Suicide, youth mental health are the focus of an awareness walk around Little Falls

Oct. 22—Holy Family Parish in Little Falls is inviting community members to help raise awareness about suicide during a suicide prevention awareness walk, scheduled for 9 to 10:15 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 6.

Participants will gather at the parish gym behind the church and join with others to take a walk around the city to bring awareness to mental health and support survivors of suicide loss.

There will be refreshments and resources in the gym afterward. While this is not a fund-raising walk, there will be a box available for anyone who wants to donate to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, according to Lisa LaCoppola, church administrative assistant,

This is a first-time event of this kind for the church, said LaCoppola, and concerns about mental health problems among youth were the reason for the decision to hold the walk.

Those concerns are borne out by national statistics. According to youth data for 2020 provided by Mental Health in America, 13.01% of youth age 12-17 reported suffering from at least one major depressive episode (MDE) during the past year and more than 2.2 million youths cope with severe major depression.

Quoting figures from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention reports that suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S. A morbidity and mortality report on the CDC's website states that early in the pandemic, adolescent suicide-related visits to emergency rooms decreased through the spring of 2020, but increased significantly as the pandemic continued. "This is especially true for teenage girls, who showed a 50% increase in emergency room visits early in 2021 compared to the same period in 2019," the report states. "In many communities of color, suicide rates were already increasing significantly prior to the pandemic, especially for Black youth. Data suggest that LGBTQ youth are also at risk."

The idea for the walk in Little Falls came about as part of the plan for Father Brian Slezak's installation as church pastor, LaCoppola said. She explained that when Father Slezak was notified that he would be officially installed Nov. 7 — an event which had been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic — "he gave it some thought after he saw the date and said he'd like to have a weekend that involved prayer, worship and celebration and he wanted to involve the whole community."

There was some discussion about doing some type of community event, possibly a walk.

"I said especially with the youth, the kids going to school, so many are struggling with mental health," said LaCoppola. A decision was made to focus the walk on suicide awareness and prevention. A team was formed to organize the event and members reached out to Catholic Charities of Herkimer County and Herkimer County Mental Health, where they received contact information for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Those three agencies along with the Herkimer County Suicide Prevention Coalition will be on hand following the walk to offer resources and information. Copies of the book, "After Suicide," by Father Chris Alar will be offered free of charge.

A traditional Usus Antiquior will also be held at 8 a.m. at Holy Family Church that day. All are welcome.

For more information about the walk, visit https://holyfamilylittlefalls.org.

Joshua A. Gordon, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, writes on that organization's website that parents, teachers and healthcare providers shouldn't be afraid to ask kids how they're doing and if they have thought about suicide. "Study after study has shown that asking 'are you thinking about suicide?' doesn't lead children to think about killing themselves — on the contrary, it can help kids talk about what's going on and provide an opening for them to ask for help," he said.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 or suicidepreventionlifeline.org

Crisis text line: Text TALK to 741741.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Disaster Distress Helpline: 1-800-985-5990

Trevor Project (aimed at LGBTQ+ youth: 1-866-488-7386

All are available 24/7 for immediate support and treatment referrals.

Donna Thompson is the government and business reporter for the Times Telegram. Email her at donna@timestelegram.com.

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