues is 2.5% higher than the provincial average.
The committee says the local rate is 18.2% or nearly 119,000 local residents dealing with mental health issues and most of them come from downtown Windsor and Leamington.
Canadian statistics show that 4,000 Canadians die by suicide each year. That's 11 per day.
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit reports the rate of emergency department (ED) visits for intentional self-harm increased by 28% in Windsor-Essex between 2011 and 2015 and the 2015 rate was a nine-year high for the region.
The health unit also says from 2010 to 2015, the local rate of ED visits for self-harm among youth increased by 143% and almost 80% of self-harm ED visits were caused by intentional overdoses.
Data shows that males account for nearly three in four intentional self-harm deaths and the mortality rate was greatest among those 45-64 years old.
