HelpLine of Delaware & Morrow Counties, Inc. (HelpLine) was awarded a 3 year grant by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to reduce suicide risk by doing systematic follow-up with suicidal persons who call the 24/7 HelpLine hotline, the National Suicide Lifeline, or report to local emergency rooms. This initiative supports both local and national goals and strategies around suicide prevention. HelpLine was one of twelve crisis centers across the country to receive this funding this year. HelpLine is partnering with Central Ohio Mental Health Center on this project.
Suicide is a public health issue. Many, but not all, of those who die by suicide exhibit warnings signs. In 2010, the most recent year data is available, 38,364 suicides were reported. In that year, someone died by suicide every 13.7 minutes. In 2010, the highest suicide rate (18.6) was among people 45 to 64 years old. The second highest rate (17.6) occurred in those 85 years and older. Younger groups have had consistently lower suicide rates than middle-aged and older adults. In 2010, adolescents and young adults aged 15 to 24 had a suicide rate of 10.5 per 100,000 persons.
The SAMHSA initiative was born out of research showing that those who are at imminent risk of suicide and receive emergency interventions, have a heightened risk of suicide following those interventions. Therefore, implementing follow-up contact by crisis centers to provide additional support and ensure linkage to services should assist greatly in maintaining their safety. According to Jim Rundle, HelpLine’s Clinical Director, “This project enables us to expand and enhance our services to those in our community at imminent risk of suicide with systematic outreach and focus on higher risk populations.”
For more information or if you or someone you know is depressed or thinking about suicide, call HelpLine at 2-1-1 or 1.800.684.2324 (Delaware: 740.369.3316 or Morrow: 419.947.2520). We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to talk. To learn more about HelpLine visit www.helplinedelmor.org.
