Ready and Resilient a life-saving event

I’m going to discuss suicide. If you are triggered or struggling, please take care of yourself.

On August 7, I spent the day at the Ready and Resilient event at Lovell High School. You can read all about it in the article last week, however, I wanted to discuss the importance of such events.

“Mental health and suicide are more common than one would think. Since we don’t talk about them, they seem rare,” says PROSPER (Proactive Reduction of Suicides in Populations via Evidence Based Research). Being a survivor of a suicide attempt, I believe we as a community can do so much more than we know. Big Horn County may not have diverse resources like partial hospitalization or inpatient resources, but what we have is each other.

Hospitalization alone isn’t the answer; peers and family have a larger impact. PROSPER states, “Those in distress may need medical help. They also need meaning and purpose in life. If you can be there for them, it will give them hope and reassure them that we care about them.”

 PROSPER is offering training for all of us. These are tools we can all use to support not only people experiencing suicidal ideation but also well before that point. The most striking part I took from this presentation was that suicide is not a mental health issue for most of us, it’s a social issue. Lack of connection, isolation, lack of jobs, opportunity, grief and substance use to name a few. These are issues we can all help with. It’s as easy as saying “I see you. I see you might be struggling. Are you OK?” And then we must ask the question: Are you thinking about suicide or ending your life? 

We have an incredible opportunity as a community to be trained in what to do, what to say, how to create a plan, especially for our youth. And these skills can be spread in our everyday lives not only in times of crisis. I strongly urge you to take these training courses, whether it be for two hours or six hours, virtually or in person. They are free, through the Wyoming Governor’s office.  This is an actionable step we can all take to make our community more ready and more resilient.

Thank you to all of the presenters, sponsors and volunteers for putting on a not only great program but one that we can all access at the Ready and Resilient event. I, for one, don’t want to write or read about any other community members dying of suicide. So … Lovell With Me and take advantage of this opportunity. Can we even imagine the possibility of everyone feeling seen and heard? I can!