Iron Dog racers ride to prevent suicide

If people were heading toward thin ice, would you call out to them before they broke through? If they broke through, would you help them? If you fell through, would you yell for help?

What if people you know were acting depressed? Would you reach out to them? Would you reach out for help if you were feeling hopeless?

We hope you would help, we hope you would call for help.

Suicide is an issue that reaches every corner of Alaska, and it’s 100 percent preventable. There were 1,369 confirmed suicides in 176 Alaska communities between 2000 and 2009. Our young people are especially at risk. If you’re willing to call for help, for yourself or someone else, you can help change the future of suicide in our state. Prevention is possible.

There are many causes of suicide and there are many things we can do to help someone at risk. The Suicide Prevention Resource Center reports that 60 percent to 90 percent of suicide victims have a mental illness and/or a substance use disorder. Those are treatable health problems, like diabetes or high blood pressure.

And like many worthwhile things in life, suicide prevention takes some effort on everyone’s part. We thank Iron Dog racers Chris Olds and Tyler Huntington for making suicide prevention part of their race this year. We also thank Cynthia Erickson — mom, shopkeeper and Iron Dog volunteer from Tanana — for recruiting them, and us, to help. We hope that every Alaskan will join Tyler, Chris, Cynthia and all of us in our work to prevent suicide.

Here are seven things you can do:

• Take a suicide prevention or mental health first aid training class. The state and Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium offer many kinds of trainings. You can find a calendar of trainings on StopSuicideAlaska.org, a website for people who work toward suicide prevention.

• Contact members of your school board and tell them you’d like to see a suicide prevention program in your local schools. This is something our kids want. The Alaska Association of Student Government passed a resolution at its fall 2010 conference in Bethel that all high schools should provide suicide prevention training or awareness events. For details, visit aasg.org.

• Protect your own mental health. Researchers found five simple things work to keep people resilient — to keep them able to handle rough times when they come:

1. Connect with family and friends — online, with a card, a phone call or radio shout out.

2. Learn. Keep your mind active by learning new things or brushing up on old skills.

3. Help someone in need, share your catch, volunteer, shovel a neighbor’s walkway.

4. Move. Be active 30 minutes every day.

5. Reflect. Be mindful of the world and how you experience it, maybe by writing in a journal, or to a friend, or taking a quiet walk.

• Lock up your guns: 66 percent of suicides in Alaska between 2004 and 2008 were committed with a firearm.

• If someone you know talks about feeling really down, take it seriously. Tell the person you care, and give him or her the Careline number. If the person doesn’t want to call, you can call and ask for ideas on how to help them.

• If you need help, get help. Risk factors for suicide — like having been abused, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, medical or financial problems, problems with the law — are big things without easy fixes. But there is help out there. If you feel helpless or hopeless, please call the Careline at (877) 266-4357, visit CarelineAlaska.com and chat online, or text (907) 254-7836.

We need to talk about suicide, because not talking about it hasn’t worked. Spread the word to the kids in your community that we love you! You can talk to us! Share a message of caring with the adults in your community, too.

Together, we can stop suicide. Life’s a team effort!

If you have any questions or want to learn about more ways you can get involved in suicide prevention efforts, please visit the Statewide Suicide Prevention Council website at hss.state.ak.us/suicideprevention, call the council at 465-6518, toll-free at (888) 464-8920, or call the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services at (907) 269-8041.

Kate Burkhart is executive director for the Statewide Suicide Prevention Council.

William Streur is commissioner for the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services.

Joe Masters is commissioner for the Alaska Department of Public Safety.

Barbara Franks represents the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium.