DMH launches youth suicide prevention campaign
The Mississippi Department of Mental Health is launching a statewide youth suicide prevention campaign entitled, Shatter the Silence – Suicide, The Secret You Shouldn’t Keep.
The campaign targets young adults in Mississippi. The campaign encourages youth to speak out if they or someone they know is thinking, writing or talking about suicide. DMH has created brochures and posters that will be distributed statewide beginning September 1. The campaign is in conjunction with National Suicide Prevention Week, September 7–13.
Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death in Mississippi for young people ages 15 to 24. The MS High School Survey for the Youth Risk Behavior (2007) reported that 13.4% of students seriously considered suicide in the past 12 months and 10.6% of students made a plan about how they would commit suicide in the past 12 months.
“One of the keys to a successful mental health system in Mississippi lies in prevention with young adults,” said Ed LeGrand, DMH Executive Director. “We’ve got to focus on prevention activities because if we don’t get to the kids, their families, schools, and communities by facilitating positive peer group interaction and sending a strong message about youth suicide then we really are not doing a whole lot.”
In addition to educational materials, DMH will air radio and television commercial and newspaper ads during September. Funding for this project was made available through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Hurricane-Katrina Related Youth Suicide Prevention Grants.
DMH’s Hurricane Katrina Youth Suicide Prevention Project was funded in 2006 for three years to target those youth along the Gulf Coast who may experience symptoms of depression as a result of their displacement and/or loss of loved ones during the storm. As a result of the grant, the MS Youth Suicide Prevention Council was formed and over 200 trainings on evidenced-based practices have been conducted across the state. The prevention kits and training include the Yellow Ribbon, Signs of Suicide (SOS), and the Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST).

