Suicide Prevention Awareness Month
September is a month filled with cool days, pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin patches and apple picking! There is much to look forward to in the fall, but one important event to look forward to in September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. This month is about destigmatizing conversations surrounding suicide and suicidal ideations. Creating safe environments and providing helpful resources can help individuals affected by suicide or suicidal ideations. Take this month to break down stigmas, be a helping hand, provide nonjudgmental support, and overall do your best to empathize with the path that others have to walk. Suicide is a complex issue and it is critical that conversations surrounding it are met with compassion and kindness.
“I think that basically we are all helping people. All the time. Every time any of us speaks openly about mental health, we are helping normalize an illness that is still handled with protective goggles and safety gloves.”
– Matt Haig
Reasons to Stay Alive
Risk Factors of Suicide
It is crucial to look at risk factors for prevention. We must understand the individuals who are at a greater risk of suicide. CDC reports that about half, 54 percent, of people who died by suicide did not have a known mental health condition. However, many of them may have been dealing with mental health challenges that had not been diagnosed or known to those around them.
NAMI’s list of risk factors:
- A family history of suicide
- Substance use Drugs can create mental highs and lows that worsen suicidal thoughts.
- Intoxication More than 1 in 3 people who die from suicide are under the influence of alcohol at the time of death.
- Access to firearms
- A serious or chronic medical illness
- Gender Although more women than men attempt suicide, men are nearly 4x more likely to die by suicide.
- A history of trauma or abuse
- Prolonged stress
- A recent tragedy or loss
Warning Signs
Part of prevention is watching out for warning signs. It is important to check in on the people we love. Check in with friends, family, and co-workers, it never hurts to ask how someone is doing. Please, keep in mind not to diagnose friends or family members, provide support and compassion, but be weary not to act as a licensed medical professional.
NAMI’s list of warning signs of suicide:
- Increased alcohol and drug use
- Aggressive behavior
- Withdrawal from friends, family and community
- Dramatic mood swings
- Impulsive or reckless behavior
Suicidal behaviors are a psychiatric emergency. If you or a loved one starts to take any of these steps, seek immediate help from a health care provider or call 911:
- Collecting and saving pills or buying a weapon
- Giving away possessions
- Tying up loose ends, like organizing personal papers or paying off debts
- Saying goodbye to friends and family
5 Action Steps
What are ways we can help? It can be a difficult task to understand how to prevent suicide. I believe it’s fair to say that most people want to do what they can to help others. We want to say the right thing, we want to see our communities thrive, we want to see individuals thrive, we want to help, but how? Be the One to created a helpful 5 step action plan!
1. Ask
Ask someone you are worried about if they’re thinking about suicide. (While people may be hesitant to ask, research shows this is helpful.)
Talking about suicide can be scary, but it’s critical we have these conversations. Asking in a direct, unbiased manner, can open the door for effective dialogue about the person’s emotional pain and can allow everyone involved to see what next steps need to be taken.
2. Be There
Be there with them. Listen to what they need.
This could mean being physically present for someone, speaking with them on the phone when you can, or any other way that shows support for the person at risk.
Being there for someone with thoughts of suicide is life-saving. Increasing someone’s connectedness to others and limiting their isolation (both in the short and long-term) has shown to be a protective factor against suicide.
3. Keep Them Safe
Keep them safe. Reduce access to lethal means for those at risk.
After the “Ask” step, and you’ve determined suicide is indeed being talked about, it’s important to find out a few things to establish immediate safety. Have they already done anything to try to kill themselves before talking with you? Does the person experiencing thoughts of suicide know how they would kill themselves?
Knowing the answers to each of these questions can tell us a lot about the imminence and severity of danger the person is in. If they have immediate access to a firearm and are very serious about attempting suicide, then extra steps (like calling for emergency help or driving them to an emergency department) might be necessary. The Lifeline can always act as a resource during these moments as well if you aren’t entirely sure what to do next.
4. Help Them Connect
Help them connect with ongoing support.
Helping someone with thoughts of suicide connect with ongoing supports (like the 988 Lifeline) can help them establish a safety net for those moments they find themselves in a crisis. Additional components of a safety net might be connecting them with supports and resources in their communities.
Explore some of these possible supports with them – are they currently seeing a mental health professional? Have they in the past? Is this an option for them currently? Are there other mental health resources in the community that can effectively help?
5. Follow Up
Follow up to see how they’re doing. Stay connected.
After your initial contact with a person experiencing thoughts of suicide, and after you’ve connected them with the immediate support systems they need, make sure to follow-up with them to see how they’re doing. Leave a message, send a text, or give them a call.
The follow-up step is a great time to check in with them to see if there is more you are capable of helping with or if there are things you’ve said you would do and haven’t yet had the chance to get done for the person.This type of contact can continue to increase their feelings of connectedness and share your ongoing support.
(219)885-4264
1100 W 6th Avenue
Gary, IN 46402
edgewaterhealth.org
Spotlight: Edgewater Health
Their mission is to provide comprehensive physical and behavioral healthcare services for individuals and their families in Northwest Indiana. Culturally competent care specifically developed for each patient will help achieve goals and improve outcomes. In improving the lives of individuals, they hope to create a ripple effect that will contribute to the quality of life and overall health of our entire community.
Services offered:
- Adults Services
- Provides guidance and solutions to help clients work through difficult issues
- Children, Youth, and Family Services
- Assessment, evaluation, and treatment planning
- Individual, group and family therapy
- Medication therapy/management
- Clinical support services
- Alcohol and substance abuse treatment
- Discharge planning
- Crisis intervention services
- Case management
- Referrals
- Home-based services
- Day Treatment Program for Children & Families
- Provides a structured educational environment alongside of mental health services, Monday-Friday from 8 am – 3 pm, year-round. Students receive 3 hours of educational instruction and 3 hours of therapeutic activities, as well as individual therapy and case management. Parents receive individual therapy, family counseling, and parent education.
- Community Residential Support Services
- Comprehensive range of behavioral healthcare services, they carefully assess, treat, and care for clients on their way toward recovery.
- Addiction Services
- Addiction services at Turning Point offers a variety of services to adults 18 and older who are suffering from addiction. Our programs provide support to the client and their families to promote recovery and the best possible outcomes.
- Crisis Stabilization Center
- The program provides immediate response to adult individuals experiencing a psychiatric crisis that includes severe psychosis or depression, intrusive behaviors, and/or extreme thoughts of suicide or harm to others but are willing to voluntarily admit to this program.
You are not alone. Reach out!
24/7 Suicide & Crisis Hotline
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org
Crisis Text Line
Text TALK to 741-741 to text with a trained crisis counselor from the Crisis Text Line for free, 24/7
Talking about suicide. Learn to help yourself and others.
Dial 988 then press 1
Chat
Text 838255
Spanish – Texto al 838255
September Recommendations
Please, be wary that this month’s recommendations deal with topics that can be triggering. The topics deal with suicide and other mental disorders. It is important to bring awareness to these topics, but it is also important to know one’s limitations and boundaries. Please, be safe and take caution in reading and watching these materials.
Reasons to Stay Alive
Written By Matt Haig
Trigger Warnings: Depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideations
Like nearly one in five people, Matt Haig suffers from depression. Reasons to Stay Alive is Matt’s inspiring account of how, minute by minute and day by day, he overcame the disease with the help of reading, writing, and the love of his parents and his girlfriend (and now-wife), Andrea. And eventually, he learned to appreciate life all the more for it.
All the Bright Places
Directed by: Brett Haley
Trigger Warnings: Suicide, depression, and depictions of mental health disorders
The story of Violet and Theodore, who meet and change each other’s lives forever. As they struggle with the emotional and physical scars of their past, they discover that even the smallest places and moments can mean something.
