Suicide Awareness

September is Suicide Prevention and Awareness month. Did you know one in twenty people will lose someone they know to suicide in any given year? And one in five people will lose someone they know to suicide at any given point in their lifetime. Those are some sobering statistics which is why we brought Curtis back on the show to talk about suicide prevention and help break the stigma surrounding this topic. The more we talk about it, the better we will be at preventing it from happening.

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Jen: Hello and welcome to the Parents Place, a podcast put out by the Family Place for parents to develop skills that will strengthen families and provide tools that will help each of us in our parenting efforts. No matter our skills, we can always use reminders that help us work towards a safer, happier home. I'm your host. Jennifer Daly, the Education Director at the Family Place and my co-host is Sara Hendricks, a family educator at the Family Place. Every week, we will interview professionals that will provide valuable information that will make a difference when you apply it directly to your life. Thank you for joining us. Now, let's get started with today's episode.

Sara: Hello and welcome to the Parents Place podcast, I'm your host, Sara Hendricks.

Jen: And I'm your co-host Jen Daly.

Sara: Today, we have a pretty hard topic that we're wanting to cover, and we're going to try our best to do it with sensitivity. But also, we want to be real and carry a real conversation, and the topic is about suicide. The month of September is Suicide Prevention Month, and so we want to get this in and bring more awareness to this topic. So today we have with us Curtis Snelgrove, and he's been on the podcast before. So Curtis, would you like to do a little introduction?

Curtis: Yeah. So, I am the mental health first aid project director here at the Family Place. I've been doing that for almost three years. Originally from the booming metropolis of Kamas, Utah. But it's a really small town if you're not familiar with it, but live here in Cache Valley. Been here with my wife since 2007 and we love it here. I love being part of the Family Place and making a difference in the community. I'm really passionate about mental illness and all things related to it, including crises related to mental illness such as suicide and suicide awareness. Suicide prevention. So happy to be here.

Jen: Well, welcome, Curtis. We're excited to have you here on our podcast today and this is a topic that I know both Sara and I are passionate about as well and want to do everything that we can do to bring awareness to suicide and hopefully get some tips and some information that will help us if there's someone in our lives that is struggling with suicidal thoughts. So, I think the first thing that we should just dive into is just talking about the relevance. Why is this relevant and why do we need to talk about it? I think about, like my mom even talking to her about suicide, and she's like, “Oh, that doesn't happen very often why we need to talk about it anyways”, kind of a thing. And so, I think the more relevant we can make it and that this is an issue that we need to talk about. Hopefully, the more people will have conversations about this and especially with their children, so that they can make sure that they're healthy.

Curtis: Yeah, absolutely. There's things that for me personally, it just seems like over the past three years since I've been in this position that it is something that it's a lot more relevant that I hear about more frequently. I completely acknowledge that could be because I am now in her realm and in a position for work where I do talk about it and I interact with individuals, not only just with what I do here at the Family Place, but I also am part of the Suicide Prevention Coalition here in Cache County. And so I'm in the thick of it, you know, I hear a lot about it. However, I really do believe that not just because I'm in the thick of it, but because it is something that is being more prevalent. It is happening more frequently. I do have a couple of statistics just to kind of give you a little bit of an idea when the grant that we got that we're using for mental health first aid when the proposal was written. So, this is statistics from pre 2018, I'm guessing probably 2017. The national rate for suicide was 15.3 per 100,000 individuals in Cache and Rich County at that time was 18.9 per 100,000 people. We don't have this specific updated statistics for Cache in Rich County, but in the United States in 2019, the rate was 13.9 per 100000 people, so a little less from that original statistic, but that's combined both men and women. If you look at the trajectory, though, of that scale is they are increasing ever since as early back as 1999 to 2019. So twenty years’ worth and how it just keeps increasing, it's still going up. However, one statistic for Utah 2017 and 2019 the rate was 22.0 and is and suicide is the leading cause of death for age groups 10 to 17 and 18 to 24 in that same time period. So not are we just looking at when you look at statistics with mental illness, with the crises surrounding mental illness, they have these various age groups. And so, for Utah, it's two of those age groups that is the leading cause of death is suicide. So, it is prevalent and it is something that I would say is increasing and we want to do something to kind of reverse that.

Jen: Well, before we were recording, I just looked, quick Google search on the CDC. And, you know, in 2019, I believe it said 47,500 I am a visual person. So, I like to say, well, what fits that many people? Because we're like, OK, we have I mean, how many people live in the United States, millions of people. So, we're like, Oh, for those of. Thousand people, considering the millions that we have. I can see someone's mind going that way. And so, I like to have a visual and so looking at what fits 47,000 and that's a college football arena is that's how many people die by suicide in one year. And that is just that's a lot of people. But then it affects even more than that. So, you have the parents, the siblings, the aunts, uncles, the friends. It's just this big ripple effect that suicide has an effect on. And that was kind of sobering for me just to put it into a visual thing. And then the next statistic that I read on there was just in the last two decades, 800,000 people have died by suicide. That's a lot of people and a lot of ripple effects. So definitely see that this is a conversation that we need to have and hopefully bring awareness to. So, like, those numbers can start to decrease.

Curtis: Yeah, it's interesting that you say that too and I attended a meeting training last week that was about against suicide and the impact we can have news is through. SAMHSA was the entity that put that together, and they shared this. The one in 20 people will lose someone they know in any given year to suicide, and one in five people will lose someone they know at some point in their life. And so, I really, I'm grateful also that you brought that thought up, Jen, that it's not just the individual, but it's that ripple effect of the individuals that are around them. You know, siblings, parents, grandparents, friends, neighbors, you name it coworkers. It's it impacts so many more people. And so, yeah, it's definitely a sobering thing to think that, OK, so chances are is not if, but when.

Jen: I look back on my life and there's been three people that have died by suicide that I have no one from kindergarten all the way through middle school. We were friends. And another one that I met in middle school and high school. He died by suicide, and then I just recently had a cousin that their daughter died by suicide. And it affects you. I mean, I didn't. I had met my cousin's daughter once, and it affected me a lot more than I thought. Just, I think the heartache and the pain that she must have been in in that moment and really affected me. So, it does. I mean, my lifetime has been three so far. And so, one in five of not a matter of if just when.

Sara: I think it goes to show how important this conversation is that we need to be open and honest in these conversations and not just kind of look at it as, oh, it happens to other people. It'll never happen to us because you just never know. And so, we need to understand signs and symptoms in the people we surround ourselves with that we can recognize if those changes are happening and what we can do to hopefully prevent anything from happening in the future. So, I know we've done other episodes on mental health awareness both for adults and for youth, and we've talked about signs and symptoms. But can you maybe give us some more information on that on how to recognize if suicide is on the table for somebody?

Curtis: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. One thing that I think is very interesting is to see the parallels between multiple diagnoses of mental illness and also the crises that are related to mental illness. It doesn't matter if you're talking about depression or anxiety or things that may cause a panic attack to happen or suicidal thoughts. You know, there's so many parallels. One thing that was shared with me that I would say is maybe a little bit more obvious sign. Maybe that's not what I really want to say is obvious. It's a little bit more in the open, I guess, is when you notice that there is a change in somebody's life in the change, meaning they're not, quote unquote the same as they used to be. You know, if you know they are like a normal, happy, outgoing individual and then you notice that little by little, they start changing to where they are a lot more reserve and they're withdrawing from social events and friends and family and just keeping to themselves completely. That's that can be a sign. There can be things like sadness. It can be things like crying. It can be pain that they feel. You know, it's this big change that you can normally see in their behaviors. And just because somebody experiences something like that does not necessarily mean that they are going to have suicidal thoughts.

But if you start noticing that it's impacting their ability to live their life, to have a meaningful relationship, to hold a job, to be able to go to school and excel in school and those types of things. That's what I would say are some of the more open situations and circumstances of those signs and symptoms where you wait, maybe you want to say, I'm going to embrace the discomfort and I'm going to start talking to somebody about observations I'm noticing. You know, but then you get into more specific signs and symptoms and even more detailed, and some of them are again a little bit more in the open, a little bit more obvious. But then there are others that are really hard to pick up on. We, when we teach mental health first aid, we do this exercise called myths and facts. And one of the myths that we share is that suicide happens without warning. And that's it's kind of a myth, but a fact at the same time, generally speaking, there are many signs that are given. It's more so somebody else's or our ability to be able to recognize those signs and symptoms. But it does and has happened without warning. So generally speaking, yes, there are things that we can look for, but we also need to understand that there may be things that we won't be able to see some of the things that I'm seeing, maybe a little more of the common ones that have been reported or things like giving away prized possessions like not necessarily like, OK, I think about my daughter and when we tell her to clean her room and she's like, OK, I'm going to give away all my stuff to my brother because then I don't have to put it away. That's not what we're talking about here. We're talking about like you have like a loved pet that is in your life and you give it to somebody to take care of. Or, you know, maybe it's a baseball card that your grandpa gave you or a car or it's not, It's not necessarily anything huge or big. It can be something really small, but more so is it that deeply sentimental item that they're giving away that can be a big red flag.

Another thing that can be a sign that somebody may be contemplating suicide is having a drastic change in mood, and that can be a positive or a negative change. So I remember being taught this, and when I learned this fact is it made sense to me that if somebody was happy and then they had a drastic change of mood to become more negative and loss of hope and not really having meaning in life, not feeling loved, those types of things like that made sense to me that that would be a sign that they may be contemplating suicide, but it also goes the other way as well. So, there is an individual that has been depressed and feeling down and feeling like there's no meaning to life, and then they have a drastic change of mood where the sun is out. Everything is great. You know, birds are chirping, rainbows are in there. Whatever it may be like, that can be a huge sign as well. The reason why that is a sign is because an individual that may be contemplating suicide, and maybe they've been contemplating that for a long time, it weighs on them and it weighs on them. So much to the point that when they make a decision, it will manifest in an outward way that they're quote unquote better, that they're cured. So that's a huge sign to be aware of. If you know of somebody that has shown that, then that's the time to have a conversation. And it really just we could go on and on and on to talk and list out all these different signs or symptoms that an individual may be experiencing. But in my opinion, that would be a never-ending list. And so, what I would recommend is be aware. I mean, Google it right? Take our mental health first aid class, you know, or take a QPR class like do things to help educate you so that you can help with that fact of an individual may be contemplating suicide, gives many signs and have us be able to be attuned to it, to be able to recognize it and then take that action to help them and to have that conversation.

Sara: I think the biggest thing is if you're around somebody that your gut is telling you something's off, then act on that. And don't just say in your mind of No, I, there's no way there's such a good person or they have standards and values or whatever ideas we come up with for why there's no way somebody might attempt suicide. Set all of that aside, if your gut is telling you something feels off, carry a conversation with that person and check in and be real.

Jen: To me, having that conversation is more of a sign for you, giving them that I care about you, that I'm here for you. And yes, maybe we're totally off base, but that doesn't matter. That at least shows that person that you are a safe person to come to and talk to about it, that you care about them. And I am just thinking, even if we are wrong and just have that conversation.

Curtis: I could not agree more. Like I said and Sara, I know you and I have talked recently about this too that, you know, we have thoughts. In my opinion, we have thoughts for a reason like our gut, our instinct, whatever you want to call it, or conscience, you know? Whatever we have, those thoughts come to us for a reason. And if you have any thought about it, like, I look at this like, what's the worst that can happen? OK, my mind kind of putting it in a little bit of a scenario. So they're not feeling suicidal and you act on it. They know they care about you, just like you said, Jen. Like, they know that you are somebody that they can have a difficult conversation with about whatever you know, like, there are a lot of difficult conversations to have, and it's not just suicide. And so, when we say, Hey, I care about you, I have noticed these things. If they're not feeling that way, they know, and that's reinforced its building and strengthen that relationship. If they are, then you now know and you're able to help them as much as you can along that path to be able to get the help that they're needing and what they're experiencing right then. So, I love and I couldn't agree more. Like, act on those feelings. Trust your gut. Trust your instinct. Because if you genuinely just care about somebody, your instincts are going to serve you so much better than you give them credit for. And it's a hard thing to do, though, like it's hard. It's hard to put yourself out there to say, OK, I'm going to go talk to this person that I really care about because I notice some things, but it's really uncomfortable to talk about. But I also want to maybe put this thought this is something that I have told myself that I feel like it's helped me embrace that discomfort with those conversations is what is the potential outcome and what am I OK with me? OK, embracing that discomfort right now to be able to be with that person one more day, one more minute, one more year to know who their family is going to be. Their kids are going to be what they're going to accomplish everything. Or am I more willing to avoid the discomfort? And then have to go through that grief of somebody possibly not being in your life again?

Jen: I remember there was a time, a couple of years ago I had a friend, really good friend. She called me up crying and I said, what’s going on? She says, I'm just calling to say goodbye. I'm packing up my stuff and I'm going and I'm like, wait a minute to me, that was one of those big flags of, OK. So, it was like swallowing, taking a deep breath and saying, Are you talking about taking your own life? And she's like, Oh no, Jen, I'm not going to do that. I was saying goodbye because I'm moving to Florida. Well, for me, it was. I live here in Utah. She lives in Arizona. And I'm like, Why are you? I haven't seen you in 10 years. We've talked, but I haven't seen you. So why would you call to say goodbye? We can still talk with you in Florida. But I would have rather had that conversation so I could have done something in that moment, even though I was wrong to help her in that moment. And we ended up we did have a really hard conversation. She was getting a divorce and having to move, and it was an awful divorce. But it was just a conversation to where I was there, a listening ear for her to help her during that time. So conversations are they can be so hard, but they're so important and can be so beneficial on so many levels. And I think for kids, especially teenagers, we need to have those conversations on a regular basis. I mean, not necessarily, I think, are you contemplating suicide or things like that? But just so that they know that you can count, they can come to you for hard conversations, but also that they know that you love them having a conversation with a coworker earlier this week of and about suicide in teens and about how they think, you know, in that moment, they may think that no one loves them and that is enough to have them make their final decision. And I just think how further from the truth that can be. But developmentally, it's an all or nothing kind of thing for teens or they just don't understand it or they don't hear it enough. And so, the more that we can tell people we care about them, the better off we're going to be, especially with those teenagers and young kids. That some other reasons why they contemplate suicide is because they don't feel loved and they don't feel like there's someone there.

Sara: And I think we also need to consider how that child feels loved because as parents, we might think there's no way my child doesn't feel loved. But if they're not receiving it the way you're reciprocating it, then that makes a difference for them.

Jen: Those five love languages that we talked about earlier and another podcast applies to kids and teens, too. We need to talk in their love language, so some kids may it may be sitting down, talking to them. Some just may need a hug every once in a while. Some may need to go out and do a good activity together. So really, make sure that you're talking in their love language so that they understand that you do love and care for them.

Curtis: See, I agree. I think even as adults, you know, there are things that we need to make sure that we understand. I mean, definitely the youth and the children as well. But even as adults, there are times that we just need to be aware of realizing that. Everybody expresses their emotions, their feelings, their love in different ways, and that we need to be sensitive to how we express, but also how we receive that and how others express and how they receive it. Just like you're saying the basics of this love language, and because it's such a hard and a real thing and we don't know exactly what somebody else is going through, and unless we have that conversation with them to let them know that it's OK to not have to know exactly what they're going through, but they don't have to go through it alone like we can go. We could go down in the muck with them and trudge along to hold their hand to put their arm around them, you know, to find out more about them and help them see that they are cared for. Knowing that there may be circumstances that despite our best efforts, we may not have the desired outcome that we are hoping or expecting for.

Jen: I like how you said sitting in the muck with them, I think that's sitting in the muck with them does not mean we're solving anything for them. But that's what I think lots of people need is just someone to sit there and say, Man, that is hard and I don't know how to fix it, but I am here for you and I'm here to listen and do what you need me to do.

Curtis: I think and you're absolutely right, and I think that sometimes it's a hard thing to decide to do right. I like to be able to say, OK, I'm going to I'm going to be vulnerable or I'm going to go out on a limb here or whatever it may be. But to just start that conversation, even if that conversation is just this, you know what? That does suck. I don't know the pain you're going through. I don't know what you've experienced. You know, it's a hard thing to do. It's a hard step to take.

Jen: But that's what empathy is. It's not a, I think everybody thinks I need to have had that same experience, that exact experience to feel empathy for someone. And that's not the case. We all feel sadness. We all feel, you know, despair and all of those. We need to be able to connect with that feeling, not necessarily the experience. Connect with the feeling. And we're going to be able to help that person because we all know those feelings. We've all felt them.

Sara: That's what I was thinking is just we as humans are always looking for that connection. And so in those moments of vulnerability, we need that connection and we need to feel validated in what we're going through.

Jen: Not helping, not fixing, validating because that's my thing is I want to fix. I want to take away pain from people, but that doesn't validate their feelings.

Sara: Yeah, when we're trying to fix it, then we're not feeling validated or we're just feeling they don't understand. And so, it's not helping by trying to help, essentially.

Jen: And that's hard for fixers to sit back and say, I'm just going to listen. I'm just going to feel with them. And it takes practice. But as fixers, we can do it.

Sara: So, Curtis, let's say that we know somebody who has plans for suicide or we've had that open conversation with them and we know that that's kind of on their radar. What do we do? How do we, I mean, we talked about validating, but obviously we need to take it a step further in helping. So, what can you tell us?

Curtis: I would say probably the first thing again, and I speak a lot and use the phrase of embrace the discomfort. So, it's like just another opportunity to embrace the discomfort I give, you know, in the conversations, they go different ways at different times, different circumstances. But what I would suggest is you definitely want to make sure that you're asking directly about their thoughts about what they were feeling like, asking them,0” Are you having thoughts of suicide or are you having thoughts of killing yourself?” Or” are you having thoughts of hurting yourself?” Because one that's going to give us a definitive answer and to it actually asking an individual like research has shown time and time again that asking an individual directly, “Are you having thoughts of suicide? It actually will act as a deterrent, not an encouragement to take action”. It is a huge myth that we don't want to put that idea in their head or I don't want to like, say, something that's going to make them take that action. And so I'm not going to ask that question again. The research has shown time and time again that that is a huge myth. When we ask directly, it gives them an opportunity to let them know that somebody is willing to talk to them about the pain and anguish that they're feeling, or if it's not pain and anguish, the different experiences that they're having at that point in time of what they're going through. And so be direct and ask the question and take it a step further if they answer that question, especially if they say, Yeah, yeah, I am. Take a moment to think that it's a terrifying thing. Honestly speaking, when I think about, you know, my kids or my wife or my siblings or my parents or somebody that is really close to me that I may be the one in five we talked about earlier and that I ask them the. Question, are you having thoughts of suicide? It terrifies me to think about what that might be like because what if the answer is yes?

But again, I would much rather be in experience that moment, that time of discomfort and have them here with me tomorrow than to not act on that. But if we're nervous because of what the answer might be, I can't imagine what they're going through and what they're feeling like to say, Yeah, I am. And so, if they do say that, I would recommend like thanking them for having the courage to express truthfully what they're going through. You know, we need to also ask them further where they're at. Like, do you have a plan? Have you gathered means? like those types of things? Because if there is an answer in the affirmative of any of those other questions to know that, yeah, they're in this process right now, we need to get them help. We need to connect them with a professional. If that looks like 9-1-1 and calling dispatch and asking for somebody that's been trained in mental health response or taking them to the emergency room or calling a place like the family place or better mental health or any other, you know, therapy provider and letting know that you're in a crisis moment using the see if you have something like that, then we can know and we can get them help in that moment. So that's what I would maybe recommend is just like, break that ice. And it's really uncomfortable for that moment for that minute and then just go with it because the conversation that will come out of that in the way that it can flow can be very beneficial in helping them make sure that they are OK and that they'll be safe and they'll be here tomorrow.

Jen: I think being willing to sit there with them as they go through that. If you're going to call 9-1-1, sit there with them. If you're going to take them to the E.R., then go with them because again, that's just going to solidify that connection between you and that person. And knowing that you're safe person to come to and that you're going to care and follow through lots of times in life, we say, Yeah, we care. But then life gets busy and we start doing other things and things get lost. But in these kind of situations, we need to make sure that we stick to it and we go with them. Do you need me to go with you to therapy the first time? Because that can be scary. I can make arrangements to go with you for that. If you have that flexibility, I just think being that person. And I just go back to that teenager not thinking that anyone loves them. And that's on a call this past week with one of the writers of ARC, which is attachment, regulation and competency, the framework that we use here at the Family Place, Christine. And she said, if we can just get people past that moment that minute, then we can really move forward. And I just liked how she said, we just need to get past that moment because we all have crappy stuff in our lives, hard things, things that are fun, things that put us in that mark. But just getting past that moment?

Sara: Well, yeah, it makes me think of when you take a tiny little pebble and you hold it right up to your eye, you can't see around it that tiny pebble is the only thing you can focus on. But if you pull it out and pull it away, you can see around the Pebble and see everything else. And so, getting through that moment, that moment is right in our eye and we can't see around it. But if we can pull it back, we can see there's so much more to life than this one moment that is leading to these big permanent decisions.

Jen: They may not be able to see past that puddle to see all of the great things that may be coming on in their life. I go back to teens because it's just so much life that's not lived in so many great opportunities that come of having babies be born having, you know, I don't know, maybe your favorite sports car that you wanted to drive or that wife or that husband that's going to come along. I mean, you just never know. Or the great discovery that only you can discover. And so, yeah, there's so much great. There's a lot of pain, but there's definitely a lot more good things. We just need to pull that people out a little bit so we can see it.

Curtis: Yeah. And like you said to is, we need to pull that pedal out just a little bit, you know, because we're thinking about like in that circumstance in that in that time, sometimes it may be really hard for somebody to see past five minutes from that moment

Jen: That or take in all of what could come. They just need a little bit of hope.

Curtis: Exactly. And so if we can give them that hope to say, okay, let's make it to five more minutes, let's make it a ten, let's make it to fifteen and little by little groan, because you're absolutely right. I remember this last year we were privileged to do a video series on. Suicide awareness and prevention and some of these individuals that we interviewed that have been impacted by suicide in different ways. One of them said like, we like, we want to know who your kids are going to be like. We want you here tomorrow, like we want you in our lives and we do. And for those that may be listening, I just maybe want to put this plug real quick. For those of you that may be listening, that may be feeling this way at any time in your life, maybe not right now. Maybe you have in the past. Maybe you will in the future. I don't know, but I don't know you, but I want you here tomorrow.

Sara: Tomorrow needs you.

Jen: I just think, you know, my husband was part of that video series, and I just think it's him. I'm just grateful for you to be here, because if you would have completed your thought of suicide, you wouldn't have met me. And I'm pretty fabulous for you to have met. So, I just think, yeah, just we need a little bit of hope, and I'm grateful that he's still here so that we did meet and we have a life that we do now together, which hopefully is a good life, can have some rough moments, but at least we're in it together.

Sara: One other thought that keeps coming to me in regards to teens and that statistic that you shared way in the beginning of the episode about it being the number one leading cause of death ages 10 to 18, is that right?

Curtis: So, yeah, so there are two age groups of 10 to 17 and then 18 and 24. So really so the number one in both of them

Sara: OK. And I just think research shows the brain is not fully developed until age 25. Some studies even say age twenty eight. And that's the number one cause of death for these teens and pre-teens and young adults is suicide. And when you just think about that, people in their eye, they can't see around it. That is their world, you know, and their brain is underdeveloped to even process beyond that. And so, we really do need to take this seriously and be aware of what's happening around us and really try to reach out,

Jen: Really educate ourselves on their perspective because I always like that quote as well. People's perspective is their reality, even though it may not be what everyone else sees, it's their perspective. And that's what they believe to be true. Yeah. OK, before we wrap up, do you have any last words that you would like to share Curtis?

Curtis Yeah, there's actually I just wanted to maybe share just a couple of resources specifically, but then also just a thought. So, the first resource I want to share with you is the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. So, this is a great resource if you're living inside the United States, but the number is 800-273-8255. I would recommend even just putting that in your phone as a contact because then it be just ready in that moment if you need it. If you're in the state of Utah, I know there's also the safety app that can be very beneficial. They just changed it. So, it's for both adults and youth now as well instead of just youth. So, it's a great resource. But if you're not in the area, I'd encourage you to like research. What are some of those resources that you can be able to utilize in that moment? The other comment that I just want to make is we've been talking about this really heavy topic, and I just wanted to just address anybody that has or in the future may experience a loss of somebody that they know to suicide, especially if they're close that please know that you're not alone. Please know that there are individuals there, entities that are here to help talk to somebody, please. It doesn't have to be a professional. It doesn't have to be any big, wondrous thing that you need to do, but just encourage you to be open with somebody to be able to process what you're experiencing so that you can continue on in your life. Because we also want you here and fully here in our lives tomorrow. So please, if you have or are one of those individuals, those one in five, I mean, some in your life, talk to somebody and keep going. We're here for you. I know there are a lot of others and a lot of entities out there here for you as well.

Jen: We want to thank you, Curtis, for joining us today talking about a very hard topic, but a very important topic. And hopefully this helps us just be a little bit more aware and being willing to be that person for someone. We stress a lot on the starfish story here at the Family Place and we can make the difference for one person and that doesn't apply just to people, a Family Place that applies to everybody. So be that one that makes a difference for someone. If you would like to contact Sara or myself, you can email us at parents@thefamilyplaceutah.org. Or you can reach us on social media, on Facebook. You can reach myself, Jen Daly-the Family Place

Sara: or Sara Hendricks – The Family Place

Jen: We hope that you have a great week. We challenge you to just take a moment and think if you could be that person for someone and if not getting ourselves ready to be in a place to where we could be the one for someone. We hope you have a great week and we'll see you next week.

Sara: Thanks again for listening. The Family Place a non-profit organization in Logan, Utah, with a mission to strengthen families and protect children. We call ourselves starfish throwers. If you're unsure what that means, refer back to our introduction episode where we explain it. The good news is you can be a starfish thrower by subscribing to the Parents Place podcast and liking our social media pages. If this episode resonated with you, please share it with others and help us get our message out to more people. Also, be sure to check the show notes for links to information referenced in this episode. That's all for now, but we'll catch you again next time on the Parent Place.

*** SUICIDE HOTLINE 988***

Episode Resources: -The Family Place: https://thefamilyplaceutah.org/mental-health-first-aid/ - Mental Health First Aid: www.mentalhealthfistaid.org - Safe UT App for Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.p3tips.safeut&hl=en&gl=US - Safe UT App for iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/safeut/id1052510262 - National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 - Bear River Health Department Resource Mental Health Directory: https://brhd.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/MH-Directory-2020-FINAL.pdf - I'm Still Here Series, Episode 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyH3qoqtuhY - I'm Still Here Series, Episode 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sodf5g29514 - I'm Still Here Series, Episode 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5NsSKGmoZs - I'm Still Here Series, Episode 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EvGt-YAnDE - I'm Still Here Series, Episode 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Bqe_Plzd40 - I'm Still Here Series, Episode 6: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ea0hW-BXfhw - I'm Still Here Series, Episode 7: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQfiRh83biI

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