The City of Edmonds is planning activities throughout September for Suicide Prevention Month.
A community panel on mental health and suicide prevention is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 23 at 7 p.m., with the goal of fostering discussion and encouraging mental health advocacy. Panelists will include members of the Edmonds School District, the Verdant Health Commission, the Edmonds Senior Center and the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention.
During the month, the city will also be promoting a citywide rock painting campaign with messages of hope and caring.
“It has been a challenging time for all of us and it’s important that we check in on our family, friends and neighbors and remind them how much they matter to us. We all can do our part to raise awareness about suicide and suicide prevention,” said Mayor Mike Nelson.
On Sept. 30, Wendy Burchill from the Snohomish Health District will present a free “Question, Persuade, Refer” suicide prevention training via Zoom.
The City of Edmonds has a webpage that provides updated information and links to all of the events.
Edmonds Mayor Mike Nelson and the Edmonds City Council proclaimed September as Suicide Prevention Month during the Sept. 7 council meeting. Following the proclamation, Snohomish Health District’s Wendy Burchill, gave a presentation on Suicide Prevention in Snohomish County.
Based on the statistics in the city’s homelessness study (population of Edmonds in different age brackets) and the national suicide demographics from the CDC, I was able to calculate what the typical suicide count in Edmonds would be in a year.
These numbers give 1 Edmonds woman, age 45-64, will commit suicide. Five Edmonds men (1 each in the age ranges 25-44, 65-74, and 75+ and one age 45-64) will commit suicide. The numbers in other age/gender groups round to zero. I didn’t find data to break things down any finer.
I thought this context would be interesting for Suicide Prevention Month.
Just so you know, if you go to the link in the article for edmond’s links and then click on the link for the presentation on the 23rd, it takes you to a Facebook page for last years event. there is no updated information. who will be on the panel this year?