welcome back to Houston life on this
Monday it's the tenth leading cause of
death in America and the second leading
cause of death in teenagers of course
we're talking about suicide it could be
your co-worker a family member or a
friend and there's an alarming trend
suicide rates have been on the rise for
the past two decades and of course we're
all saddened and shocked by the last
week's deaths of both Kate Spade and
Anthony Bourdain so how can we prevent
more deaths what are the warning signs
and where can we find help we are now
joined by clinical social worker at with
the Menninger clinic Shelley Simpson and
suicide prevention coordinator with the
Michael DeBakey VA Medical Center
Elizabeth Kleeman thanks so much for
being here
and to really continue this conversation
I think that's the hardest part is once
the big names the Kate Spade the Anthony
Bourdain they're out of the headlines it
seems like we have a tendency in this
business to move on but there is a
conversation that needs to continue and
how do you start that did you just start
it by being curious and asking people
are they okay you know we spend our days
like going to the grocery store hi how
are you oh I'm fine yeah okay okay in
really finding time to sit down with
your loved ones and having like oh
you're okay tell me about being okay and
really getting to know what's going on
inside of your friends and your family's
hearts and minds and Elizabeth and
Shelley the statistics we just quoted I
think kind of a
cause of death in teenagers death by
suicide and when you look at the last 20
years in some states the increases as
high as 30% what is driving this why are
the numbers increasing one of the things
we know is that firearms are a huge risk
in the home and having access to means
to kill oneself and so that's one thing
that we think about is how do you keep
people safe how do you keep your family
safe and how do you talk about that
openly when things like this hit the
media and I think what's interesting too
is I don't think I'm alone in this I
think over the last week so many of us
scrolling through social media have seen
people bring their own struggles with
mental illness and and problems that
they've had he's a light and so we don't
know what's what other people are going
through and I think I'm social media we
want to have that everything's perfect
it's all rainbows and unicorns let's
start more warning signs I know it's
great to start with that are you okay
but as a parent or maybe someone who
you're in a relationship with what are
those warning signs so warning signs can
be anything from isolation changes in
mood symptoms of depression warning
signs for suicide can also be a femen's
experienced a significant loss or
perceived shame humiliation at work
financial stressors a lot of more
anxiety it really runs a wide range and
if we do see some of those warning signs
what do we do I think it's really
important to become comfortable with the
idea of asking someone are you thinking
about hurting yourself are you thinking
about dying especially if you hear
someone having making comments about
death about looking for a ways to die
it's really just important to sort of go
where angels fear to tread and ask that
question
and then we've got lots of resources for
people who are looking to get their
loved one into care to getting
themselves into care and let's talk
about that because what would those
resources be I think the first thing we
point people to is the national crisis
line so the 1-800 to 738 255 number is
for anyone civilians and veterans alike
but of course I'm gonna plug the
Veterans Crisis Line as well and you
just press one on those lines and
they've done a really good job recently
within the last couple of years of
expanding to the text option and then
the chat as well because sometimes
people feel uncomfortable picking up the
phone right away talking to a
professional isn't this sort of a
critical link in in someone getting help
because the again a statistic I think is
shocking 9 out of 10 people who die by
suicide have some sort of underlying at
mental illness yes so speaking to a
professional who can help either help
you in that moment or get you to the
resources that will help you whether
that's individual therapy group therapy
or for some people it would be an
inpatient treatment setting these
therapists are trained to know what
level of care is helpful to keep that
person safe and I think too this isn't
just a one person treatment I mean
especially if you're talking about a
family or a loved one there's so many
other people that should be involved in
the process yes involving the families
is key especially for teenagers and
young adults and the family can be
really helpful in providing support as
well as removing the means that someone
might use to take their own money now
what are some of the ways that we can
get involved as well because as Courtney
was just mentioning this isn't just
about scheduling time to go and talk to
a professional what are some of the
supportive ways that we can
not only continue that conversation but
to actually make progress because a lot
of people when they're going through the
withdrawal they may not want to open up
right so stuff like suicide and mental
illness it can drive us away from the
people were connected to and when we
become disconnected we become isolated
so reaching out in ways that connect you
to others so if you sit down with
someone and they don't want to talk
about how they're feeling
maybe enjoying a task or something
together like playing basketball or
doing an art project and being able just
to talk and have fun that might lead
into some really helpful conversations
and I think this is really interesting I
think you know being on this show we
always want to have a solution for
people so you know if there's an illness
well this these are your criteria and
where you're at risk of getting
something and this mental illness
doesn't really have a roadmap you know
it doesn't really say well if you're
like this then you're going to end up
like this it just it doesn't
discriminate basically and and I think
that's so interesting because so many
people will say you know yeah I am busy
I just have been working late or you
know tend to be on that social media
we're not really having that
face-to-face contact so it's easier to
kind of push aside and just for those
people that maybe have that gut feeling
I think listen to your gut if you're a
friend or a loved one listen right would
that be that's what I tell people a lot
like if you if there's even an inkling
in the back of your mind that someone
may be at risk or they could just
benefit from having someone sit beside
them and listen and just say you know
this does suck and this is hard right
now and we don't have to have the
solution but I'll be with you is we
figure something out that goes a long
way for people to feel validated and to
feel hopeful that that recovery may not
be a linear path but it is possible and
in u.s. the question about what do we do
I think sharing stories of recovery and
sharing stories of what life has looked
like after mental illness or even during
mental illness those are really powerful
because the story stopped with Kate
Spade Anthony Bourdain
it's not for a lot of people who are
walking the walk every day and we should
point out before we go that the national
campaign be there has all kinds of
resources yeah so the VA has a nice
message about hashtag be there and that
can be there for a community be there
for people next to you be there for your
co-workers it's really an idea of like
being next to the person I walk in that
walkway right Elizabeth cleamen Shelley
Simpson we got to leave it there for now
thank you the information on your screen
folks additional resources there you can
always visit miniature clinic comm slash
suicide info you can also log on to
Veterans Crisis Line dot minutes and
we'll be right back