CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

Prevention Month: Reducing Stigma Key to Preventing Suicide, Local Experts Say

The Chronicle - 9/21/2021

Sep. 20—In-Crisis Resources

—National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-8255 or suicidepreventionlifeline.org

—Veterans Crisis Line: 800-273-8255 or text to 838255 or visit suicidepreventionlifeline.org/talk-to-someone-now/

—Lifeline Crisis Chat: www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/gethelp/lifelinechat.aspx

—Crisis Text Line: 741741 or www.crisistextline.org/

—Lewis County 24-hour Crisis Line: 800-803-8833 or 360-807-2440.

—NAMI Information Line: 800-950-6264, or visit namilewiscountywa.org to connect with the local chapter

—Cascade Community Healthcare: 360-807-2440 or cascadecommunityhealthcare.org

—A full list of behavioral health agencies in Washington, broken out by county, is available online at www.doh.wa.gov/Portals/1/Documents/Pubs/606019-BHADirectory.pdf

Even though suicide is widely known as a common mental health issue, it still carries a stigma that makes it difficult to connect people to resources.

Reducing that stigma is one of the goals driving the Lewis County chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), a grassroots mental health organization that seeks to educate people on mental health issues and provide support.

"The big thing that kills everyone — stigma. I think the stigma around mental health keeps people from getting help," said Abe Meyer, president of NAMI Lewis County. "Where mental health isn't taboo, it's OK to have struggles because we all do, then people seek help. People feel welcome and validated. But if there's stigma, you can offer a million services and people who really need it won't ever get it."

There have been five confirmed suicides in Lewis County so far this year, with 18 suicides documented in 2020 and 14 suicides documented in 2019, according to the Lewis County Coroner's Office.

The primary takeaway of an online survey conducted on behalf of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) from April 13 through May 10 was that "despite an overall sentiment of understanding, agreement that mental health has become more of a health care priority in recent years, and that many U.S. adults have been more open about mental health since the pandemic started, the need to expand access to treatment, educate about mood disorders, reduce stigma, and close gaps within our society when it comes to mental health care persists."

NAMI first formed in 1979 on the East Coast as a coalition of parents of children with mental illnesses who were struggling due to a lack of support. The organization grew and now runs as a series of state and local affiliates around the country.

The Lewis County affiliate formed about 20 years ago in the same way its parent organization did, with a group of parents getting together to support people in their community.

"They just wanted to be able to advocate and also create community, because NAMI is really about community, Meyer said. "All of our members provide all of our services and are there for each other in different ways, and people can be involved however they want."

Volunteers run regular support groups, host educational presentations in schools and businesses and run classes on an on-demand basis.

"Everything we do is free. You don't have to do anything or believe anything other than just wanting to support and get the help you need," said Meyer. "It's really a great organization that I believe wholeheartedly in."

Meyer, a Chehalis firefighter, got involved in NAMI after utilizing its services a few years ago, and has seen firsthand how stigma around mental health has affected his fellow firefighters.

"I don't think firefighters would be dying from suicide as the number one cause of death if we could talk about our problems," Meyer said.

One of the ways Meyer personally works to destigmatize mental health is by showing empathy and creating spaces where people feel empowered to be open about their experiences.

"Someone said it at some training long ago, they talked about creating brave spaces, because you have got to be brave, and it's scary. But you find the right people to put yourself out to, you talk and you share and lo and behold, someone else has something to share too," Meyer said. "And so often, once one person has become vulnerable, another person will and if the probie in the corner isn't talking but he's hearing it, he knows that it's okay to be vulnerable."

The "brotherhood" created by that shared vulnerability and honest conversations is a key factor in reducing stigma surrounding mental health, Meyer said.

For someone who is struggling with suicidal thoughts or ideation, having one person reach out with the willingness to listen to them can make a big difference.

That message is one that Richard Stride, a formerly practicing psychotherapist and CEO of Cascade Community Healthcare, is working to impart to his community.

"Generally during Suicide Prevention Month we try to make people aware that there is help out there, that they're not alone, that they can reach out and there's someone who cares about them and what they're going through, or what they're feeling at the time, or they can actually help," Stride said.

Cascade, a local nonprofit that offers behavioral health and substance abuse services throughout Lewis County, offers a wide variety of support groups, counseling and psychiatric care to individuals struggling with their mental health.

"When we talk to people, we, as mental health professionals, are very careful to make sure that we're not doing things like arguing with the person or trying to judge their feelings in any way," Stride said. "We're just there to listen and to let them know that they can talk that this is a safe place."

Any information shared with a counselor is confidential, and counselors can direct people to other services as needed.

Cascade is just one of a wide variety of mental health resources available in Lewis County, and Meyer expects those resources to grow in the years to come as people become more informed about mental health.

"It (mental health support) will be like all great grassroots movements, it'll spread slowly wherever it locally takes home," Meyer said. "I think there's a demand. And I think there's a compassion in Lewis County to create a stronger community around it. I think it's just a lack of awareness and a lack of really knowing what to do."

In-Crisis Resources

—National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-8255 or suicidepreventionlifeline.org

—Veterans Crisis Line: 800-273-8255 or text to 838255 or visit suicidepreventionlifeline.org/talk-to-someone-now/

—Lifeline Crisis Chat: www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/gethelp/lifelinechat.aspx

—Crisis Text Line: 741741 or www.crisistextline.org/

—Lewis County 24-hour Crisis Line: 800-803-8833 or 360-807-2440.

—NAMI Information Line: 800-950-6264, or visit namilewiscountywa.org to connect with the local chapter

—Cascade Community Healthcare: 360-807-2440 or cascadecommunityhealthcare.org

—A full list of behavioral health agencies in Washington, broken out by county, is available online at www.doh.wa.gov/Portals/1/Documents/Pubs/606019-BHADirectory.pdf

___

(c)2021 The Chronicle (Centralia, Wash.)

Visit The Chronicle (Centralia, Wash.) at www.chronline.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.