Letter to the Editor: Walk works to raise awareness of suicide

Editor,

Suicide is an issue in our community, but what can we do to stop it?

  As the chair of the Havre NAMI — National Alliance on Mental Illness — I would encourage you to attend the Second Annual Suicide Awareness Walk Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. at the Cowan Hall clock tower on the MSU-Northern campus. The walk provides an opportunity to unite those who have been affected by suicide and the community of Hill County through increasing awareness and prevention, decreasing mental health stigma, and offering support to suicide survivors — family members or friends of someone who has died by suicide. 

You may know that Montana is currently ranked first in the nation in suicide rates. In addressing ways to decrease suicide rates, we need to educate ourselves on the signs of suicidal ideation and how to help those in need. We need to understand that it’s not just teens who commit suicide; in fact it’s very common in older generations and especially with our Veterans. Depression and suicide affect us all, no matter what race we are, how religious we are, or what we do in life. I would like to see Montana move to the bottom of the list in the National level, but we can only do that through education and awareness.

It is very common for suicide survivors to wonder what the person was going through. But we may never know why our loved ones consider suicide. We just know how much we love and want to care for them, sometimes we think that is all they need. But we need to stop and listen to family or friends when they need to talk about things that are bothering them and help them get professional help when their needs exceed our capabilities. We need to take talk of suicide seriously.

  If you are looking for resources to help with depression, please refer to the following: National Suicide Hotline — 1-800-273-TALK, Text 741741

  I’d also invite you to contact Julie Strobel at Bullhook Community Health Center at 395-4305 to register to attend a Mental Health First Aid or Youth Mental Health First Aid Training to learn to assess for suicide and understand mental health diagnoses . If you have experience with mental health services in our community and would like to serve on our Local Advisory Council on Mental Illness, contact Amber Spring at Montana State University-Northern at 265-3783. If you have a loved one with mental health issues and are looking for support, please contact me at 406-879-6646 to get involved with Havre NAMI.

Sincerely,

Crystal Laufer

Havre