People living in rural Nevada commit suicide at much more than twice the rate of the nation as a whole, reports the Reno Gazette-Journal. In the state's 15 rural counties, the suicide rate is 27 deaths per 100,000 people. Nationally, the rate is 11 per 100,000.The paper says there are fewer mental health professionals in rural areas. "There is a crisis in rural Nevada," said Ray Kendall, director of Nevada's Rural Clinics. The Nevada legislature has also acknowledged a "rural mental health crisis," according to the paper and is attempting to expand the pool of mental health counselors. Meanwhile, the Charleston Gazette reports that the state's suicide rate among young adults is almost twice as high as the national average. Professionals in the state are trying to understand the reasons for the higher rates among young people. "Suicide rates in rural states are higher across the board," said Tom Ellis, a former Marshall University psychology professor who now works at The Menninger Clinic at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. "It would be interesting to see if some of the same things were happening with the younger adults in other rural states."