The Berrien County Suicide Prevention Coalition is spreading the word about some upcoming events to learn about and help stop suicide.
The coalition’s Trent Watford tells us the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services “One Voice-Statewide Suicide Prevention Online Meeting” will be June 26 with an update on the national suicide prevention plan of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
“They have a special speaker that is from the national level,” Watford said. “Nationally, there’s an organization called the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration or SAMHSA. They do a lot of work in suicide prevention, so one of their people is going to be the guest speaker.”
Watford says the information presented will help local suicide prevention groups better plan their campaigns.
Watford tells us suicide has received more mainstream attention in recent years as understanding of mental health issues and attitudes about them change. He thinks that’s a good thing.
“Our son died in 2010, that’s a couple of years after when the coalition in Berrien County was started, but I would say in the last 12 years, I’ve definitely seen more things like this going on.”
Watford says the June 26 will be open to anyone. So is a state conference on suicide prevention being held in Lansing on August 6 and 7. Also, the monthly meetings of the Berrien County Suicide Prevention Coalition are always open to the public. Anyone who wants to attend can send the coalition a message through its website and they’ll get the information.
Coming up in September will be a coalition-organized 5K to help spread awareness about suicide. We’ll have more information about that event soon.
According to the Michigan Suicide Prevention Commission, there were 1,482 suicide deaths in Michigan in 2022. 1,200 of them were men, most committed with firearms. Watford says Berrien County averages about 22 suicides per year. He says number went down during COVID, but then went back up as the pandemic ended.
