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Preventing suicide could be as simple as checking in

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Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of articles about behavioral health in Doña Ana County. The series will focus on a wide range of issues related to behavioral health in our communities, and it will spotlight programs and care providers who are making a difference in our area.

By Mike Cook

Las Cruces Bulletin

In any given year, more than 40 residents of Doña Ana County will likely commit suicide, said Rev. Margaret Short, Ph.D., who is director of pastoral care at Memorial Medical Center (MMC). That’s a little under the New Mexico average, but well above the national average.

Department head and professor Satya Rao, Ph.D., of New Mexico State University’s College of Health and Social Services Public Health Services, said she is particularly concerned about suicide ideation among young adults and children.

“We need to focus a lot of attention on young people and really understand the disconnectedness they feel,” Rao said. “They are so lost in technology. If I can find the answer in my smartphone, why in the world would I talk to anyone?’”

The result is often isolation, Rao said, leaving the individual with a connection to technology but not to other people. He or she may not know where to turn for help with feelings that come out of isolation, which sometimes include thoughts of suicide.

Many young people need to be reminded regularly “that someone is looking out for them,” Rao said. “A lot of us feel that we are invisible.” The reliance on self-sufficiency and the uniquely American commitment to self-reliance “really comes in the way of good mental health sometimes,” she said. “Life can be so vulnerable. We have to rely on others to help us through.”

Isolation is not confined to young people, Rao said. Her conversations with staff and volunteers for the city’s meal-delivery program show that many older people are “so happy to see this person” delivering their meals “because they don’t have the means to go out.”

The Las Cruces-based nonprofit Southern New Mexico Suicide Prevention and Survivor Support Coalition that Rao and Short belong to has created a brochure about available services that is now provided to people getting meal deliveries, Rao said.

When she speaks at employee orientations at MMC, which include housekeepers, nurses, physicians and department directors, Short said she talks about “how to be intentional” in looking for signs that a patient, a co-worker or a hospital visitor is struggling emotionally.

It only takes a moment to make sure someone is doing okay, Rao said. When you check in, she said, “be intentional, be purposeful. Be extra sensitive and caring. Ask that extra question” to really know if a friend, family member, co-worker, classmate or even a casual acquaintance isn’t doing well and could use help.

Rao also advises looking out for difficult circumstances in a person’s life, including divorce, losing the custody of a child, health issues and other trauma-inducing events.

“By asking a few questions, we can truly understand what is going on,” she said. Alcohol and drug abuse can also be factors.

When you check in with another person, know that you don’t have to go it alone, Short said. Trained psychologists and social workers sometimes have that same fear, she said, because they aren’t sure how to proceed. “There’s help available,” she said.

If you discover that someone needs help, go with or take him or her to a mental health professional or a hospital emergency room, Short said, and/or help that person “work out a plan” to receive care.

Rao said she has escorted a number of students to the NMSU counseling center, and Short said she often has accompanied people to MMC’s family clinic to get help.

Just helping someone to realize that he or she is not alone is a “major benefit,” Short said. Many people with suicidal ideation are unable to discuss the issue with family or close friends. “They feel so alone,” she said. And no matter your age or how long you’ve been dealing with an issue, “it’s never too late,” Short said.

“There’s someone who truly cares,” Rao said. “It’s amazing what that can do,” Short added.

Preventing suicide requires a community effort, both said, which includes families, educators, religious leaders and elected officials working together.

Adult Suicide Survivor Support Group

This is a free, peer-led group open to any adult survivor of suicide (including someone who has experienced the death by suicide of a friend or loved one). It meets 4:30-6 p.m. the first and third Monday of every month at Mesilla Valley Hospice, 299 E. Montana Ave. The group is facilitated by the Southern New Mexico Suicide Prevention and Survivors’ Support Coalition. Meetings are confidential and provide a safe place for a person to express his or her feelings about suicide.

Getting help in Las Cruces

  • In an emergency, call 911
  • Call 1-800-Suicide, which is also available in Spanish
  • National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: talk: 1-800-273-TALK (8255), chat: www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org
  • Visit endsuicide.net
  • Watch “Suicide Prevention – Stand up and Break the Silence,” a 30-second PSA at http://endsuicide.net/suicide-prevention/ and http://endsuicide.net/1-800-suicide-en-espanol/

Warning signs of suicide

  • The CDC lists 11 warning signs of suicide: feeling like a burden, being isolated, increased anxiety, feeling trapped or in unbearable pain, increased substance use, looking for a way to access lethal means, increased anger or rage, extreme mood swings, expressing hopelessness, sleeping too little or too much, talking or posting about wanting to die and making plans for suicide.
  • The CDC lists five steps to help someone at risk: ask, keep them safe, be there, help them connect and follow up. For more information, visit www.BeThe1To.com.
  • “Mental disorders, particularly clinical depression, increase the risk for both attempted suicide and suicide,” according to NMDOH. “Other risk factors include a previous suicide attempt, alcohol and substance abuse, a family history of suicide, a history of child maltreatment, feelings of hopelessness, isolation, barriers to mental health treatment, loss of relationships, social connections, work and finances, physical illness and easy access to lethal methods, such as firearms.”

More information

behavioral health, Dona Ana, suicide

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