Times Observer photo by Brian Ferry CORE and Warren County School District art students are working together to spread a message of awareness this month – Suicide Prevention Education Month. Pictured is Leah Carpenter’s work on a billboard on Warren’s East Side.

September is Suicide Prevention Education Month.

CORE — Choosing Openness Regarding Experience — is highlighting some prevention and awareness efforts by posting the messages and works of county young people on billboards.

“There are six suicide prevention education billboards that are located around Warren County and have been created by art students from our local high schools,” CORE Founder and Warren County Jail Mental Health Specialist Kari Swanson said. “The artists are: Karson Lyon and Kendra McBride from Sheffield High School, Leah Carpenter, Samantha Wilhelm and Michael Carnahan from Youngsville High School and Taylor Napolitan who graduated last year from Eisenhower High School.”

“This has been a great project for CORE in partnering with the school district, particularly the art teachers, in creating these billboards for September as well as for May, which is Mental Health Month,” Swanson said. “My hope in doing these billboards is to raise awareness of the importance of mental health and suicide prevention education. If just one of these billboards gets someone to not do something harmful or gets one person to reach out for help, then the project has done its job.”

“September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month –a time to raise awareness of this stigmatized, and often taboo, topic,” according to the National Association for Mental Illness (NAMI). “We use this month to shift public perception, spread hope and share vital information to people affected by suicide. Our goal is ensuring that individuals, friends and families have access to the resources they need to discuss suicide prevention and to seek help.”

“Suicidal thoughts, much like mental health conditions, can affect anyone regardless of age, gender or background,” according to NAMI. “In fact, suicide is often the result of an untreated mental health condition. Suicidal thoughts, although common, should not be considered normal and often indicate more serious issues.”

There are reasons to focus additional education efforts on young people.

According to NAMI, suicide is the second-leading cause of death among people age 15 to 24 in the United States. Nearly 20 percent of high school students report serious thoughts of suicide and 9 percent have made an attempt to take their own lives.

“Dr. Carl Fleisher from UCLA Health makes a great point in his statement of ‘young people are particularly vulnerable to suicide because of where they stand socially and where they stand developmentally,'” Swanson said.

The development of the prefrontal cortex — which handles judgment and decision-making — is usually not complete until a person’s mid-20s.

“This means that young people are more impulsive and may not weigh the risks and consequences of their actions the same way an older person may,” she said.

“Socially, those in their teens and young adulthood don’t have the same connections older adults do and in today’s world some people’s social connections depend upon the number of likes on a social media page,” Swanson said.

Making people aware that they have personal connections and people that care about them and look out for them is key. As Carpenter’s billboard says, “Someone out there feels better because you exist… remember that.”

“It is important to remind those struggling with mental health issues and suicidal thoughts to recognize their struggles, ask for help and remind them that they aren’t alone,” Swanson said. “It is also important to educate those that aren’t struggling with mental health issues and/or suicidal thoughts to know how to approach this topic, what to look for and how to get someone help.”

It’s not as easy as looking at someone and thinking they look down.

“Not all people who consider suicide appear depressed or upset,” she said. “Individuals who are self-reliant and consider that among their strengths may have difficulty asking for help.”

Being quiet on the subject is not providing protection.

“Talking about the importance of mental health, the importance of reaching out to people who are struggling, will not increase the risk of suicide,” Swanson said. “Ideally, it is up to the person struggling to recognize he/she needs help and to reach out.”

“I believe we have gotten better with starting to change the stigma associated with mental health but we do still have a ways to go,” she said. “Some people who struggle with suicidal ideation have a battle every day with giving in to their thoughts of dying or choosing to live. Others will have fleeting thoughts of wishing they weren’t alive with no intent or plan to harm themselves.”

September — or any time — is a good time to talk to someone who isn’t struggling, too.

“A good basis is to proactively check in with people in your life to let them know you are there for them to listen, not because they look like they are struggling, but because they look like they are OK,” Swanson said. “This is a different approach that establishes during good times that there are people in their life that they know are there for them and this becomes very important when they are not feeling okay.”

“I am a strong believer in education and I truly believe that when we are educated on topics and continue to educate ourselves on topics, it is then that we can begin to make a difference,” she said. “Suicide has been seen as a permanent solution to a perceived insoluble problem; we need to be better problem solvers for ourselves and for those that are struggling.”

It’s OK to not be OK. “Where they stand is OK,” Swanson said. “If where they stand is murky and messy and uncomfortable, that’s all right, too, but they aren’t alone.”

Since July, 911 isn’t the only three-digit number dedicated to emergencies. The number for mental health emergencies is now 988.