Media Campaign for World Suicide Prevention Day 2012

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for people between ages 15 – 34. Now, the question is where’s the effort to stop it? If 90% of people who commit suicide have a mental illness,

Have you lost a person close to you to Suicide? The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) wants to help find better ways to help prevent the terrible last resort that is suicide, and the grief it can induce on people around the person ending his or her life. The AFSP hopes to create an environment that understands mental health by encouraging school districts, businesses, and communities to put mental health first. Most of all, it desires to bring hope to those affected by suicide.

Problem: Too many Veterans commit suicide. As of 2014, Veterans have a twenty-one percent higher risk of suicide than U.S. civilian adults. Veterans Affairs [VA], (2016). Fact Sheet Suicide Prevention.

This past September, University of Miami staff, students and community came together to participate in spreading suicide awareness by taking part in the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s “Walk out of the Darkness.” According to the University of Miami’s webpage, with more than 39,500 lives lost to suicide this year, this walk is relevant to thousands of people in the University of Miami’s community and it’s clear that UM is eager to get the word

In the United States, suicide is the third leading cause of death for 10 to 14-year-olds (CDC, 2015) and for 15 to 19-year-olds (Friedman, 2008). In 2013, 17.0% of students grades 9 to 12 in the United States seriously thought about committing suicide, 13.6% made a suicide plan, 8.0% attempted suicide, and 2.7% attempted suicide in which required medical attention (CDC, 2015). These alarming statistics show that there is something wrong with the way mental illness is handled in today’s society. Also, approximately 21% of all teenagers have a treatable mental illness (Friedman, 2008), although 60% do not receive the help that they need (Horowitz, Ballard, & Pao, 2009).

In 2011, Julia Gillard, Prime Minister of Australia, invested $276.9 million for a four-year program to reduce suicide rate in Australia (Martin 2013, page 1). The donated money is used to add more psychological and psychiatry services for potential suicidal and to improve community support services (Martin 2013 page 3-4).

Healthy People 2020 is a government site that identifies health concerns based on statistics observed and collected over a ten-year period. Mental Health and Mental Disorders is one of the many health concerns or topics listed on their website and has been further subcategorized into objectives and goals (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS], 2015). The first objective listed under this topic states “reduce the suicide rate” (HHS, 2015). The goal of this objective is to “reduce the suicide rate by ten percent” (HHS, 2015). Suicide is prevalent among varying age groups, ethnicities, and genders (HHS, 2012). It is an increasing problem prompting Healthy People 2020 to label it as a Leading Health Indicator or an extremely important issue (HHS, 2015). To meet their goal, Healthy People 2020 partnered with the U. S. Surgeon General and the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention (NAASP) to create a plan that can be utilized throughout the nation. Their plan focuses on removing the stigma associated with mental health and mental health disorders while simultaneously building supportive communities with increased access to care, creating a standardized model promoting the collaboration of health care professionals in order to increase identification and data collection of high-risk patients and provide continuity of care, and ensuring the education and the adequacy of patient support systems.

Jim Lafferty is retiring from MHA in Delaware, effective October 31st. Emily Vera will succeed John as executive director. Emily previously served as community educator, suicide prevention specialist and program director for MHAD’s suicide prevention program. Most recently, Emily served as assistant director and deputy director at MHAD. I have listed her contact information below for your

The next educational effort would be the students at all schools with the focus on “health risks and nutrition and knowing what suicide looks like” in your friends or family. During education, the health maintenance and grief resource center would be initiated with location information given to all clinics, dentists, mental health counselors, schools, local hospitals, and churches. This approach to community assessment allows the PHN the understanding of historical trauma, sociocultural, and economic contexts and meaning to create partnerships with individuals, families, groups and communities promoting improved overall health and mental health (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2016). The focus of this program would center around Lake County Montana with adolescent and younger children at the forefront. Outreach, follow-up, and counseling is an impediment to improvement and stabilization for the mental health individual, which could be a risk factor for suicide and other health-related concerns. To assist with this goal, a grant will be required to cover financial needs. For example, The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Research Grants awards monies from 30,000 to 1.5 million for suicide prevention, in 2015 they awarded 17 grantees for studies and programs to prevent suicide (afsp.org). These dollars will assist

In spite of the increasing rate of suicide, suicide is preventable. The Control Center for Disease Control and Prevention use a four- step approach to prevent and to educate the public on mental health issues. The four-steps consist of defining the problem and the risk, then developing prevention strategies and ensuring widespread adoption. With this intention, to reach the target of 10.2 set by Healthy People 2020 it is important to include public health intervention such as starting a campaign for opening the doors to talk about

Suicide rates are at a 30-year high. Nearly 800,000 people commit suicide each year in the United States. (World Health Organization). Nearly every 30 seconds someone has completed a suicide, in addition, for every suicide that is completed, 20 people have tried to end their lives. Approximately 90% of all suicides committed in the United States have a direct relation to mental illness. The president and CEO of Mental Health America, Paul Gionfriddo, stated that “We must improve access to care and treatments, and we need to put a premium on early identification and early intervention for everyone with mental health concerns.” (mentalhealthAmerica). Without proper treatment and early detection, many families will continue to be affected by mental illness.

Suicide has always been looked down upon and people would do just about everything in their willpower to prevent it. There are plenty methods to avert people from committing suicide such as the suicide health prevention hotline, support groups, friends, and family. However, all these methods are not as resourceful when the person is already dying. And, if the one who wants to commit suicide is lying in their death bed enduring an excruciating pain, then do the people who oppose suicide have the right to intervene with the dying person’s last wishes? Physician-assisted suicide is a practice where doctors decide to help end their hopelessly ill patient’s life painlessly even if he or she requests for it (Assisted Suicide). If doctors do follow the patient’s desired death, then are the doctors sending subliminal message saying these patients’ lives are now meaningless. Many believe the doctors treating the patients do not have the right to take lives instead save them, which leads to the religious factor in this situation. They believe the only way someone can be taken from this world is through the hands of God and any other way is simply wrong and immoral. Death is a delicate topic many try to ignore for however long they are able to. Humans have a very difficult time coping with the death of a loved one, so it is much harder for the friends and family to accept than the terminally ill. Although physician-assisted suicide permanently relieves the pain of a dying patient, PAS

The American Foundation of Suicide Prevention is a non-profit organization acknowledges that suicide and mental health problems are part of our society and by understanding this we can better support those in need, and suicide affects a tremendous amount of people and proper education and treatment can prevent people from committing suicide. “Each year in the United States, suicide claims over 40,000 lives - more than war, murder, and natural disasters combined…Suicide is not just a faceless health issue for our society - it affects real people.” (1.) The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) which was founded in 1987, is one of the leaders in fighting against suicide by offers research, education to those in need, and supports those people and their families that are affected by suicide.

To conclude with these three solutions are the most effective solutions to teen suicide Online activism, Therapeutic treatments, and Government initiatives are the solutions to solve teen suicide. One out if three of these solutions are the most beneficial one and that one would be online activism. There are some objectors that are against suicide and the solution those would happen to be Antidepressants, religions, and doctors. What many people did not know is that “Four out of five teens who attempt suicide have given clear warning signs.” What will your state do to prevent teen suicide from happening in your state?

Three people in my life have completed suicide; my uncle, my mom’s late fiance, and my step brother on my dad’s side, within four years of each other. I’ve witnessed each parental figure in my life become compromised by grief and the inevitable pain accompanying it, and I’ve seen the way depression can plague someone so deeply, even without the ending of suicide. The prevalence and growing numbers of deaths by suicide calls for a revised manner of education on all mental illnesses and the preventative measures one can take to reduce risk. Initially, when I heard of the Suicide Prevention Week Keynote event with Jamie Tworkowski (founder of ‘To Write Love On Her Arms’) I was thrilled. Hosting such an event on a college campus, presenting to a population greatly affected by mental illness, is demonstrative of the steps that should be taken toward raising awareness. Any opportunity for a comprehensive view on mental health and its significance is one to be taken advantage of. However, as the night proceeded, I did take note of several things that would improve the layout of any future events, as well as further deepen an individual’s comprehension of mental illness.