Community intervention draws 500

Kalispell Police Chief Frank Garner moderated a community intervention Tuesday to combat teen depression and suicide.

"This is one of the topics no one wants to talk about," Garner said. "And in the meantime, we're losing kids."

The town hall meeting drew about 500 concerned teenagers and adults in search of a strategy to stop those losses. Year after year, Montana ends up in the top two or three states for its percentage of teenagers dying by suicide.

Keynote speaker Dr. Michael Newman, a psychiatrist, proposed a goal of no more teen suicides. He said the goal was lofty but the community could make reasonable progress toward that ideal.

"Something is not working right," he said. "The level of teen suicide is unacceptable."

According to Newman, suicide ranks as the number one cause of death for youths 10 to 14 years old and the second leading cause of death for teenagers 15 to 19 years old in Montana.

Newman, who serves as Pathways medical director, said factors putting teens at-risk for suicide include previous attempts, a history of anxiety or depression, hopelessness, loss and access to lethal weapons.

To succeed at prevention, the psychiatrist said the community needs broad-based efforts. He listed school curriculum, teacher training, screenings, crisis centers, medical provider education and treatment with medication and counseling.

Newman stressed the importance of family involvement with the teenagers in treatment and otherwise.

"I can underline that about a thousand times," he said.

Suicide intervention expert Kathleen Hayden provided advice for family and friends faced with a suicide crisis.

"You want to be calm, be very concrete, very specific," Hayden said.

She said a suicidal person is susceptible to direction. Hayden described their state as "in a vacuum" and "overwhelmed in the moment."

She advised that a parent or friend show a willingness to listen even if the teenager shares distressing information. Hayden said to reassure the young person that help is available.

"Ask 'What has helped you before?'" she said. "Share something that worked for you."

The goal is to buy time. She suggested calling the mental health crisis line (752-6262) or another of several resources available 24-hours-a-day, such as Pathways (756-3950), for assistance or direction.

After the crisis, Hayden said to insist on seeking longer-term help, even if the depressed person claims to have recovered.

"Offer to go with that person to get help," she said.

School Resource officer Brett Corbett echoed both Hayden and Newman in underscoring the importance of family involvement.

He said that law enforcement officers play a limited role in suicide prevention. Corbett said families need help from trained counselors and health-care providers.

However, he said that people should call the police for help if they feel a suicidal person is a danger to themselves. Corbett said officers won't arrest the depressed person but will take them to a mental health professional for help.

After a year and a half working at the high school, Corbett said he learned much from hours spent talking with teens about their problems.

"Teenagers need a strong connection with their parents or an adult," he said.

Corbett sees the results of teenagers without that connection. He told of a father, concerned about his daughter's descent into drug use, who had no idea what activities his daughter enjoyed.

"The culture they (teens) live in glamorizes drunkenness, drugs and promiscuity," Corbett said. "They need a picture of something better."

He said that parents must also beware of other parents who enable teenagers along the wrong path. Corbett told of parents at the funeral of their child who died by suicide telling teenagers they still had a "safe place" to come and drink.

Both Chief Garner and Corbett said their wanted to blast away the myth that drugs and alcohol bear little relationship to suicide.

"They are very much connected," Corbett said.

Perhaps the most moving speaker of evening, Jolie Fish, the mother of a son who committed suicide, urged the audience to arm themselves with as much knowledge and awareness as possible.

A social worker, Fish followed most of the recommendations given that evening when she learned her son Wayne was considering suicide. But she trusted him too early in his treatment.

"The key thing was I continued to believe it would not actually happen," she said.

In just a half hour that Wayne was left alone, he took his own life. Fish said that everything can change in a New York minute.

"Let's make that change a life-affirming one," Fish said.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com