James Donaldson on Mental Health – A 10-Point Plan to End Suicides

Personal Perspective: Individuals and institutions can play a role in ending suicide.

By John Bateson

THE BASICS

• Suicide Risk Factors and Signs
• Take our Depression Test
• Find a therapist near me

#James Donaldson notes:
Welcome to the “next chapter” of my life… being a voice and an advocate for #mentalhealthawarenessandsuicideprevention, especially pertaining to our younger generation of students and student-athletes.
Getting men to speak up and reach out for help and assistance is one of my passions. Us men need to not suffer in silence or drown our sorrows in alcohol, hang out at bars and strip joints, or get involved with drug use.
Having gone through a recent bout of #depression and #suicidalthoughts myself, I realize now, that I can make a huge difference in the lives of so many by sharing my story, and by sharing various resources I come across as I work in this space.  #http://bit.ly/JamesMentalHealthArticle
Find out more about the work I do on my 501c3 non-profit foundation
website www.yourgiftoflife.org Order your copy of James Donaldson’s latest book,
#CelebratingYourGiftofLife: From The Verge of Suicide to a Life of Purpose and Joy

Click Here For More Information About James Donaldson

Key points

• The first step to ending suicide is to talk openly and honestly about it.
• Suicide prevention training may be as important as CPR.
• Restricting access to lethal means—guns, drugs, and jump sites—is a large part of the solution.

Suicide is more than a mental health problem. It’s a public health problem for society at large, and everyone has a role to play in ending it.

1. It starts with individuals talking openly and honestly about suicide. This means dusting off family skeletons and having frank conversations about the death of a relative or close friend. It also means using appropriate terminology, words that are empathic and foster help-seeking rather than words that are judgmental and contribute to stigma.
2. People who are motivated can be trained in suicide prevention. Many individuals have taken a class in CPR, but the odds of seeing someone have a heart attack or stroke are smaller than the odds of knowing someone who is contemplating suicide and preparing to act. This isn’t to minimize the value of knowing first aid, but rather to emphasize the importance of skill-building in preventing suicides.
3. Another avenue is to learn whether there are any suicide hotspots in your community, and to advocate for a physical barrier to prevent future jumps. Nearly every successful effort to erect a barrier at a jump site has started with a small group of people—or sometimes just one person—who is determined to end unnecessary deaths from that location.
4. Clergy have a different role. They can talk regularly to their congregations about mental health issues as a way of combating stigma. They can also get training in how to deal with these issues, because even though they don’t graduate as mental health counselors from seminary, often they are put in a position where this is expected of them.
5. Most colleges offer mental health counseling for students, but this tends to be underfunded, poorly promoted, and difficult to access given staffing shortages. That has to change. Also, the counseling center should be housed in an area with other student services so that it’s visible, accessible, and students don’t feel awkward going there.
6. Businesses have multiple opportunities to contribute to the solution. Hospitals can assess all patients for suicide risk, even if they’re admitted for unrelated physical injuries or illnesses. Pharmaceutical companies can package over-the-counter medications in modest amounts and in such a way that a large number of pills can’t be dispensed at one time. Gun shops can post information about suicide with the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline number and ask anyone who is buying a gun for the first time what they plan to use it for, strongly suggest they get training, and encourage them to store it safely.
7. The government can pass laws that require universal background checks and 10-day waiting periods to buy a firearm. States can enact “red-flag” laws, which authorize police and immediate family members to remove firearms from people who are deemed a threat to themselves or others.
8. Police associations can require all officers to be trained in suicide prevention. The National Park Service can require the same thing of all park rangers. Prisons can commit to minimizing the time that individual inmates spend in solitary confinement.
9. The military can ban the practice of troops taking their weapons home with them when they’re off duty. Israel did this, and the suicide rate for men age 20 to 24—a high-risk group among civilians, and higher in Israel because of mandated military service—dropped 40 percent.[i] In addition, all troops should be evaluated for suicidal ideation when they return home, not just those who ask for help. Evaluations should be in person, one-on-one, and conducted more than once to allow for delayed reactions. Family members should be inter­viewed as well, separately and confidentially.
10. Treatment and benefits for veterans must be sped up, and the military’s policy of zero tolerance when it comes to sexual harassment has to be enforced. Even more importantly, as much training as troops receive preparing for battle, this much training and more needs to be provided when their service ends, to help them reintegrate into society. They are not tanks that only need a tune-up to function well again.

When the magnitude of the task is broken down into steps like these, ending suicides no longer seems far-fetched or impossible. On the contrary, it appears doable. It’s a matter of commitment. The sooner we are willing to make it, the sooner suicides will end.

If you or someone you love is contemplating suicide, seek help immediately. For help 24/7 dial 988 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, or reach out to the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741. To find a therapist near you, visit the Psychology Today Therapy Directory.