By Shelby Stewart
Staff Writer
With 15 attempted suicides in Brandon Township alone so far this year—a local group is seeking some prevention.
On Tuesday night, community members attended safeTALK at Old Town Hall in Ortonville to learn about suicide alertness and become safeTALK certified.
“These are very simple steps that we can use to help save a life for somebody,” said safeTALK Trainer Nick Klempp.
According to the presentation, every two weeks, one in 20 people are thinking about suicide. And according to youth risk behavior survey, nine out of 100 high school students attempted suicide in the past 12 months. safeTALK teaches attendees about recognizing the signs of someone thinking about suicide and how to address it in a direct manner.
“The program was very informative and effective for me,” said attendee Jane Derry-Burkett. “The facilitator talked about recognizing signs, and how to deal with the signs and the person contemplating suicide. They took a complicated scary situation, and broke it down simply using empathetic steps to reach the person contemplating suicide to help keep them safe.”
The talk covers the four steps of addressing a person who may be contemplating suicide, the first being to recognize the signs, such as someone withdrawing from friends and family, missing work, or worrying excessively about things. The second step is to ask directly if the person is thinking about suicide, and then if the answer is yes, how to listen and respond.
“The program empowered you to be able ask ‘are you thinking about suicide’ and what your responsibility is if the answer is yes,” said Bob McArthur, Brandon Groveland Youth Assistance president. BGYA sponsored the program.
The program covered what is the responsibility of the person, and what is not. It is important to listen and let the person thinking about suicide know that someone cares and that their concerns are important, and then ask to connect them with a professional who can help them stay safe.
“I recommend attending the program if you have an opportunity,” said Derry-Burkett. “Hopefully, our organization Brandon Groveland Youth Assistance (BGYA) will offer it again to the public as one of our Family Education Programs in 2020.”
To learn more about safeTALK, visit livingworks.net. They also list all upcoming safeTALK programs on the website. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, call or text Common Ground at 800-231-1127 or OK2SAY at 855-565-2729 (tect 652729).