Idaho is in a quiet youth suicide and mental illness crisis. Silence isn’t a solution | Opinion

“We lost another one.”

A local parent at a recent behavioral health meeting for community leaders, mental health professionals and parents, said their daughter, a student at a local Boise junior high school, came home telling her parents these words. When asked about the meaning of the comment, it became clear that she was talking about the suicide death of a classmate.

But she didn’t feel comfortable saying that directly.

This is a problem, and we hope this column points out how a quiet crisis festers in our communities and helps identify solutions for Idaho to consider.

We each have lost a son to suicide, so we know the pain and anguish that survivor families, friends, and communities face, and that is why we are so passionate about change.

The effects of one suicide loss have cascading ripple effects across communities, and our education systems, public and private health systems, state and local agencies, and advocacy groups must respond to support all who are affected. This includes first and foremost our youth but also parents and guardians, faith leaders, first responders, healthcare professionals and others as the ripple reaches outward. In a world where loneliness is now a leading contributor to anxiety and depression among other serious social and personal factors, we must engage.

Nationally and in Idaho, there is a movement to reduce the stigma of suicide through awareness campaigns, 988 crisis lines and prevention training. Where there continues to be a gap is in the response to our youth in crisis after a loss and in preventative work in the school setting. In response to the recent reported loss of nine youth in Boise, West Ada, Elmore and Horseshoe Bend only a handful became public due to issues that stem from a culture of shame.

If schools and coroners will not identify a loss due to fear of old practices that obviously are not working, then there is no immediate outreach to the kiddos who are in crisis and navigating on their own. It is time to change this.

The brain is the most complicated organ in the human body and is the computer that drives the physical body through mitochondrial energy. But sadly it gets the least attention.

When energy and sleep are affected, the ability for the brain to function effectively is affected and has downstream physical consequences like diabetes, heart disease and yes, mental illnesses like bipolar, schizoaffective and anxiety. These pathways are interconnected. Clinically, we know disease treatment is possible, and we can treat mental health diseases (not disorders) on a path to recovery.

Legislative policies need to be enacted and embraced by the governor for increased funding for program implementation in every community and school in Idaho as well funding incentives to recruit clinicians and increase access to mental healthcare.

We live in a nation of crisis response to suicides and mental health issues. To right this ship, we as a community must ensure there is a focus on people, place and purpose to move from a crisis model of care to one of prevention, correct and immediate diagnosis, treatment, and recovery just as a patient experiencing a heart attack in the ER.

Idaho has moved the needle from where we were 15 years ago, but we still have a long way to go, especially with so much societal pressure and technological change — what some call HyperChange — that we face and will continue to face in a strange new world that will affect every human in the next several years.

As an example of youth engagement, after the loss of 17-year-old Cameron Wilder in 2013, a community youth event was held to empower and provide a message of hope and resilience by local and national speakers. This was well orchestrated but was fought by some in the very response ‘system’ at that time.

Over 300 youth and families attended and received an inspiring message on how to reach out to a trusted adult, knowing it’s OK to ask, “Are you OK?” and providing takeaways for hope and success.

Resources from mental health clinicians and suicide prevention advocacy groups were on site, including the Boise School District Superintendent. It was a bold move, but several concerned parents knew our kiddos were in trouble and there was no plan to address them. Schools were encouraged not to mention Cameron’s name on campus after his death — that is not the right way to address suicide.

The event was a success to connect with those young souls in such hurt at such a time of loss that crossed several school districts at all age levels. It’s the world our children live in. We must meet them there.

“Dad, today we learned (name) died by suicide, and we are hurting. We knew he was struggling and wish we knew what we could have done to prevent this.” A conversation like that would provide a better opening and real youth prevention resources could swoop in to help.