September is Suicide Prevention Awareness month.
This is a great time to talk about a non-profit organization called Walk the Talk America.
This organization is at the forefront of mental health and firearm safety. According to the American Foundation fo Suicide Prevention, “on average there are 130 suicides per day” (AFSP, 2020).
Out of all suicides, two-thirds are firearm deaths.
Wyoming has the highest suicide rate in the nation, with a rate of 29.4 deaths per 100,000 residents compared to the national average of 14.5 deaths per 100,000 people. 65% of all Wyoming suicides had a firearm as the primary means.
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Walk the Talk America aspires to reduce firearm suicides and other negative incidents associated with firearm ownership. They are specifically trying to help those that live with mental illness, while also trying to bring knowledge and safety to those that are firearm owners. Their website offers free firearm cultural competency trainings, mental health flyers that are distributed to many firearm shops, along with 13 free and anonymous mental health screenings.
“1 in 5 U.S. adults experience a mental illness in any given year” (CDC, 2022). By accessing this resource, we can be more aware of our mental health and the relationship with firearms. Our goal is not to take firearms away, it is to educate everyone on safety practices and to reduce suicide.
Citations: Suicide and self-harm. Injury in Wyoming. (n.d.). Retrieved August 22, 2022, from https://sites.google.com/wyo.gov/wyinjurydata/suicide-and-self-harm
Suicide prevention. Wyoming Department of Health. (2022, July 19). Retrieved August 22, 2022, from https://health.wyo.gov/publichealth/prevention/wivpp/suicide-prevention/What we’ve learned. Walk The Talk America. (2022, June 2). Retrieved August 22, 2022, from https://walkthetalkamerica.org/what-we-learned/
For more information on these resources visit walkthetalkamerica.org.
If you have questions or would like to request additional information on prevention resources in Sweetwater County contact Shelby Gordon or Shae Bell at (307) 352-6677 or email sweetwatercoprevention@gmail.com.
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