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Suicide prevention is about hope, help, and planning for the future • North Dakota Monitor [1]
['Faye Seidler', 'Christopher Ferguson', 'Debora Dragseth', 'Dave Jenkins', 'More From Author', 'September', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline']
Date: 2024-09-09
September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, a time to reflect on not just suicide prevention and intervention, but how we as a society can inspire hope and offer help long before someone thinks about suicide.
This topic can be scary and heavy for many people. It can also be something that folks think will never impact their lives personally. Emotionally, people don’t treat the subject differently than car accidents. They know there are car accident deaths every year, but they don’t think it will happen to them.
According to data from the North Dakota Department of Health’s State Health Assessment, from 2017 to 2021, suicide was the cause of 2.9% of all deaths within the state. When breaking that up by age group, it was the second leading cause of death for ages 0 to 39, while it was the fourth leading cause of death from ages 40 to 59.
Preliminary data from the 2023 North Dakota Youth Risk Behavior Survey shows nearly 1 in 4 of our middle school youth are seriously thinking about suicide, while approximately 1 in 10 have attempted. These numbers are significantly higher for our LGBTQ+ youth.
Unfortunately, the time people start to think about suicide is generally when they notice someone is depressed, has had a suicide attempt, or they’ve already lost someone. Even when they notice there are some signs of concern, they might be worried to bring it up because of fear it might give the person ideas or make it more real. If someone is personally struggling, they might hesitate to reach out because of fear of being a burden or not wanting to talk about the problems causing them distress.
To quickly mythbust that last paragraph, it’s OK to talk about suicide; it’s a sign of tremendous strength to reach out, and people genuinely want to help.
It is important to understand that suicide is complex and multifactorial. There is no simple cause or solution to the myriad of ways it can impact someone’s life. However, just like with car accidents, there are some best practices to prevent tragedy, such as wearing a seatbelt and driving safely. In suicide prevention, this means having open and honest conversations about suicide before people get into crisis and making sure everyone knows about suicide prevention resources.
The first thing anyone should know is that 988 is our suicide and crisis lifeline. Individuals can call or text to speak to a person who genuinely cares and can offer help. It is answered by Firstlink, who also hosts several free trainings each year to give individuals education on how to have good conversations around this topic.
Our Department of Health also hosts every suicide prevention resource in our state. The organization TEARS does statewide work to connect and support those who’ve lost a loved one. And each year thousands of people show up to American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s statewide Out of the Darkness Walks that happen all across September! For professionals and advocates passionate about prevention, there is no better place to join than the North Dakota Suicide Prevention Coalition.
Suicide prevention is about hope; it’s about reaching out to people to tell them you care about them and helping folks know about the resources that exist if they find themselves in a crisis. It is important to normalize that there will be people who struggle with suicide, and that is OK, and there is help.
If someone would like to participate in suicide prevention month, they can help spread awareness through social media, donate to or get involved with the organizations mentioned above, or let the people in their life know how much they love them and that resources exist if they are struggling.
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