LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness month. Suicide is now among the leading causes of death in the U.S. It can be a difficult topic to talk about but doing so saves lives.
The Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign lit up purple this month to help bring awareness and foster conversation. In Summerlin, a new treatment center offering new medical procedures to combat suicidal thoughts also just opened.
“In Nevada, suicide is the second leading cause of death for people between the ages of 15-34… We are seeing a lot of that age demographic really feeling like suicide is their only option and acting on that,” said Tricia Pease, COO for Serenity Mental Health Centers. The CDC estimates 46,000 people committed suicide in 2020,12.2 million people had suicidal thoughts.
“In our current culture of social media and work from home, it can really be easy for people to forget to take care of their mental health by engaging with people they care about and getting out,” explained Pease.
Serenity Mental Health just opened a new clinic in Summerlin that specializes in outpatient treatment. There is treatment for depression and anxiety, medications and talk therapy, but also there are new options in the mental health field. Two new treatments are offered at Serenity for those who have not had success with traditional treatments.
“Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) which is a modification on the MRI magnet, actually allows our staff to interact with the neuropathways in the brain and work on the process of those neuropathways so that they are functioning correctly,” Pease stated.
They also offer ketamine infusions.
“Ketamine is very fast acting and can actually take suicidal thoughts away within a few hours. We have seen patients come in and they are suicidal, and they are able to get ketamine infusions and within a few hours they are able to go home and go on with their lives and get a treatment plan to help them stabilize,” Pease shared.
If you think someone you know is suicidal let them know there is help.
“Hope is a leading indicator of how people are doing with their mental health… Finding out if people have hope for the future, talking to them about plans for the next week or the next month is a really great way to start the conversation,” Pease contended.
Also watch for people who are struggling with eating, either too little or too much, struggling with their sleep or withdrawing from the people who they care about.
This summer, a national emergency number specifically for suicide prevention was launched. That number: 988. It’s like 911 but for mental health emergencies. It can be called by anyone, at any time.
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