Olympia proclaims September Suicide Prevention Month

The Olympia City Council signed a proclamation designating September 2022 Suicide Prevention Month during their September 13 meeting.

September is globally observed as "Suicide Prevention Month," and the National Suicide Prevention + Action Month Proclamation was created to raise the visibility of the mental health resources and suicide prevention services available in the community.

In signing the proclamation, the goal is to start a conversation about mental health and the impact of suicide and help connect people with the appropriate support services.

"Olympia publicly places its full support behind those who work in the fields of mental health, education, and public safety," stated the proclamation.

According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death among adults and the second leading cause of death among individuals between the ages of 10 and 34 in the United States.

The proclamation stated that about 48,000 people died by suicide across the United States in 2018 - with an average of 132 suicides completed daily. "Every suicide directly impacts a minimum of 100 additional people, including family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, and community members."

Councilmember Yen Huynh said Olympia has partnered with Hope for the Day, one of the nationwide resources for suicide prevention.

According to Huynh, the organization's website has a search tool that will provide different local resources to the zip code. Among the search, categories are food, housing, goods and services, transit, information on health, financial information, education, work, legal and other things.

"This organization recognizes all of the different factors that can influence someone's thoughts on suicide, as well," Huynh said.

Huynh said community members may call or text 988 connected to the National Suicide Prevention hotline or Suicide Crisis hotline.

"It's just a faster way of being able to locate your area and connect you to someone that will answer your call or your text message that is a little bit more local to your area," Huynh added.

Councilmember Lisa Parshley appealed to the community members to reach out, help friends, and take advantage of all available resources. "We need to take this seriously and not be stigmatizing."

Parshley agreed that many people are impacted every time someone dies by suicide.

"If you've ever been around a situation, like a co-worker, a friend, a family member, it leaves so many questions, and the damage and the grief is so much harder to get over," Parshley said.