Raymond Coalition for Youth promotes mental health awareness
Recognize, Connect! Frameworks Suicide Prevention Project
Coalition supports national campaign
October 12, 2007 6:00 AM
RAYMOND — The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI NH) has announced Mental Illness Awareness Week, Oct. 7 to 14 and the Frameworks Youth Suicide Prevention Anti-Stigma Campaign.
Developed by the National Alliance On Mental Illness (NAMI NH), the Frameworks Project, a national Best Practice Program for community-based suicide prevention, is being implemented in three regions of the state, with the Raymond Coalition For Youth (RCFY) facilitating local implementation.
The Frameworks Project promotes early recognition of mental illness, substance abuse, and other risk factors that may lead to suicide and teaches service providers and community members how to recognize the warning signs and connect individuals to help. Research shows that stigma, the shame and embarrassment that people who have a mental illness or are suicidal feel, plays a large part in people being reluctant to seek help for mental health problems.
With support from the Endowment For Health, the Frameworks Project has been working to reduce stigma associated with mental health and to improve access to health care. RCFY has assisted the project in developing three anti-stigma messages to encourage community members to talk about mental health problems and to seek help for these problems. The University of New Hampshire Center On Adolescence has also assisted with the development of the messages and is evaluating their effectiveness.
As part of Mental Illness Awareness Week, these messages are being distributed throughout the community in the form of posters and bookmarks. The messages are also imbedded in the suicide prevention training sessions taking place in Raymond.
The three messages are:
Everyone plays a part in suicide prevention. Recognize the warning signs and connect youth to help.
The 360 adult community members in Raymond who have been trained thus far in the Frameworks model reported significantly increased confidence and competence in knowing how to recognize and respond to a youth at risk and what resources to access for help. They also showed improved attitudes about the importance of seeking help and getting mental health treatment for people at risk for suicide.
Sometimes life can be tough. It's OK to ask for help. If you or someone you know needs help, don't go it alone.
Research shows that youth often tell their friends first when they are contemplating suicide. This coming year, Raymond High School students, grades 9-12, with parental consent, will be offered a training that will teach them how to recognize someone at risk and encourage them to seek help from adults when they are concerned about someone.
Prevent youth suicide. Recognize warning signs and connect youth to help. Reach out and connect with someone who knows how to help.
Community members are invited and encouraged to attend this free training so they can recognize the risk factors and warning signs and connect the person at risk to help. While the training focuses on youth suicide, the skills learned apply to all ages.
To register for the next free youth suicide prevention training or to obtain free anti-stigma posters and bookmarks, please contact Celeste Clark, RCFY Coordinator, at #895-4735, x. 125 or at cclark@rcfy.org.
There will be condensed version of this program offered at the next Parenting Series, Oct. 23. The topic is Youth at Risk. Learn the risk factors and warning signs of youth at risk of suicide from 6:15 to 7:30 p.m. For more details visit www.rcfy.org.
