SEPTEMBER 2023 suicide prevention
September is Suicide Prevention Month.
Suicide is the 8th leading cause of death in
Traditional suicide prevention efforts are focused on mental health approaches to address three primary components. These are community awareness trainings, social workers, red flag laws and 988, and grief counseling. All these are mental health programs without the expertise or tools to needed to address the poverty-depression cycle driven by economics and employment triggers. Mountain Lifeworks believes connecting individuals with meaningful work and incomes is the key to economic diversion strategies and unlocking a balanced approach that makes life work.
COVDRS Suicide Dashboard All Years (state.co.us)
Coffee with a Cause september 2023
Adults with disabilities were more likely to
report suicidal ideation in the past month (30.6%) versus (8.3%) of
people without disabilities. Depression is the most common mental
health condition, and 46% of those who die by suicide had a known
mental health condition. Chronic illnesses such as cancer, heart
disease, or diabetes may make you more likely to have or develop a
mental health condition.
Adults living below the federal poverty level
report mental distress 70% more often than adults in higher income
households. Working age adults with disabilities live in poverty at
a rate of 25% compared to only 9.3% of non-disabled. Poverty was
also found to mediate unemployment’s effect on suicide rates, which
suggests policies should focus on reducing poverty as well as
meaningful incomes and employment.
UCLA Luskin | Studying the Link Between Poverty and Suicides
Risk of Suicide | NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness
NIMH » Chronic Illness and Mental Health: Recognizing and Treating Depression
Coffee with a Cause september 2023
The CDC Suicide Prevention Resource offers select strategies based on the best available evidence to help states focus on activities with the greatest potential to prevent suicide. The #1 strategy is "strengthen economic supports" and others range from supporting groups at increased risk to the general population. States and communities should consider the Prevention Resource to help guide decisions about balancing economic diversion strategies and mental health prevention activities.
The Mountain Lifeworks approach complements existing prevention and grief counseling programs with data driven diversion strategies to balance mental health and economic solutions. Meaningful employment and equal opportunities are important tools to disrupting the poverty-depression cycle regardless of cause or community. These and other economic strategies mitigate risks and triggers while reducing the immediate and long-term harms of suicidal behavior for individuals, families and communities.
Suicide in Rural America | Rural Health | CDC
Comprehensive Suicide Prevention Programs | Funded | CDC
Remember a balanced approach uses verified data to identify problems and to propose actionable solutions. Only those willing to have difficult conversations can solve difficult problems. The first step to solving any problem is accepting the data indicating a problem... not blaming the messenger or method of delivery.
So join us for Coffee with a Cause and let's keep the conversation going each month with more data and actionable real life solutions!