Ohio Supreme Court Justice Raises Awareness of Suicide

 An Ohio Supreme Court Justice made a visit to Zanesville Thursday evening to speak about suicide awareness.

Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton spoke to several dozen residents at Coburn United Methodist Church as part of National Suicide Awareness Week. Justice Stratton herself does mental health work not only on the state level but on the national level as well. Her message is communication.

 "It’s to try to really get the audience to be aware of their friend, their neighbors, to ask questions, not to ignore what’s happening; to really become aware so that you can avoid the suicides among your kids, your friends, your neighbors. People sometimes you least expect it to happen to," said Justice Stratton.

 Justice Stratton says there are many organizations right here in southeast Ohio including the Suicide Prevention Foundation which has it’s own crisis hotline as well as a national suicide hotline to help people going through difficult times.

 "It’s very important that you reach out and talk to somebody because sometimes if you can just get past that moment of real depression, reach out and just talk to somebody, and get through it, you can avoid taking your life and life’s brighter on the other side, life does get better," said Justice Stratton.

 Justice Stratton commended southeast Ohio for it’s Six County program in helping to pull together community resources to help those with mental illnesses.