Suicide Prevention Month 2016

Photo By Laurie Pearson | Suicide Prevention Month 2016 (Photo courtesy: Defense Suicide Prevention Office)  

BARSTOW, CA, UNITED STATES

09.22.2016

Story by Laurie Pearson  

Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow

September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, however for the staff working in Behavioral Health aboard Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Calif., ensuring the emotional, physical, and financial health of MCLBB employees is a year-round calling.
Suicide statistics are staggering.
“Right now veterans have a very high rate of suicide. It’s approximately one veteran every hour who commits suicide,” said Jim Maher, section head of Behavioral Health and manager of the Community Counseling Program on base. “For active duty military, the rate is one per day, across all of the services. Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States. Women are three times more likely to attempt suicide, and men are four times more likely to actually complete suicide.”
Men have a much higher rate of suicide than women because they use more lethal weapons he explained. Men generally use firearms, whereas women usually use an overdose of medications.
However, 40 percent of women veterans who committed suicide use a firearm.
“Access to weapons is certainly one of the risk factors,” Maher said, then further explained that 90 percent of the people who commit suicide have some sort of diagnosable disorder.
“It could be depression, although depression itself is not a mental disorder,” Maher said. “We all have depression at times in our life. It is part of the human experience. When depression begins to effect functioning and our ability to think clearly or perform our roles, then it could be a depressive disorder. The CCP helps people gain tools to overcome depression before it becomes a problem or later when it is affecting their functioning.”
“Additional diagnosable disorders could be Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Bipolar Disorder,” Maher said. “People with Bipolar Disorder have a high rate of committing suicide along with Major Depressive Disorder.”
“There is no definitive way to say who will commit suicide and who will not,” explained Maher. “So, we have to take any threat of suicide seriously. However, people with a family history of physical or sexual abuse, those who grew up with a parent who abused drugs, or who witnessed domestic violence growing up and or have a parent who attempted suicide have a greater risk of developing mental and even physical/medical disorders and/or attempting suicide themselves."
Alcohol and drugs or medications can also complicate a person’s perspective on their circumstances.
“If people are depressed and they are drinking on top of that, then the risk rate goes up because they’re not thinking clearly,” Maher said. “They don’t see the whole picture. They have blinders on.”
Good coping skills and good interpersonal connections are strong tools to mitigate risk.
“If a person has a lot of stressors on them, and their coping skills are high, then there is less suicide risk,” Maher explained. “If they have connections with others, that’s one of the preventive measures, and the suicide risk would go down.”
In addition, the counselors work with the individual(s) to remind them that they are not a burden to others, and that, in fact, their loss would leave behind gaping wounds in their loved one’s lives, explained Maher. They encourage the individuals to see the bigger picture and remind them that there is a light at the end of the tunnel which they may not be able to see right now because they need to get around another bend in the path.
“We help remind them or help them find purpose in their life,” said Maher.
The goal of Behavioral Health and CCP, as well as the Victim Advocacy Programs on base, is to provide preventative services whenever possible.
“We try to intervene before a situation gets too entrenched, or too serious,” said Maher.
To do that, they need someone to reach out. The on-call phones are available for individuals requesting assistance concerning domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault, and suicide prevention.
“Most of the calls we receive for assistance are through the (Marine Corps Police Department) responding to an incident,” said Angelica Mora, victim advocate. “The victim advocates normally carry the on-call phone. We get the crisis calls then, if it’s a suicide call or something like that, we immediately contact our clinical staff which would be Jim (Maher) or now we have Carla (Torres) our new clinician, and they take over the process from there.”
When a call comes into the on-call helpline, regardless of the circumstances, the call-taker obtains basic safety information first.
“So if Angelica takes a call, she is going to try to determine the level of risk,” said Maher. “She’s going to determine safety issues first. Then (she will) get me or Carla involved, but that gives us a good idea of the risk factors.”
“Do they have support right with them,” said Mora. “If so, then that would be handled differently than someone who is by themselves.”
Maher and Torres, as clinicians, offer a wide range of counseling services to the active duty members on base, and their families. These include counseling for individuals, groups or families, couples, or children.
For civilian employees, there is a service called Magellan, offered through the Department of Navy Civilian Employee assistance Program which assists with long-term counseling needs.
Perhaps the biggest impact people can have on someone who is contemplating suicide is to ask the question, said Mora.
“They’ll tell you if they are considering suicide,” she said.
So, if you see someone struggling, ask them if they are okay. Let them talk. Listen and guide them toward help.
“Just having a person ask the question, may save their life,” Mora said. “Tell them; ‘you’re not alone’. If you’re struggling, asking for help is not a weakness; it’s an act of strength.”
There are a number of confidential sources to turn to in search of assistance. To reach the CCP, during regular business hours call 577-6533. During after-hours and weekends, call the Family Assistance Program Hotline phone number at 403-7078. Two chaplains are also available for assistance including Major David Ebel, Support Chaplain with the Salvation Army, at [phone] or Lt. Heath Taylor, Chaplain with the U.S. Navy, at [phone].
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Inset box:
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
1-800-273-TALK (8255)

• Date Taken: 09.22.2016
• Date Posted: 09.26.2016 14:06
• Story ID: 210609
• Location: BARSTOW, CA, US