As part of my legislative work, I just finished reading a technical package from the Centers for Disease Control. The topic was suicide. It was some pretty heavy reading. At the same time, it was informative for many reasons, as it included a wide array of programs that people in government and the non-profit world can enact in order to reduce suicides.
Something, in particular, was highly instructive about the packet. It contained a wide array of information dealing with numerous public policy areas. But let me talk about the first chapter in terms of specific recommendations about suicide reduction. What do you think it was? Was it access to mental health care? The need for more research into better drugs? Controlling access to means of suicide?
Nope. It was economic supports.
Suicide rises in times of economic strife. The connection is clear. So, the first two specific recommendations within the packet:
- Strengthening household financial security via programs like unemployment benefits, temporary assistance and livable wages.
- Enacting programs that reduce foreclosure risk.
The report went on to note that ample evidence exists showing that stronger social safety net programs can reduce the risk of suicide.
Other areas of this report also showed the strong demonstration between public policy, public health and reducing suicides rates. Various sectors of our society are critically important as well, of course, but government can be – and should be – a primary actor when it comes to suicide reduction.
Let me go back to the title of this blog entry. Like many others, when there is a high-profile suicide, I’ll tweet out the “thoughts and prayers” line, as well as information on the National Suicide Prevention Hotline. That’s good, and it’s helpful. But it’s not enough. I want to start treating suicide in public the way we treat gun violence. It’s not enough to tweet support. We have to demand action from our policy makers:
Look, I’m a flaming progressive, so this may just be my political orientation, but I think we need more common sense gun reform measures in the worst way – things like red flag laws (which would allow for a temporary removal of weapons from people who are a danger to others or themselves), universal background checks and more. And I’m glad now that, whenever we have yet another tragic shooting, it’s not just “thoughts and prayers” but “thoughts, prayers and CAN WE PLEASE ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS.”
I want to take this mantra and apply it to mental health and suicides. Let’s stop pretending that suicides are a problem of an individual or their family. They aren’t. They are a societal, communial and governmental problem. We need to do more at the societal level to address mental health and suicide, and that means doing more than just working to improve mental health. If we can acknowledge that, we can make a change.
So, I say to you, dear reader: Don’t just tweet the suicide hotline numbers. Demand that policy makers make the changes necessary to save lives.
Mike Schlossberg - Author 