Suicide Prevention Resources

With someone dying by suicide every six hours in the state, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) released a report in 2021 that makes recommendations on how to reduce the suicide rate.

Are you concerned about someone else who might be at risk of suicide?

Here are five steps you can take to help:

1. Look for warning signs. Some common warning signs associated with people who are considering suicide include talking or writing about death, dying or suicide; seeking ways to kill themselves; or directly or indirectly threatening suicide.

2. Show you care. This may look different depending on who you are and your relationship to the person, but let the person know you have noticed something has changed and it matters to you. If appropriate, let them tell you how they are feeling and why.

3. Ask the question. Make sure you both understand whether this problem is about suicide. “Are you thinking about suicide?” Asking this question as directly as this may be extremely helpful. It does not put the idea in someone’s mind who is not already thinking about suicide. Asking as directly as this is often very reassuring to the person in crisis.

4. Restrict access to lethal means. Help the person remove dangerous objects and substances like medications, drugs, or alcohol from the places they live and spend time.

5. Get help. This person may know who they want to talk to (a therapist, their guardian, their partner). You can also call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at 1-800-273-8255.

Click here to see more suicide prevention resources and hear from Ishpeming’s Jeff Olson, whose son died by suicide in 2012.

The FBI Washington Field Office said it is important to discuss online safety with children. The use of social media and online platforms can put children unknowingly in compromising situations which can negatively impact mental health.

The FBI provides the following tips to protect you and your children online:

Be selective about what you share online, especially your personal information and passwords. If your social media accounts are open to everyone, a predator may be able to figure out a lot of information about you or your children.
Be wary of anyone you encounter for the first time online. Block or ignore messages from strangers.
Be aware that people can pretend to be anything or anyone online. Videos and photos are not proof that a person is who they claim to be.
Be suspicious if you meet someone on a game or app and they ask you to start talking to them on a different platform.
Encourage your children to report suspicious behavior to a trusted adult.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a hotline for individuals in crisis or for those looking to help someone else. To speak with a certified listener, call 1-800-273-8255.

Crisis Text Line

Crisis Text Line is a texting service for emotional crisis support. To speak with a trained listener, text HOME to 741741. It is free, available 24/7, and confidential.

If you or a loved one are in a crisis, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room immediately, the Marquette Sheriff’s Office says.

National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI), 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), info@nami.org, NAMI-Teens Finding Help website

NAMI Crisis Text Line, Text “START” or “NAMI” to 741-741, www.crisistextline.org

MiCAL (crisis & access line serving U.P. & Oakland County), Call or text, 1-844-44-MICAL (64225), MiCAL website

Pathways Community Mental Health, 906-225-1181, www.pathwaysup.org

Great Lakes Recovery Centers - Child & Adolescent Psychiatric Specialty Care, 906-228-9696, GLRC website

Call 2-1-1 for referral to other local youth mental health resources anywhere in the U.P.

Watch Mental Health: Questions and Answers for Upper Michigan here.