SEELEY LAKE - While Montana has the highest suicide rate in the United States, Missoula County continues to make improvements through education, outreach and services provided to those in mental health crisis. Nancy de Pastino, Suicide Prevention Coordinator Missoula City-County Health Department, presented on suicide prevention and resources available in Missoula County at the Seeley Lake Community Council meeting Jan. 13.
Montana has the highest rate of suicide in the nation – twice the national average in 2017. Despite the state statistics, the number of suicides in Missoula County has steady declined since 2016 from 34 to 31, 28 in 2018 and 21 in 2019.
“While 21 suicides is still too many, we have seen help-seeking go up at the same time we have seen suicide number go down,” said de Pastino.
As the Suicide Prevention Coordinator, de Pastino’s main goal is to reduce suicides. One of the ways she does this is through Project Tomorrow Montana.
Founded by the Missoula City-County Health Department, United Way of Missoula County, the Institute for Educational Research and Service (IERS) at The University of Montana, and LivingWorks Education, Project Tomorrow Montana’s mission is to reduce the number of suicides and suicide attempts through collaborative efforts that promote, support and increase awareness, prevention, intervention and recovery.
The Missoula City-County Health Department also trains volunteers to be QPR Gatekeepers. Q stands for Question - Find out if someone is contemplating suicide and assess the severity of the mental health crisis. The P stands for Persuade – Listen for the person’s lifeline or someone they hold close and helping them see that connection. R stands for Refer – Get them the help they need through email, text or a hospital depending on the crisis.
“It’s like CPR for mental health,” said de Pastino. “QPR Gatekeepers aren’t expected to become counselors for the people they find to be in crisis, they just keep them “safe for now” as we like to say, until a professional can help them.”
De Pastino said meeting people where they are at is the best way to reach out. Since suicide is often a very impulsive act, if someone or something like gun locks can interrupt a decision, it can save a life.
De Pastino said addressing the means by with people attempt suicide is important. While overdose is a fairly common method, only four-six percent die since there is time to reverse the decision. However of the 50 percent of suicides attempted with a firearm nationally, 85-90 percent are lethal.
While Missoula County has a much lower suicide rate compared to the rest of the state, 75 percent of the suicides were by firearm in 2018. One way Missoula County has helped address this is by giving away free gunlocks and advocating for gun safety.
De Pastino said there was really no pattern that could be identified with the 21 that committed suicide in Missoula County in 2019. However some of the trends included” white, 45-50 year old males was the age, race and sex group with the highest success rate; rural parts of the county had a higher rate; and the percent using firearms was 40 percent, down 35 percent from 2018. De Pastino added that calls from Missoula County to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline went up by 99.2 percent in two years.
“We see that as a really good direction. More people know where to get help,” said de Pastino. “That is so much of what we do, putting out that information and being a source of hope and resources for people.”
De Pastino said there are a lot of resources available in Missoula County including her position which is one of few across the state. Her goals for 2020 include:
• Train 800 people in QPR (they have trained more than 600). The more people that know how to get help, the better someone can help.
• Develop a model school policy. This would be a hand-on toolkit provided to all schools in Missoula County that would holistically train staff and students with uniform information about suicide.
• Advocate and educate elected officials especially regarding firearms as a means for suicide.
• Improve data that the Missoula City-County Health Department receives from the Sheriff’s Office. De Pastino just started receiving the full coroner’s report. The information will be used to better identify trends and inform strategies to target high-risk populations within the County.
“If we are going to make a dent in the suicide epidemic we need everyone believing that it is their business and their responsibility to take care of their fellow community members,” said de Pastino.
The QPR training is free and available to Seeley Lake if an organization would like to host it. For more information or to schedule a training contact de Pastino via email at ndepastino@missoulacounty.us or call 406-258-3881. For more information about Project Tomorrow Montana visit http://www.projecttomorrowmt.org.
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