American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, will host two presentations entitled "Talk Saves Lives." These presentations will feature speaker Joan Nye from the Montana Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Presentation, and a short film called "More than Sad: Teen Depression." Teens, parents, and interested adults can attend either program free of charge. Teen attendees will receive a certificate for $10 in fine amnesty at the Lewis & Clark Library.

The presentations will take place on Wednesday, July 19th at the Main Branch of the Lewis & Clark Library and repeat on Thursday, July 20th at the East Helena Branch of the Lewis & Clark Library. Both presentations are free and open to everyone.

"This is an important program because not only is suicide preventable, it is rapidly becoming the largest health issue facing our young people," explains Heather Dickerson, Lewis & Clark Library Teen Services Librarian. Suicide is a health issue that can happen in any family, school, company, and church without regard to economic, academic, and other successes in life.

In the United States, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death and for young Americans aged 10-44, suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death. Suicide takes more lives in the U.S. than homicide, war, and natural disasters combined. In 2014, which is the latest year for which we have data, 42,773 people died by suicide. Those statistics include ONLY the confirmed suicides.
For every completed suicide, there are 25 or more attempted suicides.

Suicide impacts everyone. For every completed suicide, over 100 people are affected by any suicide death. In addition to the emotionally devastating toll on families and communities, suicide costs the United States $51 billion in lost wages and productivity.

Montana always ranks among the top three states with the highest rates of suicide, yet suicide is preventable. Suicide prevention is everyone's business. Dickerson explains that participation in the Talk Saves Lives discussion is a good first step in learning "how to identify people who could be at risk for suicide, the factors (health, historical, environmental), and how to interact with someone when you sense a possible risk."

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) is the leading national not-for-profit organization exclusively dedicated to understanding and preventing suicide through research, education and advocacy, and to reaching out to people with mental disorders and those impacted by suicide.

Talk Saves Lives, an AFSP presentation, provides an introduction to suicide and its prevention, with helpful information for all. More than Sad: Teen Depression, an AFSP video developed after extensive research, provides four different examples of how depression can present in teens and an ideal response. Both programs will be presented free-of-charge on:

Wednesday, July 19
Lewis & Clark Library: Helena Branch
120 S. Last Chance Gulch
6 - 8 p.m. Large Meeting Room.

Thursday, July 20
Lewis & Clark Library
East Helena Branch
16 E. Main St.
3:30 - 5:30 p.m.

About our partners and presenters:

Joan Nye, AFSP Montana Chapter
Joan Nye holds her BA from University Washington and JD from Stanford University Law School. After practicing law in Washington DC, Seattle, and Billings, she (and attorney husband Jerry Nye) retired from law practice and moved to their small ranch in Stillwater County in 2000. In retirement Joan has volunteered nearly full-time with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), including but not limited to serving on the Board of AFSP Montana Chapter, teaching many suicide prevention classes (including Question Persuade Refer-QPR and safeTALK) and the AFSP power-point programs (TALK SAVES LIVES and MORE THAN SAD: TEEN DEPRESSION), chairing the annual Out of the Darkness Community Walk in Billings, and facilitating a support group for suicide loss survivors. She has been an active member of the Suicide Prevention Coalition of Yellowstone Valley since its inception. One can reach her for information, resources, suicide prevention trainings, and volunteer opportunities at joannye@iwks.net or 406-321-0591, or AFSP Montana Chapter's email address Montana@afsp.org.

East Helena Suicide Prevention and Awareness Coalition
Created in 2016, the East Helena Suicide Prevention and Awareness Coalition (EHSPAC) works to bring awareness and to rally the community in response to the crisis of suicides in our area. We are a group of local community members committed to suicide prevention, public awareness, education, and access to resources for anyone feeling hopeless. The EHSPAC seeks to be an advocate for action and a strong voice for change.

For more information on this program, log onto lclibrary.org or contact Teen Services Librarian, Heather Dickerson, at 447.1690 ext. 132 or hdickerson@lclibrary.org