‘Reach out’ De-stigmatizing depression a key to receiving treatment

When leading causes of death are mentioned, heart disease, cancer and COVID-19 may come to mind, but one epidemic America sees through blinders is the increasing rate of death by suicide.

In 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention named suicide as a leading cause of death, taking the lives of 47,511 Americans that year. In Arkansas, 548 lost lives contributed to that toll, 34 of which came from Garland County.

In 2020, the recorded statewide suicide death toll rose to 566, with 31 of those from Garland County, but in reality, the numbers are likely higher.

Rooted in the common disease of depression, suicide is often looked at as “shameful” or “embarrassing,” and this sometimes leads to false reports of the cause of death being recorded as an accident in an effort to protect a social image, Dr. Peter Guresky, a psychiatrist at National Park Medical Center, said.

The key to proportionately decreasing the suicide rate, Guresky said, is to de-stigmatize mental illness that leads to suicide so people will be more comfortable getting help before it leads to self-inflicted death.

“Suicide is a major problem. It’s a tragedy to have someone you love die of cancer or heart disease, but if that person dies from suicide it’s a tragedy and it’s a shameful event. There’s a reluctance for people to view suicide or depression with the seriousness it deserves from a public health standpoint,” he said.

“By de-stigmatizing the condition, it allows people who are struggling with depression to come out of the shadows and seek help. Nobody wants to have heart disease, but people aren’t ashamed to say ‘I have a heart condition, I need to go see my cardiologist,’” he said, “But that same kind of reasoning doesn’t apply to someone who would say to friends or family, ‘I’m struggling with depression, I need to seek mental health treatment.’”

Depression is often veered away from in conversation, he said.

“It’s one of the most common conditions,” Guresky said. “Any family practice, primary care doctor will tell you that more than half the patients seen in a day are there because of anxiety or depression. … Accept that being depressed is an illness just like any other illness, and it is treatable just like any other condition.”

Depression is not only common, it is also sneaky.

“Depression is a condition that comes on gradually by increments, and it’s not the sort of thing like, when you flip on a light switch it’s dark, or light, or you flip a switch off it’s light and then suddenly it’s dark. You don’t just wake up one day and are depressed. It comes on gradually, like a lot of diseases do, and it can be so gradual that many people who suffer from depression don’t even realize it,” Guresky said.

“It’s a shame,” he said, “that there are so many people who are depressed who are not getting the help that they need, and if those people did, the incidents of suicide would proportionately decline.”

Currently, he said, suicide is on an “upward slope.”

“I can tell you at the hospital here there is rarely ever a day that goes by that we don’t have someone in the emergency department whose either attempted to kill himself or herself, or is seriously thinking about it,” Guresky said. “It’s a very common thing.”

If someone is experiencing depression or suicidal thoughts, Guresky said that is fine, but take action.

“There are very few people in the world who could honestly say they’ve never contemplated their own demise and taking their own life,” he said. “Just about everybody has had that cross their mind at some point or another, and it’s fine to talk about that.

“The most important thing is if you’re having thoughts like this is to let somebody know so we can try to get you the help you need, which in most cases does not result in a hospitalization. It results in medication, counseling and follow-up visits.”

There is help available to everyone.

In Garland County, Ouachita Behavioral Health and Wellness is intended to provide resources to the underfunded. Additionally, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24/7 at 800-273-8255, providing a person to talk to who will also give resources to seeking further help, if desired.

“Get the help. Reach out, find somebody,” Guresky said. “Just come to the emergency room if that’s the only thing you know to do; call the 800 number, but get help. This is a preventable condition, and it’s really a shame that anyone dies from suicide. It’s so treatable if you get the help that you need, or try to get the help you need. It’s a treatable (condition).”