Mental Health Month 2022 Week 4

Stephanie Weatherly, DNP, PMH RN-BC, FACHE

Chief Clinical Officer

May 23, 2022

We are entering the last full week of Mental Health Month. Time to dig deep to reach as many people as possible in the home stretch! For the last few weeks, we have been discussing statistics around mental illness. The spectrum of mental illness can have devastating consequences for those struggling with one. People struggling with mental illness can have home and food insecurity, lack of access to needed resources, and often find themselves moving between the health care system and judicial system. According to prisonpolicy.org, of people who have been jailed more than 3 times in the past 12 months 27% experience moderate or severe mental illness. Along with some of these struggles, suicide risk is a concern we have for any patient we serve.

The Kaiser Foundation recently released the 2020 data for suicide rates by state. Wyoming came in highest with 30.5 suicide deaths per 100,000 people and the District of Columbia came in with the least at 5.4 suicide deaths per 100,000 people. The national average rate was 13.5 per 100,000 people. With our focus on suicide prevention for so many, the words we choose when speaking to the public are so important. The Suicide Prevention Center has developed important, research-based, guidelines for how to prevent messaging to the public around suicide that can be inflammatory and lead to increased suicide attempts. We should attempt to prevent the following:

• Don’t show or describe suicide methods or locations.
  • Pictures or detailed descriptions of how or where a person died by suicide can encourage imitation or serve as a “how-to” guide.

• Don’t include personal details of people who have died by suicide.
  • Vulnerable individuals may identify with the personal or situational details of someone who died by suicide, encouraging them to end their own lives.

• Don’t glorify or romanticize suicide.
  • Portraying suicide as a heroic, romantic, or honorable act may encourage vulnerable people to view it more positively or lead them to desire the positive attention garnered by someone who has died by suicide.

• Don’t portray suicidal behavior as more common than it is or as a typical way of coping with adversity.
  • While we don’t want to minimize the magnitude of the suicide problem, we also don’t want to imply that suicidal behavior is what most people do in a given circumstance. The vast majority of people who face adversity, mental illness, and other challenges—even those in high-risk groups—do not die by suicide, but instead find support, treatment, or other ways to cope.

• Don’t use data or language that suggests suicide is inevitable or unsolvable.
  • Describing suicide as an “epidemic,” using terms like “bullycide,” or providing extensive statistics about suicide without solutions or action steps are examples of messaging that can make suicide seem too overwhelming to address. These practices may also contribute to an overall negative narrative about suicide by implying that nothing can be done about it.

• Don’t oversimplify causes. Suicides result from a complex interplay of factors. Therefore:
  • Avoid attributing suicide to a single cause or circumstance (e.g., job loss, break-up, bullying, high stress, or being a military veteran, gay youth, or Native American). Presenting suicide as an understandable or inevitable response to a difficult situation or membership in a group can create a harmful “social script” that discourages other ways of coping.
  • Avoid portraying suicide as having no cause. Describing suicidal behavior as the inexplicable act of an otherwise healthy or high-achieving person may encourage identification with the person who died and convey that suicide can’t be prevented. It’s also a missed opportunity to educate the public about warning signs and how to respond to them.
  • Don’t reinforce negative stereotypes, myths, or stigma related to mental illnesses or suicidal persons.
  • This may shift beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors in the wrong direction.

Discussing suicide prevention is obviously important, but how we convey the message is equally so. How can we speak about suicide in a way that is safe and empowers those thinking of suicide to have options? The Suicide Prevention Center’s research shows the following:

• Screen content before sharing it
• Spread the word about safety
• Be consistent
• Increase safety by conveying a Positive Narrative
• Be mindful of safety when sharing stories about individual suicide attempts or deaths with the public
• Make sure data — if used — are strategic, safe, and prevention-focused
• Convey the complex causality of suicide
• Highlight solutions to stigma, rather than the problem of stigma
• Use non-stigmatizing language

Another way to help is on the horizon. It is wonderful that the new Suicide and Crisis Line is going live on July 16^th, 2022. Once live, you will be able to dial 988 on your phone and receive help or ask for help for a loved one. According to SAMSHA, the 988 line provides a direct connection to compassionate, accessible care and support for anyone experiencing mental health-related distress — whether that is thoughts of suicide, mental health or substance use crisis, or any other kind of emotional distress. People can also dial 988 if they are worried about a loved one who may need crisis support. For more details and to download the 988 toolkit click here.

The HRSA also launched a new hotline for maternal mental health this month. This line offers 24/7 counselors who can support pregnant or new moms. They can call 1-833-9-HELP4MOMS at any time to have immediate access to help in over 60 languages. To learn more, click here.

Thank you for all you have done this month. Let’s double down our efforts and make this last week count!