Interesting things going on in Maine.  A bill requiring suicide prevention training in public schools.  Christopher Cousins writes in the Bangor Daily News:

 
AUGUSTA, Maine — There’s virtually no way the Legislature’s Education and Cultural Affairs Committee could have given stronger support Tuesday to a bill that would require suicide prevention training in Maine’s public schools.

Not only did the committee give the measure its unanimous endorsement, but it also vowed to find a way to cover the cost of the program and called on the Department of Education to implement the law in time for the beginning of the next school year while putting the concept through a rigorous rule-making process that will bring the issue back to the committee next year.

Rep. Paul Gilbert, D-Jay, said after the vote that his bill, “An Act to Increase Suicide Awareness and Prevention in Maine Public Schools,” was the most important measure he has ever championed as a legislator.

“If I’m remembered for anything I’ve done in the Legislature, I hope it’s this bill,” said Gilbert, who sponsored the legislation at the suggestion of school guidance counselors in his district. “I can’t imagine anything bigger
than saving a kid’s life.”

Earlier this month, the committee heard hours of heart-wrenching testimony from educators and parents, many of whom told personal stories about students, sons or daughters who have been lost to suicide. Speaker after speaker said that while a bill like this one can’t stop all suicides, it might well have made a difference for some.

The bill would require the Department of Education and local schools to implement programs for all personnel to complete suicide prevention awareness training and for at least two people from every school district to undergo more extensive suicide prevention and intervention training.

It was clear from the start of Tuesday’s work session that lawmakers on the Education Committee were supportive, with some tearfully relating their own personal stories of a sibling or a neighbor who died by suicide. One of them was Sen. Brian Langley, R-Ellsworth, who lost his younger brother to suicide in addition to two students he taught during his teaching career.

“It’s just pretty rough,” said Langley. “One of the students I might have suspected. The other one, that was really tough. If we’re better aware of what those signs are, we might be able to pick up on one of them.”

Sen. Chris Johnson, D-Somerville, gave an impassioned plea to his colleagues to support the bill.

“I think it’s time that we don’t view this in light of other education issues,” he said. “This is a matter of life or death so our young people can live out their adult lives and fulfill the expectations of everyone.”

Rep. Michael McClellan, R-Raymond, suggested that if the committee is serious about the bill, its members have to find a way to provide funding so suicide prevention and awareness training doesn’t go to public schools as an unfunded mandate. According to the committee’s analyst, the training is offered for free by nonprofit groups such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Maine.  The only cost to local school districts would be for hiring substitute teachers while full-time teachers take the training.

“If you lined up all the trainings we ask our educators to do, I would put this one at the top,” said McClellan. “This might be an opportunity to be bold as a committee and put this into the budget and pay for it. Let’s put our money where our mouth is.”

In addition to its vow to cover any costs — which were described as “moderate statewide” in the bill’s fiscal note — the committee amended the bill so it will go through both routine and major substantive rule processes concurrently. That means if passed by the Legislature, which would require a two-thirds vote of both chambers if a mandate preamble is attached, the bill would take effect for the coming school year and require the Department of Education to come back to the Education Committee after it has drafted rules. The bill calls for a ramp-up of the training, which is to be in full effect during the 2014-15 school year.

We've updated the Resources for Everyone page with two great sites! Check them out below!


RehabInfo, the most trusted rehab referrals. If you have reason to believe a friend or loved one needs treatment for a substance abuse problem, mental health disorder or a behavioral issue, chances are, they do. By the time you begin to notice behaviors out of the norm in the individual in question, they likely have been suffering with their conditions for sometime. It’s commonplace for a person with an addiction or mental illness to attempt to hide it from friends and loved ones for as long as they can. For this reason, it’s important for you to recognize the signs and symptoms of any issues that might require rehab.
http://www.rehabinfo.net/

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is a resource to find alcohol and drug abuse treatment or mental health treatment facilities and programs around the country.
http://findtreatment.samhsa.gov/

A week ago I shared a blog from Karen Pilarski.  She's shared another wonderful entry that I wanted to share entitled 'Labels Don't Stick'.  It's a great post and a great piece to use to start talking about how we perceive one another.

I've put a few paragraphs here and you can follow the link to read the full entry:

Labels Don't Stick 
By Karen Pilarski
 
I once found a can of food buried in my pantry. It was dusty and expired a year earlier.  The label was completely torn off. I had no idea what was in that can of food. My only thought was that it was old and should be discarded. A bout of braveness took over and  the can was opened. Needless to say it was a slimy and green version of what I  want to say was peaches?

Yes, I’m going to compare people to expired cans of food. People don’t stay the same. The marks of life show in  dings and dents, displayed on the surface.  I’m not the same person I was years  ago.  I’d like to hope somewhere in the span of time my personality has evolved  into something more positive. It is unfair to stamp someone a certain way  because of how they were when growing up. I’m guilty of labeling people I’ve  dealt with based on perceptions of the past.

I remember this mean girl  from high school choir. I made the mistake of being funny and making a goofy  face in a picture. She called me out in front of the class and said I was ugly.  I went home in tears.  I wrote her off as a cruel bitch. The end of the year  before our graduation she came up to me and apologized and said
I wasn’t ugly. I  wonder what made her see the error of her way.  Maybe the choir teacher put her in her place. Possibly she realized she hurt my feelings?  I’m sure she would  have been hurt if she heard me say she looked like she hit a few ugly branches on the ugly tree.  Fast forward a decade and she is hopefully a responsible  member of society. Perhaps she learned that words hurt people.  Labels hurt people.

TO READ THE FULL ENTRY...

More and more we're hearing about how the military is looking for answers in dealing with the suicide crisis it faces.  Megan McCloskey from Stars and Stripes  reports in an article entitled, "Military evaluating suicide prevention programs".

After another rise in the military suicide rate last year, the services on Thursday outlined to Congress their efforts to reverse the trend and evaluate their prevention programs.  The overall program review has fallen to the Pentagon’s relatively new Defense Suicide Prevention Office, which opened in 2011.

By the end of September, it should complete its comprehensive inventory of all the service’s programs and will have identified gaps and overlaps in the various efforts, Jacqueline Garrick, acting director of the prevention office, told the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel. From there the office will begin to streamline and unify what is offered across the services, she said.

Although she didn’t answer questions about how they were evaluating the programs – besides collecting data from the branches – she said it was a top priority of her office.

Looking for specifics on prevention outcomes, Brad R. Wenstrup, R-Ohio, asked: “Any way of measuring how many saves we’ve had?”

“We’re just starting to do that now,” said Army Lt. Gen. Howard B. Bromberg, deputy chief of staff for manpower and personnel, which handles the service’s suicide prevention efforts. He noted that the Army has
tracked for 24 months an infantry unit that went through resiliency training to see the impact it had on suicide outcomes. They found that while suicidal gestures were the same, the number of peer-to-peer interventions went up.

Last year the Army set another record with 324 suicides. For active duty, the 183 suicides in 2012 far exceeded the previous record of 148 in  2009.


“While most Army suicides continue to be among junior
enlisted soldiers, the number of suicides by non-commissioned officers has
increased over each of the last three years,” Bromberg said.


He said the Army is working on changing its culture, which
has long stigmatized the need for mental health care. The service claims to have
made a dent in the stigma over recent years, pointing to survey results that
show that the percentage of enlisted soldiers who thought seeking mental health
care would harm their career dropped from 69 percent in 1999 to 52 percent in
2012, and 81 percent to 54 percent for officers, according to Bromberg’s written
testimony.


All the services stressed that suicide is a growing
nationwide problem, reflecting a frustration with lawmakers’ focus on suicide
within the military community.

I received a DM the other day from Karen Pilarski.  She shared a wonderful post she did about LISTENING.  Such a simple and thoughtful act. One that so many miss in the hectic running around of life.

A big thanks to Karen for writing and sharing it!

I'll share the first part here and implore you to follow the link to read the full post:


It’s a Sad Day When Facebook is a Better Listener 
Karen Pilarski

Have you ever walked down a hall and someone passes you by and says “Hi, how are you?” They don’t stop to wait for the answer. In fact before lips part to make a  sound the person is long gone. Another scenario is mumbling out a response such  as “Ok, I guess.” The person responds with “That’s good” as they quickly  vanish  from sight. I wonder why people seem to care less now. Even Facebook is courteous and asks how I’m doing. It seems there are more responses coming from a white text box than an actual human being. What happened to the art of listening?

Listening requires more than just hearing words and nodding.  It requires ‘listening’ to the other person’s non verbal cues. Is the person covering their face as if to say they want to hide from everyone? Is the breath full of long deep pauses? It is understandable each person’s world is full of commotion and noise. Constant beeping of phones and blinking messages in the email take up time. For that troubled soul, all that is needed is a sympathetic smile or just simply asking how they are and waiting for an answer. I would think a person could take the second to do this.

I went to the doctor today and it might as well been done over the phone or via email. The doctor didn’t ask what was new and just wanted to get the general exam done. I’ve been to this doctor for years! I mentioned I felt run down and tired and the doctor simply just mentioned “Oh, well I’ll check your blood tests.” There was no asking if I have been stressed or having lack of sleep. The doctor didn’t listen. The doctor just wanted to get through with exam quick and go to the next appointment.

To read the full post:
http://karenpilarski.blogspot.com/2013/03/its-sad-day-when-facebook-is-better.html

The voice of the caller to the emergency call is nearly incoherent  from grief. Words, interrupted by heaving sobs, do not come easily for her.  Slowly, the emergency dispatcher eases details out of her.

"911, what is your emergency," the dispatcher calmly asks. "Ma'am, ma'am, I can't understand you, what is your address? ... What is the problem? What is going on?"

Two parents shout and cry over the phone, giving scattered details. After a few more moments, the pieces of the puzzle become clear: A teenager has committed suicide overnight, and the parents have found the body.

The mother hands the phone to the child's father. He sounds numb and repeats everything two or three times: They have been trying to perform CPR. They provide their address — the location of the body.

Calmly,  the dispatcher sends rescue workers to the scene on the west side of Columbus,  while talking the desperate parents through the steps of the  resuscitation technique.

The December phone call is just one of many. Local dispatchers and emergency workers have handled hundreds of similar calls in recent years, where people either committed suicide or were planning to harm themselves. But, Bartholomew County saw a dramatic rise in the number of suicide-related emergency calls over the past three years, a spike of 61 percent from 2010 to 2012.

City and county officials tell The Republic the rising numbers lead to heightened concerns over the safety of rescue workers because of the danger of a suicidal suspect using a weapon to attack an officer. And it takes a mental toll on those who receive and respond to the calls.

Ed Reuter, director of the Bartholomew County Emergency Operations Center, keeps track of three types of  suicide-related calls:

Suicide threats: A victim is planning to take his or her own life.

Suicide attempt with injury: A victim has taken steps to harm himself, whether through drugs, weapons or other means, but is still alive.

Suicide: The victim has killed himself or herself.

While the number of calls of suicide attempts and threatened suicides are up dramatically, the number of actual suicides in Bartholomew County has remained consistent during the past decade, at about 11 a year.

The  first line of help when a suicide-related call comes into the center is the dispatcher who takes the call, Reuter said. Where suicide-related calls used to come in every couple of days, now it is nearly a daily occurrence according to the statistics. Responding to any call is a complicated dance of questions, empathy and information gathering, Reuter said.

In a case in which a suicidal victim calls in, dispatchers are trying to talk subjects out of hurting themselves, while simultaneously gathering enough information to summon emergency workers to the location.

Although the dispatch center has a set of cards at each station outlining procedures for nearly every imaginable type of call, suicide calls require an especially personal touch, Reuter said. A loud, hysterical subject would require a different approach than someone who is crying and speaking softly, for example.

Dispatcher Angela Lee has been in her role for 24 years. In one call several years ago, Lee  spoke to a troubled victim for 22 minutes before the person committed suicide.

"You just become a friend over the phone. You become concerned about them and ask them why would they want to do that," Lee said.

"They are calling somebody to reach out. You just try your best to get to know them just a little bit. Find something that you might be able to pick on to get them to think on it."

Officers and deputies usually are the first to arrive on scene. Their first priority is to make sure the location is safe before paramedics and firefighters can come in to help a victim, police said. The worst case from a safety perspective is when a suicidal suspect is still armed when police arrive.

"Obviously someone who has overdosed on pills will require a little bit different response than someone who is threatening suicide with a gun or with a knife," said Todd Harry, deputy chief of the Columbus Police Department.

"If they have cut themselves or there potentially are guns in the house, our  officers will get there and assure that they don't have access to these weapons, they don't have a knife. If it is necessary, our officers will detain them with restraints or handcuffs. Generally we get there and make sure that everyone is safe and if there is medical attention required that we make sure that person gets that medical attention."

Every year, police go through training that includes a mental health component, covering a large number of topics, such as suicidal victims and those with autism, Harry said. Almost every shift now calls for officers to handle a mental health crisis of some sort, including suicide attempts or threats.

Officers are mindful of the "suicide by cop" phenomenon, in which suicidal suspects plan to act in such a way that police are forced to shoot and kill them,  Harry said.

"It is very, very real," Harry said. "Our ultimate goal is to get up there and set up a perimeter and call that person out and have a negotiated surrender, where we can convince the person to put their weapons away or put the weapons down and basically turn themselves over to us. The last thing we want to do is have it turn into a barricaded subject call where we have to activate SWAT and get negotiators involved. That is a very real possibility for those types of calls."

Among those who answer and respond to the calls, the suicide-related incidents are some of the most traumatic dispatchers and officers deal with, officials said.  The city and county both offer free counseling to employees who are having problems with these sorts of stressful situations.

Maj. Todd Noblitt, spokesman for the Bartholomew County Sheriff's Department, said  each officer deals with the stress of the situations differently. A deputy with  a teenager at home might have a hard time dealing with a teen suicide, where an  officer with an elderly parent could feel stress when the victim is a  senior citizen.

In Noblitt's years with the department, one thing that has changed is that police no longer put up a front that none of what they see in the field affects them.  Supervisors are sensitive to the stress officers feel and can suggest their subordinates seek counseling, Noblitt said.

"People sometimes think that cops are superhumans and that things don't bother them, but  the fact is cops are the same as anybody else," Noblitt said. "When you place an  individual in an abnormal situation, a suicide or a death of a child, being a  policeman or not doesn't matter. You are still going to feel those same types of  emotions, those same types of feelings.

"What happens, and why we do so much training, is because you are going to experience the same emotions and the same feelings, you need to be able to rely on  your training."

But just after the incident, there is no time for an officer or dispatcher to regroup before they move on to the next emergency.

"We cannot take them out of service for an hour, a day or whatever," Harry said.  "Once they leave that call, it is on to the next one."

Lee said she has learned to keep the stress of being a dispatcher compartmentalized from her life.

"It is my job, it is what I do," Lee said. "I don't take it home with me. I leave it there. Not to say that I don't care that just happened. But I don't take it home  with me."

Ashley Bear, a county dispatcher for about two years, said she also has learned to simply move on to the next emergency.

"Sometimes I make myself personally feel better by just silently saying a prayer for them and their family members, in my own mind and head, laying everything in God's hands. Because I have got to get going," Bear said. "On second shift, it isn't long until you get another call."

We usually hear and read headlines about tragic Metro stories.  It's rare to get a story focusing on the men and women who do their job and keep an eye out for others.  Two separate suicide attempts on Metro were prevented over the weekend by watchful train conductors, reported the Examiner.

On Friday a woman put herself on the tracks in the Bethesda station during the evening rush, refusing to move even after a train had stopped. She was eventually removed than involuntarily committed. In a closer call on Saturday, a man at the Judiciary Square station threw himself on the tracks as a train was entering the station, but the conductor was able to stop quickly enough to only make minor contact with him. He was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

So far two people have killed themselves on Metro this year, most recently at Gallery Place. Last year, five
people successfully committed suicide on Metro. Late last year Metro started posting posters advertising a suicide prevention hotline.

We used January as a starting point to start fresh.  To resolve to improve. 

Make changes. 

How simple it is to resolve to help someone in need. 

I believe that if we all helped each other more, we wouldn't have to rely on the government for assistance. If we opened up to one another, many of the problems we see, would be solved.

It starts with you.  Educate yourself on HOW to help.  Spread that to your family.  Your friends.  Let them
take it and share it.

Suicide is tough to talk about.  I know.  But we must be willing to talk.  To listen.  To make the difficult decisions.