Suicide prevention month
Suicide Prevention Awareness Month is commemorated each September to encourage communities, professionals and each one of us to get the facts and become part of a safety net to protect life and prevent suicide.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) considers suicide, the 10th leading cause of deaths for Americans, to be a critical, but preventable, public health issue.
Imperial County Behavioral Health Services (ICBHS) is working to make the Imperial Valley a safer community by using an evidencebased model that trains professionals and educates the community to work together to be a safety net to preserve life.
Julio Camargo, an ICBHS Mental Health Counselor, who leads community education and training sessions, said, “I see it as mental health first aid. It’s just like people get CPR and Heimlich maneuver training for physical problems.” The program developed by Living Works Education, Inc. is based on the concept that “most people with thoughts of suicide don’t truly want to die — instead they are looking for a way to work through the pain in their lives.”
Such individuals’ words and actions actually invite others to help them make a choice. Yet, those requests for help can be misunderstood, overlooked or ignored in part because those around them do not know what to do.
Living Works’ “safeTALK: Suicide Alertness For Everyone” is a half-day training that Camargo leads regularly at various locations throughout the Valley.
Through the half-day training participants learn to recognize invitations for help, become better able to listen and talk to individuals with thoughts of suicide. The goal is to connect the individual with resources so they can be safe from suicide.
Camargo thinks the training is valuable for everyone. “I’d like to see people who live down the street get this training, not just those in human services. They are the ones most likely to notice if someone they know is having suicidal thoughts. It really takes the community to do this to work.”
In the training, participants learn to “move beyond the common tendency to miss, dismiss and avoid suicide,” according to Living Works literature. The program also helps participants move beyond the personal beliefs and community stigmas that can affect the safety of a person with suicidal thoughts.
“The important thing is to ask directly, ‘are you thinking about suicide,’” Carmargo said. “It’s difficult to even ask the question and let the person talk. That is why we practice in the training.”
Carmargo said the training has been given to a wide range of first responders, teachers, social service employees, probation, Imperial Valley College and others. It is available to interested individuals in the community and students 15 years or older.
The training session includes trainer presentations, audiovisuals, interactive discussion and a chance to practice the conversation steps outlined in the program.
Participants also get wallet cards to reiterate the TALK steps and stickers proclaiming, “you can TALK to me.”
While TALK is an essential first step, ICBHS also provides a Living Works training called Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) to hone the skills of professionals.
Mayra Andrade, an ICBHS Mental Health Rehabilitation Technician and ASIST trainer, said the two-day training spells out the protocol for identifying an individual at risk of suicide, starting a conversation, helping set up follow-up care and getting the individual to agree to keep safe.
Talking in a caring way is an important first step, but the work goes much further.
“By getting a ‘safe for now’ agreement we become like a lifeguard getting someone out of the river of suicide,” Andrade said.
Sometimes the plan will call for a family member or support person to be actively involved. It may call for removing a weapon or drugs from the premises. “We want something to make sure the person is safe at home while getting follow-up care,” she said.
More information about the training programs is available by contacting ICBHS at 442-265-1525.
The importance of the trainings and the effort involved in melding professional and community efforts to preserve life cannot be overstated because nothing can undue the anguish left in wake of suicide.