suicide prevention

This week, mental health practitioners and firearms experts are coming together to discuss safety and support for gun owners.

Colorado, Washington, Louisiana, and other states have implemented some version of a safe firearm storage map or public messaging campaign encouraging people to store firearms outside the home while at increased risk for suicide.

Brooke Schmill created “Turning Point: Ending Suicide in Wyoming,” which includes interviews with Wyomingites about their experiences with suicide.

September is suicide awareness month and Wyoming has the highest suicide rate per capita in the country. A new documentary that will be shown in Rock Springs, Casper, Gillette, Lander, and Jackson this month showcases the impacts, attitudes, challenges, and possible solutions that suicide has on the state. Wyoming Public Radio’s Hugh Cook spoke with Brooke Schmill, who created "Turning Point: Ending Suicide in Wyoming."

It has been a little over a year since the national suicide lifeline number was simplified to 988 and it’s been a year since Wyoming opened 24/7 call services for the lifeline in the state. People have been using the service more since then.

For the first time in four years, Wyoming’s suicide rate fell pretty substantially. In 2022, the number of suicides among Wyoming residents decreased by 21.6 percent from 2021.

Last summer, the nation got a new three-digit suicide prevention number: 988. A new analysis found the in-state answer rates so far vary widely, especially in the Mountain West.

Sheridan County Prevention is in the process or working towards applying for a grant next year from a national organization that would help with their suicide and substance abuse prevention efforts and that would also increase community involvement in them. The grant also requires that a more comprehensive effort be taken to focus on the general health and well being of the community, an initiative that's to be called "Healthy Sheridan County."

The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline bill went through several big changes during committee hearings before eventually passing the House floor. However, the trust that funds the bill lost all dollars allocated to it.The 988 hotline offers 24/7 call, text and chat access to trained Wyoming based crisis counselors.

The committee was launched in 2018 to help address these issues in the county, but was disbanded at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. It will be revived in January with city, county, educational, prevention, and nonprofit organizations having a presence in addition to the public, which will have a larger role. This comes as Campbell County has set a record for suicides in a single year in 2022.