Suicide prevention education heightened during holidays

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KADENA AIR BASE, Japan (AFPN) --  The holiday season and thoughts of family and friends can bring joy and happiness to servicemembers stationed around the world. For some though, those same thoughts can lead to depression and thoughts of suicide.

"I feel like there's no hope," said Tech. Sergeant Jason Sharp, a suicide briefer at Kadena AB's Life Skills, acting out depressed feelings in a mock counseling session. During the holidays, possible suicide cases are looked at more closely.

The correlation between the holidays and suicide has been a concern for years, said Maj. Samantha Timm, a clinical psychologist with Kadena AB's Life Skills. It really has to do with holiday blues.

"There's the issue of being away from family at a time of year when most of us expect and plan to spend time with our family," said Major Timm.

Suicide prevention doesn't begin at life skills, but with every servicemember. The first step is to directly ask someone if they're suicidal, said Major Timm. Chances are, they've already expressed feelings of hurting themselves in one form or another.

"They tell someone they're thinking of suicide," Major Timm said. "Also, about half of the individuals actually show signs of depression prior to committing suicide. So, if as wingmen we're looking for these things and listening, we can do something to intervene and help the individual."

Depressed people may try to give away valuable possessions and say things like, "I'm not going to need these where I'm going." They may just suddenly stop caring about things they normally showed a lot of interest in, such as a favorite sport or team. Another sign of depression is someone showing a lowered productivity at work.

"Statistics show for every suicide, there are at least six people intimately affected," Major Timm said. "In a close-knit military community, that number increases and the mission begins to fail."

There's help available before things get to be too much to handle. Your local life skills or mental health counselors are available to listen to you and guide you in the right
direction.

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