Carroll County Commissioner Ed Rothstein shared a story during the county’s regular weekly meeting, talking about a time when stepping in and checking on someone paid off and saved a life that might have ended in suicide.
Rothstein, a retired colonel and former garrison commander at the Fort George G. Meade U.S. Army installation in Anne Arundel County, said several years ago, just after he retired, a young soldier came up to him and thanked him for saving his life. The soldier reminded Rothstein of a time years earlier when Rothstein checked in on him and shared that this intervention led him to seek help for PTSD and ultimately find healing.
Rothstein said it was a surprising example of the positive affect you can have on other people, without knowing it. He shared the story after reading aloud a proclamation declaring the month of September Suicide Prevention Month in the county.
“Suicide is preventable,” Rothstein said, reading aloud the official proclamation. “Through building awareness and essential skills, anyone can support people at risk. Asking someone if they’re thinking about suicide does not increase the risk of suicide. It can open a conversation that can save a life.”
Rothstein noted that it was important for the county to discuss suicide prevention this month but emphasized prevention efforts shouldn’t end when the month does.
“We really should remind ourselves it’s a proclamation for prevention every day,” he said. “I’ve shared with you my stories … and the importance of resilience and reducing the stigma (of mental health crises), putting people in positions where they feel there’s no way out …
“We need to intervene, one person at a time, one group at a time. I believe it is our responsibility and calling in our community to intervene.”
Rothstein made the remarks while wearing a black baseball cap with a large “988” on the front, aiming to bring awareness to the existence of the 988 Helpline, which anyone can call to seek help during a mental health crisis. Confidential help is available at that phone number and online at https://988helpline.org/ 24 hours a day.
County officials emphasized Thursday that suicide prevention is a community effort, and that Carroll County has many resources in place to help.
Amy Laugelli, director of prevention services for the Carroll County Health Department, discussed the array of free services, trainings and resources available via the health department.
“We want to prioritize connecting to hope,” she said. “We want to normalize talking about this. … Trainings can help people get comfortable with recognizing warning signs of suicide.”
The county marks the first “988 Day” on Sunday, with the theme of “No judgment, just help,” and the goal of getting the word out about using the 988 Helpline. World Suicide Prevention Day is Sept. 10, and health department employees will wear yellow to show solidarity “that we are all in this together as a community,” she said.
On Sept. 14, the Out of the Darkness Community Walk will be held at Krimgold Park in Woodbine, from 9 a.m. to noon, to raise awareness about suicide prevention, in association with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Similar walks will happen all over the country that day, she said.
Veronica Dietz, director of crisis services at the health department, noted the success of the county’s Crisis Intervention Team, which has trained about 100 law enforcement officers from all municipal police agencies, the sheriff’s office and state police, as well as correctional deputies, dispatchers, and officers who work at McDaniel College and Carroll Community College. The officers are trained to ask six specific questions to gauge if the individual they are dealing with is at high, moderate, or low risk for suicide.
“Oftentimes people call 911 because they are in a crisis. 988 is the place to call for a behavioral health crisis, taking some of the responsibility off of law enforcement,” Dietz said. “What we understand about suicide is that there is a level of ambivalence that is pervasive. Most people don’t want to die, they don’t want to be in the extreme behavioral health crisis that they are in. What they’re dealing with are overwhelming feelings and that leads to these thoughts of suicide.”
When people are given the opportunity to talk about what they are feeling, they take it, she said.
“If we can have an officer who is compassionate and empathetic,” who can offer people a listening ear as well as resources,” Dietz said, it “will ensure that individuals in our community will get connected more appropriately and more effectively.”
According to the health department’s website, Crisis Information Team trained officers “have been given intensive training to recognize symptoms, defuse situations, and provide assistance. This way of response allows situations to be handled in a manner that reduces arrest, trauma, injury, or even death during mental health crisis calls and promotes linking people with behavioral health concerns to behavioral health professionals and programs designed to coordinate diversion from jail and/or unnecessary use of the emergency department.”
The Carroll County Health Department partners with Carroll Community College to offer free Mental Health First Aid and Youth Mental Health First Aid classes every month. These eight-hour courses aim to teach a 5-step action plan to offer initial help to people with signs and symptoms of a mental illness or in a crisis, and connect them with the appropriate professional, peer, social or self-help care.
In addition, the county’s Suicide Prevention Coalition just started up again, and hopes to identify local contributing factors to suicide in order to better direct funding, Laugelli said. The health department is working on communication efforts and raising awareness on social media and will soon hire a part-time staff member who will focus exclusively on doing that, Laugelli said.
Laugelli also noted the Sources of Strength program in Carroll County Public Schools, a youth suicide prevention project “designed to harness the power of peer social networks to change unhealthy norms and culture, ultimately preventing suicide, bullying, and substance abuse,” according to the school system’s website.
Dietz emphasized that the community should feel empowered to talk about suicide openly, as it is the best way to help those who need it.
“It’s a myth that talking about suicide will make people think about it and go do it,” she said. “In fact, we know that asking the question, ‘Hey, have you been thinking about killing yourself? Have you ever thought about going to sleep and never waking up? Have you ever had thoughts about not wanting to be here?’ Those are the absolute questions to ask because it gives the person struggling with that relief to know that someone sees them.”
Dietz told commissioners they should “know that we are diligently working to make this completely preventable type of death extinguished.”
Find out more about the health department’s programs at https://health.maryland.gov/carroll/Pages/Behavioral-Health.aspx. Register for the free Mental Health First Aid classes at https://www.carrollcc.edu/mental-health-first-aid/.
