Suicide Prevention Coalition of Garfield County
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Suicide Attempts in Garfield County

11/13/2017

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Good Morning,

An article published in the Grand Junction Sentinel today reports that in Mesa County for the first part of 2017 60 percent of individuals who attempted suicide were under the age of 30.

You can read the report here:  
GJSentinel
SPCGC works closely with our two local hospitals to try and get information around attempt numbers. 

For the past three quarters 62.5% of the attempts that were hospitalized were 29 years of age or younger. Of attempts 65% were by overdose.

We use this information to try and focus education efforts
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The S Word

8/11/2017

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Logline
 
A suicide attempt survivor is on a mission to find fellow survivors and document their stories of courage, insight and humor. Along the way, she discovers a rising national movement transforming personal struggles into action.
 
 
Synopsis
 
THE S WORD is a powerful feature documentary that puts a human face on a topic that has long been stigmatized and buried with the lives it has claimed. The film gives a platform to those with lived experience - people who have attempted to take their own lives and survived to tell their stories. These are the voices that have been silenced for so long and their stories could save lives. Capturing personal revelations and surprising moments of humor, THE S WORD opens a door on this most taboo of subjects through the eyes of the people who have been there and are now committed to preventing others from getting to that edge.
 
Our central subject, attempt survivor Dese’Rae Stage, embarks on a mission to find fellow survivors and share their stories and portraits with the world. Suicide has affected her since she can remember; as a child, a family friend died by suicide, and as a teenager, her best friend died by suicide. She herself attempted suicide at 23 and continues to struggle through cycles of loneliness and depression. After moving to New York and pursuing a career in photography, she discovers that many of her own questions can be addressed using her camera, and she begins to explore life on the other side of suicide. As she becomes a recognized pioneer of a new movement, she also proposes marriage to her girlfriend Fel.
 
As Des pursues her vision, she discovers a vibrant community of other attempt survivors who we meet through her unique lens:

  • Boston-area resident Craig Miller was eight years old the first time he considered suicide. At that time, he was being molested by an adult neighbor. After his failed suicide attempt at the age of 20 he turned back to his salvation — writing. His book This Is How It Feels, is now spreading the message that life is an opportunity instead of a burden. As he travels the country telling his story, he tries to balance the pressures of suicide prevention with the strains of his day job and the needs of his family. His story continues to unfold.
 

  • Kelechi Ubozoh explains her suicide attempt this way: “I wore a mask every day, pretending to be happy when I was not.” Growing up, people would describe her as the happiest person they knew. But wearing that mask of “the strong black woman” almost leads to her death, because she doesn’t share her internal pain with anyone. After her attempt, she hoped that recovery meant never having a suicidal thought again, but has since come to learn the thoughts are still there. Now living in Oakland, California, Kelechi turns her struggles into action by working as an advocate for the underserved population of people caught up in the Bay Area mental health system.  “We need to have the brown faces talking about this as well. It’s not just a white issue.”
 
  • Leah Harris is a Washington D.C. mother, storyteller, suicide survivor and activist. Raised by her grandparents after her mother was institutionalized and diagnosed with schizophrenia, Leah herself survives multiple suicide attempts, including her most serious at 16. Surviving her suicide attempts leads her to the realization that maybe she is supposed to be here. After being introduced to a movement led by a group of “ex-mental patients” striving for change in the system, her calling becomes evident. She turns to advocacy, becoming an activist fighting to change policy on Capitol Hill to one which promotes human rights, dignity and parity for mental health, a journey that takes her to the White House to speak, a pinnacle in her ongoing crusade to make suicide the next social justice issue of our time.
 
Within this unique and personal approach, THE S WORD takes an intimate look at the lives of these survivors and their loved ones and records their candid and profoundly emotional stories of survival…and gives us all a guide to a future with fewer suicides.
 
The film’s narrative flows organically from one to the next, starting with personal moments and building emotional momentum before widening out to show how their journeys are driving the national movement to take the “S” word from unthinkable to preventable.


Please consider joining SpeakUp ReachOut for a free screening of this impactful movie.
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Blue Whales

7/20/2017

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SPCGC wouldn't normally post something about such a horrific idea, however, we also want people to be aware. There is an online challenge, The Blue Whale Game. It is believed to have started in Russia and is a 50 day set of tasks that see an escalation in violence, culminating in the participant dying by suicide. It has been linked to two deaths in the US, but many others around the globe. Authorities say that it came to the US around late February with a spike in searches in May. 

Raising awareness around the possibility of this "game" coming in to our schools and impacting our young people is why we are reporting on this. Self-harm is one of the tasks, so those physical signs are important to look for. This is akin to other online predation tactics that are used to influence impressionable children.

Thankfully the Russian ring leader was imprisoned for three years. The challenge will still exist online.

CNN Report from Monday
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Opioid Poisoning as Suicide Means, 1999 - 2014

7/7/2017

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In the March 2017 issue of the American Journal of Public Health an article by Drs. Jennifer Brennan Braden, Mark J. Edlund, and Mark D. Sullivan was published looking at the trends around suicides where opioid poisoning was listed as a contributing factor from 1999 - 2014. They found that the age-adjusted rate increased from 0.3 per 100,000 population in 1999 to 0.7 per 100,000 population in 2009 and has stayed consistent until 2014.

The researchers also found that there was an increase of opioid poisoning as contributing factor in suicide deaths from 2.2% of all suicides in 1999 to 4.4% of all suicides in 2010. Opioid poisoning as means of suicide have doubled since 1999. The authors conclude that health care providers should be made aware, and should assess the suicidality of the patients they care for who are prescribed opioids.

Brennan Braden, et al. March 2017 AJPH
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Altitude and Suicide

6/9/2017

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There has been research into one hypothesis that the Inter-Mountain West has the highest rates of suicide deaths in the country. It's not our access to firearms, our isolation, or lack of mental health resources, but rather the altitude that we tend to live at.

Researchers at the University of Utah studied physiological differences of rats when kept at various elevation levels and found increases of hypoxia, or decreases of oxygen in tissues. This caused depression in the rats. 

"
Because rats are not subject to the same psychological and societal pressures as people, the current study bolsters the argument that physiological changes triggered by hypobaric hypoxia (the low oxygen at high altitude) can contribute to depression. What these changes are, and whether they also occur in people, will be the subject of future studies."

An interesting idea that may offer more answers in our quest to reduce suicide.

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Read More Here
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13 Reasons Why....

5/2/2017

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The following message was recently sent out by the Executive Director of the Aspen Hope Center, Michelle Muething, mental health resource in our valley:
 
In the past few days I have been inundated with calls, e-mails and texts about the Netflix show "13 Reasons Why". It depicts one girl's struggle with stressful teen issues and in the end, shows her suicide. Everyone has an opinion on whether this show is appropriate or not, experts are weighing in and people are reaching out for answers.

Suicide is a very real issue; as is cancer, divorce, sex trafficking, poverty, etc. 

Suicide is not a disease you acquire or a condition you are diagnosed with.

It is, in fact, an option that some of those who are in despair begin to contemplate when life seems hopeless.

Rather than focusing on the end result, let's all focus on the 13 reasons why we care enough to be talking about this and the 13 ways we can help people.
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1. Watch for changes in the behaviors of people we know - major changes in behavior can mean something deeper is wrong
2. Listen for words that have dark meaning. I feel lost, empty, hopeless.   I'm a burden, I can't go on, no one will miss me, people are better off without me, I won't be here, I don't know where to turn....The list of helpless and dark words are countless - LISTEN, just take the time to Listen to people
3. Ask questions - don't be so quick to just cheer people up - ask questions about what they are saying
4. Pay attention to life stresses being endured.... divorce, move, grades, job turmoil, etc.
5. Stay close to people you care about and keep conversations open
6. Tell people "YOU CARE" don't tell people everything will be ok, because it might not - but emphasize that you care and will be there
7. Tell people what you see - if behavior changes are drastic say so "you haven't been to ______ in three weeks, what going on?" or "You look different, have you ______ (lost weight, you stopped wearing your make up, you don't dress like you used to, talk as much as before..... )
8. Be specific with your word choice in questions - asking someone "are you going to be ok" could mean anything. Asking someone "You aren't going to do anything crazy are you?" could mean anything - your definition of "OK" and "crazy" will most often be TOTALLY different than theirs. BE SPECIFIC - Have you felt so bad you have thought of ending your life. Have you had thoughts of killing yourself - ending and kill have no alternate definitions.
9. Don't make promises, just make plans "let's call someone" or "Let's go talk to someone"
10. Don't leave people alone when you have that 'gut' feeling something is not right - if you feel it in your gut, you are probably right
11. Stay connected even if they say they are ok or even after they may talk to a professional. Crises come and go, people are ok then not. Keep up.
12. Their struggle is not your struggle, don't own it and more than that, whatever someone says, TAKE IT seriously!!! Even if their problem seems small to you it could be monumentally earth shattering to them and that is what counts.
13. DON'T GIVE UP! If your gut senses something is not right, keep talking, keep asking, keep planting the seeds of Hope and know that there are people who can help 24/7.
Please have conversations and know we are a valley that is not immune to anything - even suicide.
The Hope Center is open to questions, comments, conversations, open dialogue or anything you may be open to or in need of.
 
 
 

SPCGC would encourage parents to watch the series with your teenagers. Discuss what happens, the real world consequences, and what they should do if they feel like they, or a friend, are in need of help or in crisis.

Dr. Janet Taylor on GMA
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 Trends in Suicide by Level of Urbanization — United States, 1999–2015 

4/12/2017

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This study provides added support to previous findings that a geographic disparity in suicide rates exists in the United States, with higher rates in less urban areas and lower rates in more urban areas and extends these findings to characterize suicide trends by urbanization level over time. Specifically, the current study found that suicide rates across all urbanization levels increased during the period 1999–2015, the gap in rates between less urban and more urban areas widened over time, and rates in medium metro, small metro, and non-metro areas increased at a more rapid pace beginning in 2007–2008.
Geographic disparities in suicide rates might be associated with suicide risk factors known to be highly prevalent in less urban areas, such as limited access to mental health care, made worse by shortages in behavioral health care providers in these areas.
Go to Article
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Epidemic of Latina Adolescent Suicide

3/1/2017

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"Raised in Chicago, I grew into an odd, restless and outspoken child with a wild imagination — certainly not the ideal Mexican daughter. I was very much an Americanized teen, longing for independence, particularly from my family, and my parents were not equipped to deal with me. I struggled with severe depression for many years and continued to contemplate suicide, all under the radar. It wasn’t until I had to be hospitalized at 15 that my family and friends understood that I had a mental illness." - Erika L. Sanchez

A startling national statistic is 15.6% of Latina adolescents have attempted suicide at least once, while 20.1% have seriously considered suicide. Data from the 2015 Healthy Kids Colorado Survey doesn't break out male/female responses by gender. However in this regional assessment of students for Garfield County, 15.8% of Hispanic students reported seriously considering suicide in the past 12 months which is 44% than white students. 12.8% of Hispanic students reported making a plan on how they would attempt suicide compared to 8.1% of white students. While 10.8% of Hispanic students reported attempting suicide in the past 12 months with 5.8% of students reporting that the attempt ended with an injury, poisoning, or overdose having to be treated by a doctor compared to 4.7% and 1.1% of white students respectively.

As SPCGC continues our work in schools in Glenwood Springs and Rifle High Schools it is important that we work to bring in Latino/a and Hispanic voices into our coalition. 

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Time to Address the Latina Teen Suicide Epidemic
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How I Managed not to Kill Myself Yesterday - Sam Lamott

2/7/2017

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Those of us working in suicide prevention imagine those times when people call a crisis line as fraught with anxiety, pain, hurt, and emergency. That isn't always the case. For individuals a crisis line can be a life line to support for the everyday. We could all do with that sometimes. If you are not in crisis, call one and see how long it takes to get someone. If you're having a day where you think you can't take it, call a crisis line. Colorado's Crisis Services has peer specialists so you don't have to always talk to a clinician. If your area is lacking in mental health services, call a crisis line.

They may be there for the tough, emergency, dire times. They are also there for support in other times.

By posting this piece we want to begin to bring in those voices who may not be heard. Those voices that are brave enough to share their struggle.


Read Sam Lamott's Post Here
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Here's How Schools can Support Students' Mental Health

9/27/2016

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About one in five children in the United States shows signs of a mental health disorder — anything from ADHD to eating disorders to suicide.
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And yet, as we've been reporting this month, many schools aren't prepared to work with these students. Often, there's been too little training in recognizing the problems, the staff who are trained are overworked, and there just isn't enough money.
When there are enough people to handle the job, how should all the different roles fit together?

Many experts point to one model. It's got a bureaucratic name — the "multi-tiered system of supports" — but when you picture it, just imagine an upside-down pyramid, or maybe a funnel. It starts with support for everyone and moves on to more and more specialized help.

Read Full Article

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By Meg Anderson, NPREd


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