STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

The numbers are bleak. And they’re getting worse.

A recent survey by the State Department of Education shows that more than one in every five Idaho high school students have seriously considered suicide. This year 21.7 percent of high school students reported considering suicide—up from 19.8 percent in 2015.

One in 10 reported attempting suicide.

Such grim statistics are not going unnoticed in the Wood River Valley.

More than two dozen representatives from a variety of organizations have been meeting since January to formulate a plan to reverse that trend. And they will embark on one of their first outreaches tonight with a Community Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Event focusing on tweens and teens.

The presentation will be held from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. tonight—Thursday, Nov. 16—in the Queen of the Hills room at The Community Campus.

Attendees will be taught how to save lives with the Campaign to Change Direction: Know the Five Signs. And mental health specialists and wellness advocates will be on hand to field questions for the program, which is sponsored by the Wood River Middle School and Wood River High School parent associations.

The effort is part of a determined effort to change the conversation in the community about mental health and depression and suicide, in particular.

“How do we best activate the community around mental health? How do we approach someone we’re concerned about?” said Erin Pfaeffle, director of St. Luke’s Center for Community Health. “We want to build a culture of awareness, understanding, acceptance and action around our community’s mental well-being. We want to change direction and change the story about mental health.”

The effort started with the appearance of Kevin Hines, who survived a jump off the Golden Gate Bridge, at the Sun Valley Wellness Festival. Hines came back last winter to talk with high school students.

Pirie Jones Grossman, a board member of the Sun Valley Wellness Festival, was determined not to let it end there.  Spurred on by the recent deaths by suicide of four friends, she convened a meeting of about 60 community leaders last January.

Participants included trauma specialists, hospital representatives and leaders from The Advocates, NAMI, Crisis Hotline, Hunger Coalition, The Senior Connection, Higher Ground, Flourish Foundation, the Blaine County Sheriff’s Department and other organizations.

Many of the original participants have continued to meet almost monthly since. They’ve discussed the reasons why suicide is higher in the Rocky Mountains, particularly in ski resort communities like Aspen, which has a suicide rate three times the country’s mean rate.

They’ve pinpointed contributing factors, such as a culture or rugged individualism, lack of mental health care, access to firearms, the transient nature of resort communities leading to lack of intergenerational relationships and support systems, the substance abuse sparked in part by a vacation party culture, the difficulty of making a living in rural communities, even the fact that high altitude reduces serotonin levels in the brain, leading to mood and anxiety disorders.

And they’ve examined preventative programs around the country to determine what might be a good fit for the Wood River Valley.

They landed on a course called “Know the Five Signs” offered by the Campaign to Change Direction at www.changedirection.org.

The course, which can be viewed online, includes brief video messages by former First Lady Michelle Obama, actor Richard Gere, country music singer Chris Stapleton and Prince Harry. They share how mental illness affects one in five Americans and how getting treatment is not a sign of weakness but strength.

The short lessons also pinpoint five signs that may indicate someone may be considering suicide:

• Their personality changes.
• They seem uncharacteristically angry, anxious, agitated or moody.
• They withdraw or isolate themselves from other people.
• They stop taking care of themselves and may engage in risky behavior.
• They seem overcome with hopelessness and overwhelmed by their circumstances.

The task force has been trying out the program with small groups with the idea of engaging the entire community with short presentations and public posters touting the Five Signs and offering phone numbers to call for help.

Laurie Strand, for instance, made a presentation to a school group. Kate Weihe of Higher Ground gave it to fly fishing guides from the around the country who came to the valley to work with veterans. And Jill Iris presented it to a church group.

They and others reported this week that people are thrilled to have something tangible they can do. Some have said they like informational cards to hand out because they themselves are not comfortable with talking to people about it.

“We want to encourage people to pay attention to the emotional well being of those around them. Maybe they can say, ‘Hey I’ve seen you seem to be sad or confused lately,’ or ‘I notice you haven’t been to CrossFit for awhile. Is there something wrong?’ Pfaeffle said. “We’re not asking people to be experts. We’re asking them to recognize the signs, respond and offer resources. There are a million things we could do but these are the easiest and most important.”

Heidi Cook, violence prevention educator for The Advocates, says she witnessed how the suicides of four people, including three students, affected the tiny communities she used to live in.

Mental illness, such as depression, is often unjustly and irrationally stigmatized, she added.

“And yet it has physical underpinnings, just as cancer. What’s more, something like depression can be a risk factor for illnesses like cardiovascular disease. We need to do a better job of recognizing when someone is in distress and act on it.”

On Tuesday the task force began putting together a strategy for how to respond when the community has a death by suicide. Members will look at what other communities are doing and go from there.

“We have great components in place. We just have to make sure everyone, including schools, the hospital, NAMI and others, are working together in a concerted effort,” said Pfaeffle.

DID YOU KNOW?

In 2015: Idaho had the fifth highest suicide rate in the United States—57 percent higher than the national average.

In 2016: 350 Idahoans took their own lives—nearly one suicide death every day.

WATCH OUR VIDEO: 

Michael David recently led a Roundtable discussion for Eye on Sun Valley with Dr. Susanne Choby, the Rev. Jill Iris, Bellevue Mayor Chris Koch and Alex Feldman. To see the Eye On Sun Valley Round Table Episode on Suicide click here.