An Aware Community

Mercedes Rowland Lee
Contributing Writer

According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, there were 34,598 reported suicide deaths in 2007.  The people who were lost to suicide were our family members, our friends, our neighbors and our co-workers. Suicide affects everyone; it has manifested itself in our communities, our schools and our homes. 

We know that suicide happens, but what are the reasons, the statistics and the ways to prevent others from being victims of suicide? These are all questions that are sometimes thought, but not always asked. In order to help answer these questions and encourage community members to take an active role in suicide prevention, the F-M community has decided to promote education and awareness around this difficult subject. To accomplish this task, several suicide awareness events have been planned that will help provide education and empowerment to community members. 

Speaking with Cindy Miller, the Executive Director of FirstLink, I quickly realized the importance of educating people about suicide. FirstLink is a non-profit organization which “assist people in identifying, accessing, and making effective use of community and volunteer resources” including a Hotline, Suicide Line and Suicide Survivors Support Group. Suicide calls have more than doubled since 2006, and since 2010, calls have increased from 66 to 90 calls a month. Miller stated that, although the numbers have increased, she hopes that this increase is because more people are becoming aware, creating safety plans and connecting with critical resources. In Fargo, we are very fortunate to have an agency such as FirstLink available to community members. In fact, the FirstLink in Fargo is the only suicide nonprofit agency in North Dakota that has community staff members trained in suicide prevention who answer the National Suicide Lifeline. 

FirstLink also has many excellent resources available for community members who want to know more about suicide education and prevention. Every year, FirstLink visits over 3,000 West Fargo and Fargo 7th and 8th graders to talk about how to recognize the signs of someone who is thinking about suicide, who to tell and places to get help.  Every fourth Monday at 6 p.m., FirstLink hosts a suicide support group at their 13th Ave. location. They also have an outstanding resource library that contains a lot of great books on the matter. There is also an Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training course(ASIST) coming up on Sept.22 through Sept. 23 where community members will be able to learn the necessary skills needed to assist a person who is at risk for suicide. Additionally, FirstLink just hosted their 11th annual Walk of Hope on September 10th. This event is a walk for remembrance for those who have lost loved ones to suicide and it also provides an opportunity to increase suicide awareness in our community. Plus, all of the money raised from this event stays local to help FirstLink continue to provide their services. 

FirstLink is providing the necessary and critical resources to community members so that more people can start taking an active role is ending the pain and loss caused by suicide.  One person can make a difference!

Aside from FirstLink, we also have several members in our community who have been leaders in promoting suicide awareness. Martha Castanon, a member of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) Fargo chapter, has played a huge role in increasing suicide awareness and prevention. Castanon stated that she became involved in this issue when she lost her daughter to suicide 5 years ago. She had heard about suicide before and recognized it was an issue, but she was not motivated to take an active role until it directly impacted her own life.

“Most people don’t get involved in this issue unless it has impacted their personal life,” Castanon said. “People think, ‘I know that suicide happens, but I am never going to experience something like this – it only happens to other people.’”

To help increase suicide prevention awareness, the AFSP in Fargo goes out into the community and talks to youth groups and high school students about signs that someone may be suffering from suicide and resources available. Castanon emphasized the importance of having someone to talk to who will believe you, which is why she thinks that it is critical to let people know about the suicide hot line, especially in our culture where opening up to others is not something that we normally do. People who are suffering from depression and contemplating suicide can call this hot line at any time without fearing rejection or condemnation from the person on the other end of the line. 

In addition, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention - Fargo Chapter is hosting their 6th annual Out of the Darkness Walk on Sept. 25 at 2 p.m. at Lindenwood Park. All of the proceeds go to the AFSP at both the local and national level in order to provide continued education programs. Castanon mentioned that when she first heard of this walk, she thought that it sounded like a good thing, but she never thought that it would affect her. Now, she realizes the importance of getting everyone involved in this issue in order to help more effectively battle this issue.

Castanon emphasized the importance of listening to someone who is suffering from depression and comes to you to talk about their feelings. Be open to their feelings and validate those feelings by being a supportive listener. If all it takes is two minutes to save a life by listening to someone, I definitely say that those were two minutes well spent.

IF YOU GO

What: Out of the Darkness Walk
Where: Lindenwood park
When: Sept. 25, 2 p.m.

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