Suicide is a problem that is not going to go away, Scott Greer told about 60 people at the Butler County Suicide Prevention Town Hall meeting Wednesday.
Greer is the director of prevention at Southeast Missouri Behavioral Health. His organization hosted the event at the Greater Poplar Bluff Area Chamber of Commerce.
The event is part of efforts in May, Mental Health Awareness Month, to shine a light on suicide prevention and remove the stigma people may feel when reaching out for help with mental wellness.
“People need us,” Greer challenged professionals from a variety of agencies and businesses. “They need the people in this room... We need to come together and make this happen.”
SEMO-BH Assistant Director of Prevention Susan Shipp explained the purpose of the meeting was to organize a partnership.
“We have to go out into this community,” she said. “We should, we could, we can and we will.”
Shipp predicted with everyone working together, a coalition may be built across the state of Missouri so more people may have access. With everyone’s skills, the coalition will be planting seeds.
“The time to stay quiet is done,” Shipp said. “Help anyway you can. Come together. There is hope.”
Shipp introduced Three Rivers College Behavioral Health Support Coordinator Corey Reynolds.
Reynolds, who talked about stigmas, said, “I am feeling very vulnerable today. Because this will be the first time I’m going to share my own personal story.”
Reynolds shared his own story of struggling with an eating disorder as a teen and relapsing in his early 20s. With the support of his parents, he started therapy and was diagnosed with depression and panic disorder.
As he focused on his recovery and wellness, Reynolds said, “when I would come to the dimension of spirituality and struggle, I had some influences in my life that believed some very legalistic things like suicide was an automatic ticket to hell, so I was terrified to talk about my suicidal ideations.
“I felt guilt, felt shame. When I tried to focus on the component of spirituality I struggled.”
Reynolds found comfort in a Bible story about a woman found guilty of adultery, but who was later defended and not stigmatized.
“Today, I’m not ashamed of my story... I refuse to be ashamed,” he said. “It’s time we learned to make the conversation about mental illness normal, just as normal as the conversations we have about physical illness.”
Stigma has robbed its victims of life, he said.
“I’ve been asked before what is it like to be in a place where you are seriously considering dying by suicide,” Reynolds said. “I’ve heard this use before and I’ve used it myself. And I would say that it’s like being trapped in a burning building with no way to escape. Jumping to your death feels less than suffering the depression, the anxiety, the shame, the guilt.
“My question to you is, do you look at these images captured on 911? Do you have a sense of understanding as to why someone would choose to jump to their death, rather than face being consumed?
“Then I ask, do you look at deaths by suicide and lack compassion, and understanding? I am in no way advocating for suicide but what I am advocating for today is we all learn how to have compassion and empathy.”
So how do we address stigma, Reynolds asked.
“We talk openly about mental health. We educate ourselves and others. We are conscious of the language we use, and we believe and promote words do matter,” he said. “We encourage equity between mental health care and physical health care and we should show compassion and empathy toward those with mental illness.
“We’re honest about treatment. We normalize the conversation about mental health treatment, just like we do other forms of health care. We choose empowerment over shame.”
Missouri is higher than the national average for this problem, and specifically affects males, much higher than females. Unfortunately, for people between the ages of 15 and 35 suicide is the second leading cause of death.
Butler County EMS sees two sides of the issue, said director David Ross, as they respond to help people contemplating or who have attempted suicide.
“Medical problems, you can get treatment, once you’re sick, you can do something about it. But, once a person has decided to follow through with the idea to end their life, then there’s no fixing that, and really the only thing we can do to help these people is to address the issue with the prevention front,” he said.
Many people not involved in health care probably don’t realize how prevalent the issue is, Ross said.
There’s not a really good easy path for them to get treatment for that and to get away from that, Ross said. It takes work on their part and it takes help from other people and they don’t always have that help readily available to them or they feel like they don’t, he continued.
“We’ve got a problem that needs addressing, and recognition is key,” Ross said.
Community partners are needed, said Iris Dooley, clinical manager of the emergency room enhancement program and the crisis department for FCC Behavioral Health.
Dr. Stephanie Berrong, associate chief of pharmacy/clinical services at the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center, commended the team for coming together to talk about the issue.
“We just want to be better tomorrow than we are today. If we don’t move those numbers overnight,” she said. “In 2018, we had nearly 47,000 Americans take their lives. About 6,500 of those were veterans. So 14% of our nation’s suicides in 2018 were veterans. So you can see why that is near and dear to our heart.”
A female veteran is 2.1 times more likely to take their life by suicide than a non-veteran. With males, it’s about 1.3 times more likely, “when we have someone that goes through with suicide, it affects about 135 people,” Berrong said.
Poplar Bluff Police Office Jeremy Ellis has been a law enforcement officer for more than seven years.
“I believe that a significant amount of the calls that we go to, in some way, shape or form are directly related to mental health, whether it’s criminal or there are wellness checks for people in crisis,” Ellis said. “We do what we can to try and help people.”
Officers try to get people connected with services that can help.
“Whenever it comes to us dealing with people in the community, though, I do believe that being kind to them and talking to them does play a big role, even if we can’t get them to somebody at that time, because maybe look at that and go back on that. Try to get hope later. I’m just trying to get them to you guys,” he said.
Anyone or organization interested in volunteering with Southeast Missouri Behavioral Health’s efforts to prevent suicide may contact Shipp at 573-686-5090 extension 2866.