Suicide Prevention

Make the Connection - National Suicide Prevention Month

Mary Beth Woodward — Mon, 21 Aug 2023 20:00:53 +0000

Make the Connection - National Suicide Prevention Month Mary Beth Woodward Mon, 08/21/2023 - 16:00

September is National Suicide Prevention Month. Many people become uncomfortable discussing suicide. It’s a topic surrounded by stigma and fear. But the more suicide is talked about, the more society can do to help prevent it. Center For Family Services invites you to take action this September by learning how you can be part of the change and help prevent suicide in your community.

Let’s start with the statistics. According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention:
•    There are about 132 suicides per day in the US
•    Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death for ages 20-34
•    It is the 3rd leading cause of death for ages 10-19
•    And the 4th leading cause of death for ages 35 - 44
•    54% of all firearm deaths were suicides

The statistics are heartbreaking. They are comprised of someone’s child, partner, a best friend, a grandchild, an individual who was in such despair that they ended their lives by suicide. The survivors – the family and friends - left behind to sort through their memories, trying to determine what happened, and wondering if they were somehow to blame.

There are multiple websites devoted to suicide prevention and they all touch upon the same theme: connection. The power of human connection. It is real, and it can change lives. Each, and every, one of us has the power to change a life. Sometimes the smallest acts of kindness can save a life.

988 Suicide and Crisis Life Line’s #BeThe1to campaign is an important resource that can help you take action to prevent suicide. These five simple steps promote hope and recovery.

ASK
There is no simple answer to why someone might consider suicide as an option to end their suffering. Individuals contemplating suicide may find themselves having difficulty coping with life’s adversities, such as the loss of a loved one, having financial problems, job loss, lack of housing, legal issues, social isolation, bullying, prejudice, feelings of being a failure. It may involve mental health issues, abuse, trauma, chronic pain, or substance use.
The National Institute of Mental Health identifies behaviors which may mean that someone is considering suicide:

•    Talking about wanting to end their lives
•    Feeling trapped or humiliated
•    Feeling as if they are a burden to others
•    Feeling sad, anxious or full of rage
•    Being in intense emotional or physical pain
•    Withdrawing from people and activities
•    Giving away prized possessions
•    Increasing the use of drugs or alcohol

Checking in with someone who may be having thoughts of suicide does not increase the likelihood that the person will act on those thoughts. Actually, just the opposite. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), asking if a person is considering suicide may prove to be helpful. We also know that when people consider suicide it is because they want to end their suffering. They may feel helpless, and unable, or unworthy, to reach out for the support they so desperately need. Just by asking, by checking in, by supporting a friend, co-worker or family member, you are offering a lifeline.

BE THERE
By dropping all judgments, and really listening to someone, we may help the individual gain perspective, and reduce feelings of being overwhelmed, trapped or hopeless. Find out what they really need. What would be a reason for them to want to continue to live? Without imposing your own views, really hear what they are saying.

KEEP THEM SAFE
Reducing access to lethal means is imperative. Remove the guns, remove the pills. Firearms, in particular, are more lethal than other means. According to research from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 85% of suicide attempts with a firearm prove to be fatal. Compare this to most other methods, which have a fatality rate below 5%. Being able to access a firearm in the desk drawer is a much greater risk to a person contemplating suicide, than if the gun was removed from the home, or safety locked away. Placing a temporary distance between the individual at risk and the pills, firearms or other lethal means can save a life.

HELP THEM STAY CONNECTED
Take the time to assist the person at risk to develop a support network of people they can turn to when in crisis. This could include helping them create a safety plan, and identifying who they can contact for help, such as a trusted family member, therapist, or the local hospital, or other community resource. Here are some resources to consider:
•    Local county screening centers
https://www.state.nj.us/humanservices/dmhas/home/hotlines/MH_Screening_…
•    988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline - Available 24/7 for confidential support.
•    “Suicide Safety Plan” app - Free on the App Store or Google Play
•    Your local mental health association (https://www.mhanj.org/)

FOLLOW UP
It’s all about connection. Once you’ve helped someone develop a link to supports, check in and see how the person is doing. Call, send a text, email or stop in to see them. Is there anything else you can do to help? It may not seem like much, but by reaching out you may reduce their risk of suicide.

Suicide prevention may seem like a daunting task. Often, loved ones, or close friends, don’t want to make a false move – they are afraid they will do more harm than good. But the good news is that research tells us that we as individuals can make a difference. The more you know, the more lives we can save. Making these small connections can make a huge impact on someone’s life. Be the one to be there. Be the one to save a life.

References
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, https://afsp.org/
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/ 
National Alliance on Mental Illness, https://www.nami.org/home 
National Institute of Mental Health, https://www.nimh.nih.gov/
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/sites/default/files/documents/health/publicati…;

The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, https://988lifeline.org/

For more information watch this video that expands on the # BeThe1to steps: https://www.bethe1to.com/watch/ 

Blog tags

Suicide Prevention

Donna Wess, MS, LPC, LCADC, ACS

Coping with Stress

Tara Aquila — Mon, 27 Jun 2022 15:03:20 +0000

Coping with Stress Tara Aquila Mon, 06/27/2022 - 11:03

Ever felt stressed out? Did you ever think to yourself,” Oh wow what a week or day!”. Everyone faces stress from time to time and being an adult by no means exempts us from feeling a mixture of emotions on a regular basis. When we experience some ups and downs all sorts of emotions may come out, and dealing with these big emotions can increase our stress levels to an overwhelming feeling.

Long-term stress can build up and cause adverse impacts on our mental health. In the suicide prevention field most of the time professionals focus on everyone else being safe and being in a good mental state but at times we forget to check within ourselves to practice healthy coping skills to reduce our own stress levels. When our emotions become overwhelming it is important to pay attention and use healthy coping mechanisms to bring our stress levels back to a manageable size. Managing our own stress levels can only then help our professional selves to better assist those we serve. It is a balancing act that requires us to stay attentive to what we as professionals feel within.

We can help ourselves and others by tapping into a variety of coping mechanisms for stress management such as family support which can include spending time with immediate family, chosen family (not related but to us feel like family) or even pets.

Connecting with our positive friends and family members can help us make healthy decisions, encourage us and inspire us, and make us laugh when we need it most. Practicing healthy activities can give you strength and help overcome stress in a variety of ways. Most of the time when we feel stressed we find ourselves in a situation where an immediate solution is far out of reach. Some simple techniques for managing stress in the moment include: going for a walk, listening to your favorite music, or maybe dancing or singing is what you’re into. Do you like to read? Or draw? Maybe going for a jog outside with your favorite music in the background. Tapping into healthy activities can help us connect to others and help us cope with the difficult emotions we may experience on a regular basis.

Let’s be encouraged and encourage others to tap into those healthy coping mechanisms when stress becomes overwhelming. Engage in what helps you get through stressful times and when we practice healthy activities we can engage with others who might be having a bad day.

Let’s work together to encourage one another on how we can reframe stress in healthy ways!

Blog tags

Techniques for Stress

mental health

Carlos Erazo

Project Coordinator - STOP School Violence

Suicide Risk During Pregnancy and Postpartum

Tara Aquila — Tue, 03 May 2022 18:49:06 +0000

Suicide Risk During Pregnancy and Postpartum Tara Aquila Tue, 05/03/2022 - 14:49

Often times we associate depression symptoms as a risk factor for suicide. This is certainly an unfortunate truth but did you know that suicidal ideation is also relatively common among pregnant and postpartum women? When a common person hears of a woman being pregnant you typically associate that as a time of their life in which they are filled with joy and anticipation of meeting their new baby but for some women it can actually be one of the riskiest, and scariest times of their lives as suicide has emerged as one of the leading causes of death among new moms.

While it is important to recognize that mental health awareness has increased greatly in recent years new mothers and suicide prevention is still not nearly focused on enough. In fact, maternal mortality by suicide is considered to be a public health crisis that has silently grown worse with it being the second leading cause of death among women 25-34 years of age and has steadily increased over the last 20 years.

One of the reasons that maternal suicide remains underreported involves how the deaths are reported. Pregnancy related death is defined as a death of a woman while pregnant or within one year of the end of pregnancy. It includes incidental or accidental deaths; therefore, suicides are left out of the stats. Which in turn contributes to the issue of lack of awareness, resources and conversations about the crisis.

We live in a society that idealizes pregnancy with the overall picture of a happy mother and baby. We are inundated with images, from commercials and social media, of motherhood as a positive and rewarding experience. This clashes with the depression, isolation, despair, and psychotic symptoms a pregnant or new mother may feel and can lead to suicide ideation and attempt. This societal myth contributes to feelings of shame, which can lead to secrecy and isolation-the very things that we try to minimize when trying to prevent suicide.

So how can we break barriers? We can help by having open discussions with pregnant and postpartum moms. Many new moms may not seek help for mental health treatment out of fear that disclosing how they feel may lead to a possible termination of parental rights. We can help educate them and their families that not seeking help puts them at greater risk. Women have a great deal of contact with medical professionals during pregnancy and postpartum. We need to encourage new moms to have a conversation with their doctor on how they are feeling.

On a macro level, we need to have pediatricians and OB/GYNs educated on this issue. We can also have new moms complete the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) self-test which is used to detect risk of postpartum depression. This screening tool is used globally and can be found in many languages. Let’s help new moms and their families by giving them permission to feel less than joyous during pregnancy and the postpartum period.

Blog tags

Postpartum Mental Health

Heather McBeth, LCSW & The Zero Suicide Committee