Annual Suicide Awareness Banquet
ZANESVILLE, Ohio- An annual suicide awareness banquet was held at Coburn Methodist Church this evening.
The event is put on by the Mental Health and Recovery Services Board’s Suicide Prevention Coalitions from multiple counties. The banquet helps raise awareness for those who lost their lives to suicide and to share prevention efforts. The theme this year is “Hope Matters – You Can Be That Hope” and the director of community based clinical services at Allwell Incorporated said you can create hope for someone who may be suicidal.
“It is important to help them feel a sense of connection because people who are seriously contemplating suicide often feel like they don’t matter and like no one can help them,” said Jim Still-Pepper, Allwell Director. “And so, what we call that is tangible love and tangible hope.”
Still-Pepper said tangible love can be as simple as giving someone a paper heart that says ‘I love you’ instead of just saying it. In addition to offering tangible love and hope, Still-Pepper said it’s important to be aware of the signs of a suicidal person. He said there are three areas you should pay attention to.
“The first is pay attention to our loved one words. Are they talking about death? Are they talking about suicide? Then we ask them to look for the emotions. So a lot of times we think about depression, but anxiety, even times when someone just suddenly becomes happy for no reason at all. Those extreme mood changes could be an indication,” Still-Pepper shared. “And then the third thing we look for is changes in their behavior. Maybe they’re withdrawing from people. Giving away prized possessions. Those kind of things.”
Still-Pepper said after acknowledging the signs you want to get your loved one help as soon as possible. He said you shouldn’t give up even if they tell you they don’t need help.
“If they are not receptive to get help then you try, try, try again because the very first time you ask someone for help most of the time they’re going to say no. They’re afraid. They may not even be sure they can be helped. But if that loved one will be persistent they’ll give into that persistence most of the time.”
The event was attended by coalition members, as well as, state and local officials, families affected by suicide, community groups, and more. Allwell CEO, James McDonald, was the keynote speaker.
