Suicide happens to thousands of people each year. When it does, it indicates a person desperately needed help but didn’t receive it in time. World Suicide Prevention Day is September 10th. It’s a day to step back and carefully recognize the importance of mental health and supporting those struggling with it. If you or someone you care about is battling depression, the depression treatment program at Fort Behavioral Health is always available to provide guidance and the compassion needed.
How to Support World Suicide Prevention Day
Everyone has tough days. Sometimes those days last much longer and seem to take over a person’s life. Others go through periods of sadness, deep pain, and frustration that they cannot control, which does not seem to get better for long. Depression is a disease, much like any physical disease, in that it requires treatment. If you have a loved one battling depression, there are several things you can do this World Suicide Prevention Day to help them. Some of the ways that you can help people with depression include:
- Write something that shows you support those in need. Depression carries a heavy stigma. People don’t want to be judged and feel that they cannot tell others about their pain. Let your friends on social media know they can trust and open up to you. Give them the opportunity to talk.
- Just listen to someone without judging or offering solutions. Depression is sometimes best treated by expressing pain. Encourage your loved one with depression to seek professional guidance, so they don’t have to feel this way.
- Communicate what people can do if they are struggling with depression in your circle. Can they count on you to help them get into treatment? Who should they call, and what steps can they take?
- Recognize your own pain deserves treatment, too. Often, suicide prevention is possible when people realize they can get help even if no one around them supports them. Is that you that needs this help?
- Notice that loved ones using drugs and alcohol may be struggling with not just addiction but also depression. Help them find help through dual diagnosis, a therapy that addresses both concerns at once.
Professional Depression Treatment Is Essential
The “blues” will not just go away in a person with depression. They can’t just have fun and forget about it. As a result, one of the most powerful things you can do for yourself or others is to get into professional treatment as a way to prevent the onset or worsening of depression and to start on the path towards healing.
People thinking about suicide or harming themselves or others need professional help. If they communicate these thoughts to you, that is a cry for help. Don’t ignore it. Don’t tell them it will get better in time. Instead, offer them a way to get that treatment.
Fort Behavioral Health Can Help
Don’t take on suicide prevention on your own. Instead, reach out to the professionals that can help at Fort Behavioral Health. Our therapy programs are designed to help people find their way forward through these difficult times with grace and confidence.
Some of the therapies we use include:
- 12-Step programs
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy
- Somatic experiencing programs
- Trauma therapy programs
- Dialectical behavior therapy
- Motivational interviewing process
Change Your Future with Help from Fort Behavioral Health
World Suicide Prevention Day is the ideal time to do something to help yourself or your loved one. You don’t have to battle through the pain you feel or watch your loved one struggle just to get up in the morning. Let Fort Behavioral Health offer solutions to help. Give our team a call now at 844.332.1807 or reach out to us online for immediate support.
