Talk Saves Lives: Talking is best suicide prevention measure that everyone can do

Suzie Romig/Steamboat Pilot & Today
Editor’s note: If you or someone you know is experiencing a suicide crisis, call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline open 24/7. Or connect online at 988Lifeline.org.
Following a devastating record-high year of 19 deaths by suicide across Routt and Moffat counties in 2024 – and no end to the concerns this month – suicide prevention experts are urging everyone to reach out to people with one simple step – talking.
Talk Saves Lives was the focus of two educational public presentations on Thursday made by certified trainers Mindy Marriott and Anna Allsberry with nonprofit REPS, or Reaching Everyone Preventing Suicide based in Steamboat Springs.
The major goal of the lunchtime and evening presentations was to encourage everyone to feel comfortable talking about the topic of suicide, including a group exercise where everyone said out loud: “Are you thinking about suicide?”
Attendees were then asked to turn to someone sitting nearby and practice what can be the uncomfortable or awkward step of saying, “I care about you. Are you thinking about suicide?”
Marriott and Allsberry said friends, colleagues or family members should not avoid bringing up that direct question because research shows people feel validated by someone realizing they are going through a very tough time even if they are not considering suicide. Experts say asking that direct question does not promote suicidal thoughts.
The educators noted that most people experiencing a crisis point of unbearable physical or emotional pain that feels inescapable when they may experience suicidal ideation usually get past that point with eight minutes of help or conversation. So, friends should stop and realize that with only eight minutes of their time, they might help save a life, Allsberry said.
Thoughts of suicide are often temporary. Keeping people safe and helping them feel supported can get them through those critical moments.
REPS presentation of Talk Saves Lives
If a person struggling does say they are thinking about suicide, the recommended approach is for a friend to give two choices for help for the struggling person to choose.
For example: “Would you like for me to help you call the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline?” or “Would you like for me to help you schedule an appointment for free counseling through REPS?”
The educators noted that anyone can call 988 multiple times a day simply for information or during a crisis. They noted drastic changes from a person’s normal behavior can be the biggest warning sign for someone thinking about suicide.
The most direct way to prevent a suicide is to put time and distance between the person and lethal means, the educators said, such as letting a trusted family member hold on to or lock up firearms for several weeks.
Factors that help protect against suicide include connection, social support, social and problem-solving skills, resilience, willingness to participate in and access to mental health care, and a strong sense of personal identity including gender, race and ethnicity.
The friend should not try to fix, save or rescue the problems of the person with suicidal ideation, but just listen with empathy and stay with the person to provide a warm handoff to trained suicide-assistance prevention resources.
Education about suicide prevention is critically important in the Yampa Valley because the Rocky Mountain region sits in the nation’s “Suicide Belt.”
Allsberry said that some of the negative factors in the Suicide Belt include high elevation, rural areas with spread-out population, lack of access to services or resources, and prevalence of macho culture and stigma against talking about suicides in agricultural or other professions.
Although suicide is complex, the risk factors are a combination of biological, psychological, and social and environmental factors that are impacted by current life events or prolonged stress and access to lethal means.
Marriott said the outreach push for residents to reach out to REPS to receive up to five free counseling sessions from any of 70 licensed counselors helped 411 people receive counseling in 2024 at a value of $160,000. That was an increase from 250 people in 2023 and 118 in 2022.
Talk Saves Lives is a program of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention with more information at AFSP.org/talk-saves-lives.
To contact REPS, visit NWCOsuicideprevention.com, email repssteamboat@gmail.com or call 970-846-8182. To sign up for free youth or adult counseling online, click on the Counseling and Therapy tab on the REPS website.
18 of the 19 deaths by suicide in the Yampa Valley in 2024 were from firearms
Suicide deaths in the Yampa Valley in 2024 included 84.2% men and people age 22 to 82
Highest risk for suicide regionally is age 35-44
Suicide rates on the Western Slope are three times higher than statewide
Suicide is second leading cause of death for people ages 10 to 44 in Colorado
Rocky Mountain region has highest suicide rate in the U.S.
Suicide rates are three times higher in homes with a firearm

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