suicide – Missouri House of Representatives Newsroom

Four Year Effort to Stem Veteran Suicide Reaches Governor’s Desk

An effort to decrease the incidence of suicide in Missouri especially among veterans, one that has long been a top priority for one House member, is at last on the governor’s desk.

*Representative Dave Griffith (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)*

The legislature approved two bills containing Jefferson City Representative Dave Griffith’s (R) plan, one he has proposed for four years. If signed by Governor Mike Parson (R), it require the Missouri Veterans Commission to come up with recommendations on how veteran suicide can be prevented; and to report annually on new recommendations and on the implementation and effectiveness of state efforts.

The standalone version of his bill never received a “no” vote at any step of this year’s legislative process.

In Missouri suicide occurs among the veteran population nearly twice as often as in the rest of the population. Griffith said this effort is all about reducing that rate, ideally to nothing.

“We’re talking about reducing the number of men and women that are killing themselves because of issues they had when they were in the service. To take it even one step further is to be able to go back to when they were in the service and when they came back from the combat zone. When they came back from Afghanistan or came back from Iraq, came back from Somalia or wherever they were, to have an after action sit down with them and say, ‘What happened with you. What did you see, what did you smell, what did you experience while you were there and how’s that impacting you?’

“It takes a while and it takes a relationship with somebody to be able to really get to the core answer that you’re looking for, but that’s where it’s got to begin. It’s got to begin freshly after they come back.”

*Those in need of help, dial 988. Veterans, dial 988 then press 1.*

An already personal quest becomes more personal

Griffith, a U.S. Army veteran, has made veterans’ issues his top priority throughout his time in the House. In dealing with this issue, he has talked to people who have survived suicide and to families of those who have died by suicide. Then last year, one of his close friends died by suicide.

Ever since, he has kept on his Capitol office desk the last letter that friend sent him.

Griffith told this House Communications staffer, “When it happens to [someone you know], you look through a different lens than you ever have before. Somebody you knew, somebody you sat as close as we’re sitting today and talking and had a conversation with, you shared a beer over it and you’re talking about your time in the service or what you did, and then two weeks later they take their own life, and you’re sitting there thinking, ‘I didn’t have a clue.’”

The functional effect of the legislation

A chief function of Griffith’s legislation is to make sure that the data that is gathered about veterans suicide, of which there is a great deal, is compiled and made available to those concerned with the issue.

“We have hearings and we have meetings and we collect data and we collect information, but, where does it go? What do we do with it?” Griffith said. “That next step needs to be taken where we’re getting information out to the American Legion, the VFW, the Marine Corps League, the DAV, we’re getting information out to those organizations where they can start helping those veterans.”

He wants to ensure that that information is being utilized as effectively as possible to improve efforts including outreach, treatment, and even identifying those at risk of suicidal ideation.

“There’s some things you can look at. Your MOS, your military operating service, what you did; how many times you were deployed; where were you deployed; how many times were you in combat; how many times did you receive fire, you felt your life was in danger; where are you from; how old are you? I think there’s some data that … these are things that we need to look for,” Griffith said. “We also need to take into consideration that somebody [who takes their own life] may not have ever been in combat. They may have just been in-theater … just in the surroundings of it, just being in a place where you hear bombs going off, when your building is shook by incoming mortars.”

Griffith is pleased to note that the Veterans Commission has already started implementing some of what the bill requires.

The goal: to help all who need it

Even though the focus of his bill is on veteran suicide, his concern is for suicide and related mental health issues throughout the population.

“When I began this journey four years ago … my hope was, is, that this would be a springboard to conversations outside the veteran community, outside the military community, to one that is really in the civilian population as well.”

He has talked numerous times in the past four years about tragedies that play out too often. Prominent for him is the story of one child from near his district who died by suicide in recent years.

“When you get down to a nine year old in Eugene, Missouri, because he’s being bullied in school, we’ve got a crisis on our hands. They’re taking their lives because they feel like that’s the only thing that’s going to end the pain that they’ve got. The more that we can talk about that pain, the more that we can have teachers that are in schools, counselors that are in schools that are with those kids all the time, a teacher that can see change in one of their students from this jovial, happy go lucky kid that comes in that all of a sudden is very reserved and withdrawn and something’s going on, somewhere along the way a conversation needs to happen with that child. Somebody needs to, whether it’s a teacher or a counselor, or if a teacher calls and talks with their parents, I think we all have to own that to a certain extent.

“My hope was when I filed this bill, we would begin that conversation in the whole community and not just the veteran community.”

Perspective born of experience

Asked whether he wishes a similar focus on mental health had been in place when he was in the military, Griffith thought back to his time in the 8^th Special Forces Group as a Green Beret. Many of the missions he participated in during his service in Vietnam were classified, and that limited how much he could talk to anyone about what he experienced.

“It never really came out as to how did that affect us? What effect did that have on us? It was just really all mission-oriented. At the time, and even now, I understand, because that was what we were there for, was the mission. But, the after-effects, the human side of it, I think so often were not taken into account,” Griffith said.

Especially with the Vietnam War, he said, conflicts awaited soldiers when they returned home.

“People you went to high school with, even inside your own family. My brother protested against the War in Vietnam, and it hurt me. It hurt me terribly, but being able to vocalize a lot of what was going on internally just was not done. Would [my legislation] have helped? Maybe.”

Griffith said he has dealt with his pain by compartmentalizing.

“I can put it in a box and I can close that box up. Occasionally that box opens and I can share some of what’s in there, but most of the time that box stays closed. Not all my friends, not all my brothers can do that. Their box is open all the time and they’re living with that every day, and the nightmares they have and the night sweats they have, and the way they live their life is based on something that happened to them many, many, many years ago. Trying to get some answers to a lot of those questions is something that is a never ending battle but one that we cannot give up on.”

The message this legislation sends

Aside from the functional effects of his legislation, Griffith said the fact that he proposed it and the fact that it has consistently received unanimous support send a message to veterans. He wants them to know that they are valued.

“To the Vietnam veterans I want to say welcome home … you are back home and you are welcome and what you did was not wrong. What you did was in service to your country. For those that experienced trauma in battle, you’ve got to find somebody you can visit with. Somebody you can sit down and talk to. The person you need to sit down and talk to is another veteran.”

For those who care about veterans and others dealing with mental health, Griffith has heard time and time again from experts that societal stigmas are the a large part of what must be overcome. Those struggling are worried about what will happen to them if they seek help.

“Where the tide is going to start to turn is going to be when we start having open conversations. When we don’t fear that we’re going to lose our jobs, we don’t fear that we’re going to be kicked out of the military, we don’t fear that our family’s going to divorce us and get rid of us because we’re flawed in so many ways that try to cover that up with the mask that we wear, that we’re okay. Once we can take off that mask, once we can unveil what’s beneath the surface and we can start to talk about the issues that really are nagging at us every day and what’s causing us not to sleep.”

“We’ve all got mental health issues in some way, shape, or form. We’re not perfect, we’re flawed, but being able to open yourself up and be vulnerable, that’s the hardest thing for somebody to do. Especially a lot or men. A lot of men, who consider themselves to be very macho and strong and all that, for them to show their inner vulnerability to someone is just hard to do.”

*Representatives and veterans Mike Haffner and Dave Griffith (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)*

Most Missourians likely know someone who is struggling with mental health issues, even if they don’t know it. Griffith hopes that though efforts like this legislation, more people will look into what they can do for themselves or for someone else.

“The most important thing that you can do, whether you’re a veteran or whether you’re not, if you encounter someone that is having a crisis or has got suicide ideation, or is feeling that way, the best thing for you to do is not give them advice, but to give them an ear, to sit and listen, and then to tell them, ‘I’m not qualified to really help you through this crisis but I know somebody that is, and I know where you can get that help,’ and if you need to, sit right there with them and dial 988 and put them on the phone.”

Griffith’s proposal reached the governor’s desk as a standalone bill in House Bill 1495, and as part of Senate Bill 912. The governor can choose to sign either or both bills into law, veto them, or allow them to become law without taking action. Griffith anticipates he will sign his proposal into law.

Dispatchers ask for help dealing with PTSD, seek ‘first responder’ designation

The state’s 911 dispatchers are urging lawmakers to add them to the state’s legal definition of “first responders,” before the legislative session ends. Some of them visited the Capitol to share personal stories illustrating why they need the help in dealing with post-traumatic stress that comes with that designation.

*Representative Chad Perkins (R-Bowling Green) is among the legislators who has carried legislation aimed at extending mental health services to dispatchers.* *(Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)*

First responders – which state statute currently defines as firefighters, law enforcement personnel, and emergency medical personnel – are afforded mental health resources, and several legislators say those should also be available to dispatchers.

Representative Lane Roberts (R-Joplin) has been Joplin’s Police Chief and the state’s Director of Public Safety, among other things in his career of more than 40 years. Throughout all of that time he worked with dispatchers and even worked as one at times.

“We have always underappreciated these folks. They’re kind of out of sight, out of mind. They work in a windowless environment, but they are the first of the first responders. They’re the gateway to public safety,” said Roberts. “Every time they get an emergency call they get an adrenaline dump just like people who work in the field do. The difference is, the people in the field get to go somewhere, take action, use those chemicals, while the dispatcher will simply move on to the next call, take those chemicals home at night and go to sleep with them and suffer the health consequences.”

Independence representative Robert Sauls (D) was a prosecutor in Jackson County and a public defender.

“As a former prosecutor I would regularly listen to 911 calls and what happens in those circumstances and … often times people are contacting 911 operators on their worst day. Something’s happening, they’re scared, it’s a very stressful situation, and all of these 911 operators are under these stressful environments and the thing of it is, you’ve got to go on to the next one. You’ve gotten your one situation settled, you hang up the phone, and you’ve got another one. I think it’s very important to recognize these people as first responders.”

Polk County 911 Director Sarah Newell said what she and her colleagues do is often dismissed as just answering phones or clerical work.

“It’s not. We are the first point, so how that call goes is dependent on that dispatcher. How fast that call gets put out, what information gets put out, resource allocation and knowing and forward thinking to say, ‘they’re probably going to need an ambulance on standby so let’s go ahead and roll one of those,’ so all things that they have to think about out of the box at any given time.”

J.R. Webb, the Assistant Director of Springfield/Green County 911, said dispatchers, “have to be able to do a lot of things at once. They have to be able to take that phone call, at the same time they’re typing that information into a computer, at the same time that they may be dealing with first responders on the radio. The multitasking is incredible in a busy situation, and it takes a special kind of person to be able to do that. It takes a kind of type ‘A,’ take charge personality to succeed at our job and it’s not meant for everybody.”

The Chair of the State 911 Board of Governance, Alan Wells, said “Post-traumatic stress is a big, big thing for our 911 telecommunicators, and as of right now they do not have a lot of resources there to help with that.”

“Turnover is a big problem, burnout is a big problem that affects this industry, so we hope to be able to give them all the benefits necessary to sustain a good, long-lasting career,” said Wells.

*Representative Robert Sauls also carries legislation intended to include dispatchers in the state’s legal definition of “first responders.” (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)*

He said it’s not uncommon for dispatchers, especially in the smaller communities throughout Missouri, to know personally the people involved in the incidents they are handling.

“Sometimes it can be very horrifying for those operators,” said Wells. “It may be a loved one, a family member, an immediate family member, or in our case it was one of our own 911 call takers who had just left his shift, headed home on his motorcycle and hit a deer and it was a fatality. The same operators that were just working with him had to take that call and work that incident.”

Hailey Brunner is in her fourth year as a dispatcher at the Cass Co Sheriff’s Office. She remembered one week in which her rotation, “worked seven fatalities, whether it be between an accident, people harming themselves, anything of that nature, natural deaths, anything, and it’s just a wide variety, whether it’s young kids to old kids. My most recent one was a two year-old who died in a fatality car accident.”

Blake Johnson has been dispatching for five years in Green County. He said there is one call he’ll always remember.

“I had taken a call from a family who had lost a child and I can still hear the mom screaming for her kid. It’s absolutely horrible and it makes it worse when you actually know who those people are.”

Newell said, “I have a dispatcher who actually worked a motor vehicle accident. It was a rollover with ejection. There were four juveniles in the vehicle. She took the call and … right before she was ready to dispatch, she realized it was her son in the vehicle.”

Brunner said dispatchers can’t help but imagine the scenes that they are hearing play out over the phone, and that can result in very vivid and very upsetting imagery.

“You’re hearing all of this stuff that’s going on, on the phone. You’re hearing the screams and … they’re painting a picture for you, so you have this picture in your mind of what it looks like and it could be completely the opposite of what they actually see on the scene. It could be better, it could be worse. We never quite know.”

Webb said worse still, dispatchers often get no closure at the end of a call.

“You’re sending folks to help these people that are yelling and screaming at you and in their worst day, then you don’t really know for sure when the other first responders go there, and how this call turned out,” said Webb.

*Representative Lane Roberts (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)*

He said an increasing number of suicides in Missouri also directly impacts dispatchers.

“It could be someone, honestly, wanting an audience while they commit suicide. That happens way too much.”

Some call centers, like that at Springfield, have mental health resources that are made available to dispatchers there and in surrounding communities. Such resources aren’t available to all dispatchers in Missouri, though, especially in many smaller communities.

Several bills would address PTSD and mental health resources for dispatchers and other first responders. These dispatchers and lawmakers are among those who hope at least one of those bills is passed before the session’s end on May 12.

House votes to increase state efforts against veteran suicide

The House has voted to improve the state’s efforts to prevent suicide among its veteran population.

Representatives voted 156-0 for House Bill 132, which directs the Missouri Veterans Commission to work with the Department of Mental Health to come up with recommendations on how Missouri can prevent veteran suicide. It would require the Commission to report annually, beginning June 30, 2024, on new recommendations and on the implementation and effectiveness of the state’s efforts.

The bill is sponsored by Jefferson City Republican Dave Griffith, a U.S. Army Veteran who served with the 8^th Special Forces Group as a Green Beret. He has spent much of his career in the House dealing with veterans’ issues, and with ways to stem suicide not only among current and former service members but in the population in general.

“Many of you know, I’m very passionate about this. I can tell you of friends that I’ve lost in the last month – veterans that have committed suicide. A young man that was 27 years old, that grew up across the street from me took his own life. This has got to stop,” said Griffith.

Griffith speaks often of the social media campaign #22, and his personal goal of decreasing or eliminating what that number represents.

“#22 stands for the number of veterans that commit suicide every day … If we can start to look at programs and we can look at procedures that can be done and best practices that are being done by not only our state but throughout the entire United States, we can start making a difference in this, but we need to do more than just talk. We need to do research. We need to look at non-traditional methods of treating [post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury] and veteran suicide.”

*Representative Ashley Bland Manlove (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)*

Though he and others in the legislature and state government have been talking about these issues for years and developing related programs, Griffith said Missouri has a long way to go. Representative Ashley Bland Manlove (D-Kansas City), who has served in the Missouri National Guard, agreed.

“For a lot of people these conversations about mental health are brand new … so a lot of people are still like, ‘When I was in the military we just had to grunt through it, and talking about your emotions made you weak,’ but what we have found out is that that’s not true.”

“I think the biggest population that we should be talking about is the one percent of American population that raises their right hand for this country,” continued Bland Manlove. “The best way that we can thank our veterans for their dedication and work to this country is by taking care of them.”

Rogersville Republican Darin Chappell (R) has a great deal of experience with the issues faced by military members and their families, as he is a veteran of the Navy and the Army Reserves and has many service members in his family.

“I have long believed, and have advocated for, the philosophy: ‘If we send them we have to mend them, and we have to bring them all the way home.’ It’s time for us to do all that we can to make sure that occurs.”

Before casting their votes for the measure, legislators reflected about their own personal experiences. St. Clair Republican Brad Banderman solemnly told his colleagues, “About two years ago my little sister laid down on the grave of my older brother that shot himself in 1990 and killed herself. Anything that we can do as a legislature, as a body, as individuals, to help prevent the suicide of our veterans, I’m in full support of.”

*Representative Brad Banderman (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)*

Missouri as of 2020 had the 14^th highest suicide rate in the U.S., with about 1,125 people having died by suicide in that year. The rate among veterans is approximately 1.5 higher than in the rest of the population, and experts are telling legislators they fear that suicide rates are going to increase.

“I think we need to do better and I think this is a good start,” said Representative Robert Sauls (D-Independence).

The same bill passed out of the House last year but did not come to a final vote in the Senate.

Anyone in need of help for themselves or someone else for a mental health, substance abuse, or suicide crisis is encouraged to call 988.

‘The Art of Being Me’ tackles mental health stigmas in the Missouri Capitol

Those visiting the Capitol this week will see photos and stories from nearly 30 people living with mental health conditions. Participants in The Art of Being Me hope to inspire others to share their stories, to seek help, and to reduce stigmas surrounding mental health issues.

*The Art of Being Me on display in the Missouri Capitol (Photo: Mike Lear, Missouri House Communications)*

The exhibit, mostly found in the Capitol’s third floor Rotunda, features large portraits of each participant next to the text of a portion of their experience. There is also a video that features 3-5 minutes of each participant.

The project is a collaboration between the Burrell Foundation and artist Randy Bacon. Burrell Foundation Executive Director Gabrielle Martin said it began with 22 volunteers and is now up to 27, talking about, “their very raw, very real experiences with mental health, substance use, sometimes suicide; it kind of runs the gamut.”

“I think our youngest is 9 years old and it goes all the way up to a gentleman named Joe who’s in his mid-70s. Every mental health diagnosis, every ethnicity; we wanted it so that anyone who comes in to experience the exhibit will be able to identify with someone or an experience with someone. Maybe it’s not their own mental health journey but someone that they’re supporting or someone that they know.”

The exhibit includes stories like those of Alia, a friend of Martin. She shares not only her own story which began in her youth, but that of supporting her college-age son.

“Her video is really powerful because she actually brought her son with her to it and so you see her sharing all of this really difficult content, and her struggles, and her coping mechanisms through it, with him, and he’s right there with her,” said Martin. “We have some very great youths in there as well. Lincoln and Eli, two boys that share their experience with anxiety, and I believe that one of them does have autism, and we have a young lady, Kate, who shares about her struggle with eating disorders and she is on the recovery side of that … and her video is so powerful.”

*Eli, one of the subjects of The Art of Being Me, on display now in the Missouri Capitol (Photo: Mike Lear, Missouri House Communications)*

The Art of Being Me came to the Capitol after several legislators and other elected officials saw it last year at Bacon’s studio in Springfield. After seeing it, some of them requested that it come to the Capitol.

That included Representative John Black (R-Marshfield), who chairs the House’s budget subcommittee on Health, Mental Health, and Social Services. He called the exhibit, “powerful.”

“It’s encouraging, too. Inspirational, actually. A lot of those people have powerful testimonies, how they’ve overcome mental illness to lead productive lives. The fact is, and it’s becoming more and more apparent to everyone, that mental illness is a root cause of many of our societal problems, specifically drug abuse and homelessness. If we can address the mental illness issues then we have a lot better chance of helping people return to [being] productive and happy.”

Another of those legislators is Representative Betsy Fogle (D-Springfield), who said a large part of addressing mental health issues in state policy is removing stigmas surrounding them, and she hopes having that display in the Capitol will help do just that.

“It was beautiful. You had children up to people in their 60s, 70s, and 80s that shared their struggle,” Fogle said of the exhibit. I don’t know a single family in the world that hasn’t been impacted by mental health or substance abuse disorder and it’s about time we start talking about it and doing something in this building to make sure that future families don’t have the same struggles.”

Those featured in The Art of Being Me are at varying points in their own mental health journeys, but Martin said the fact that they were willing to share their own stories is empowering for them as well.

“These individuals were brave and vulnerable enough to share and to talk about their struggles and maybe it is a triumph, maybe it is a continued struggle, maybe it’s talking about their experience with finding therapy and finding ways to cope with maybe a situation that they will live with forever.”

“These photos are not touched up. You can see every pore, every hair, every tear, and we did that intentionally, and the size is intentional, so that when you’re there you’re truly feeling like you are looking through the eyes of these individuals and feeling what they’re feeling.”

Martin adds, “We’re so excited that it’s going to be [in the Capitol] through the 10^th, and we hope that it inspires others and we hope that people want to come forward and share their stories and continue the conversations that we so desperately need to continue sharing and seeking help for.”

House efforts target suicide especially among veterans

One House member continues his push to reduce suicide in Missouri, particularly among the state’s veterans.

Representative Dave Griffith (R-Jefferson City) has made veterans’ issues a priority throughout his five years in the House, and now chairs the chamber’s Veterans Committee. Over the summer he also chaired an interim committee on Veterans’ Mental Health and Suicide.

Griffith said one of the most important things that committee learned is that in Missouri the 988 Suicide and Crisis Hotline is not fully funded.

“The recommendation we had out of the committee was that $27-million be added to the budget to enhance and to continue the 988 program. 988 is one of the most effective tools because just in the first six months that that was used, it was used over 200-thousand times. They’re estimating that in the first year it’s going to be used over 1-million times,” said Griffith.

Griffith is again this year sponsoring legislation to give guidance to the Missouri Veterans Commission about how to use the data it collects on veteran suicides, as well as to require it to report annually to the legislature on that data and what it’s doing to reduce the number of those incidents.

“Where we rank in this in the entire country is not good,” Griffith told the House Committee on Health and Mental Health Policy, saying Missouri is around fourth or fifth among the states with the most veteran suicides.

He added that even though his proposal, which this year is House Bill 132, didn’t pass in 2022, the Commission is already doing much of what it would require.

“Their heart’s in the right place and I can tell you that they get it and they’re dealing with it.”

Griffith said his aim is not just to increase awareness about mental health and suicide in the military and veteran communities but among the population as a whole.

“Two and a half years ago we had a nine year old down in Eugene, Missouri that committed suicide because he was being bullied at school. If it can happen at that age it can happen at any age.”

This week Griffith presented HB 132 to Veterans Committee and presented the report from his interim panel to the Committee on Health and Mental Health Policy, showing that the issue is again his top priority as the 2023 session gets underway. He spent much of both presentations speaking about the 988 hotline because of the importance of listening to those considering suicide, whether it be when they call the hotline or in other settings.

“For someone that has suicide ideation, for them to be able to step forward and say, ‘I need some help,’ that’s one of the hardest things for them to do. When they do they need to have someone that’s going to be able to sit there and to listen to them and hear what they’ve got to say.”

He said one thing discussed at a recent symposium on suicide in the military community that resonated with him is a question that was put to commanders: “Do you really know your personnel?” He said the same could be asked of managers in the private sector.

“In order for us to be able to make a difference they’ve got to be able to know and be able to identify and recognize when there’s something going on in [their subordinates’] lives,” said Griffith. “What my hope was, is we can take that same model and we can bring that into the private sector. We’ve got companies like Scholastic and we’ve got Hitachi, we’ve got Westinghouse, large companies across the State of Missouri and each one of them have got supervisors. If we can train those supervisors and we can get people that have got the aptitude and really the forthrightness to be able to do something like that, it’s something that I hope we can learn from our military background and military friends.”

Griffith’s proposal passed out of the House unanimously last year but didn’t reach Governor Parson. The Veterans Committee will likely vote on it soon.

House measure aims to boost suicide awareness and prevention, promote 988 Crisis Lifeline

The Missouri House has taken time in the waning days of the session to pass a bipartisan effort to address suicide awareness and prevention.

*Representative Ann Kelley (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)*

It sent to the Senate House Bill 2136, the “Jason Flatt/Avery Reine Cantor Act,” which would require public schools, charter schools, and public higher education institutions that print pupil identification cards to print on those cards the new three-digit number for the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, 988.

“988 is going to be our new mental health suicide hotline beginning in July, so this is going to encourage school districts to get that out there to the public so that we can start using that,” explained the bill’s sponsor, Representative Ann Kelley (R-Lamar).

The bill also contains provisions meant to equip and encourage pharmacists to identify possible signs of suicide and respond to them. This includes the “Tricia Leanne Tharp Act,” sponsored by Representative Adam Schwadron (R-St. Charles).

“This would allow the Board of Pharmacy to create two continuing education credit hours for pharmacists to take, to allow them to apply that to their continuing education credits in suicide awareness and prevention,” said Schwadron.

The bill was amended to make sure all pharmacists can participate in that continuing education, regardless of where they work. That change was offered by Representative Patty Lewis (D-Kansas City), who said, “All licensed pharmacists, whether they work inside the four walls of the hospital in an acute care setting or in retail pharmacy [would] have the opportunity to participate in the continuing education to address suicide prevention because there’s such a great need.”

Bolivar representative Mike Stephens (R) is a pharmacist, and said he and others in that profession are well-positioned to be able to identify and work to prevent suicide.

*Representative Patty Lewis (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)*

“I think it’s an important thing for pharmacists at every place along the way to be informed and be a part of this process, be aware. I know in my own personal practice you have intimate contact with patients and you see them during their treatments and there are times that you feel like things aren’t as they ought to be but [you’re] not sure what sort of interventions are appropriate. I think this will be very helpful,” said Stephens.

Similar language will allow teachers and principals to count two hours in suicide-related training toward their continuing education.

The bill advanced to the Senate 142-0 after several members spoke about their own experiences regarding suicide.

Festus Republican Cyndi Buchheit-Courtway told her colleagues that every seven hours someone commits suicide in Missouri. It’s the tenth leading cause of death in the state and the second leading cause among those aged 10 to 34.

“When you think about age 10 all the way up to 34 this is covering all of our children in schools and college when they first get out of school and they’re finding their first jobs or meeting someone and becoming a family, and I think that anything that we can do to bring awareness to this issue is just incredible,” said Buchheit-Courtway. “Mental health awareness is so important to so many of us here.”

Representative Dave Griffith (R-Jefferson City) said he knows of a 14 year-old who committed suicide two months ago, just south of the capital city.

*Representative Adam Schwadron (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)*

“He did it because he was being bullied in school and he felt there was no other way out and he couldn’t talk about it. It became very obvious to that community the need for us to be able to talk and have some kind of tools in our hands to be able to prevent these types of tragic events,” said Griffith. “The suicide prevention hotline number, I believe every school will put it on their cards. There’s no reason for them not to do that.”

Representative Rasheen Aldridge, Junior (D-St. Louis) told the body, “One of my good friends in high school, best friend … who is also between that age that the lady talked about, only in 10^th grade, committed suicide … it takes a toll on loved ones, it takes a toll on friends, it takes a toll on people that love that individual and all individuals that have committed suicide.”

The legislation stems partly from the work of the Subcommittee on Mental Health Policy Research, of which Lewis is a member and Buchheit-Courtway is the chairwoman.

The school-related provisions of the bill would take effect in the 2023-24 school year.

House pushes mental health awareness after death of members’ family friend

The sponsor of mental health legislation said that issue hit close to home for her on the day her bill came to the House floor.

Representative Chrissy Sommer (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

St. Charles Republican Chrissy Sommer said that during her drive to the Capitol on Monday she received the tragic news that the mother of her daughter’s best friend had committed suicide.

“You may have noticed I’m a little shaky and nervous, and the reason is because on my way here today I found out that a friend of mind committed suicide, and I’ve been thinking about her a lot,” said Sommer. “It really struck me that this [bill] was pulled up today … because it can affect everyone.”

The House gave initial approval to House Bill 108, which would have Missouri join the federal government in making May “Mental Health Awareness Month,” and in making July “Minority Mental Health Awareness Month.”

“I’m thinking of her and I’m doing this in her honor, and I hope that we will pass it … I don’t mean to get emotional … but I hope that we will pass this not only in her honor but in the honor of everyone who has lost someone to suicide,” said Sommer.

Sommer said untreated mental health contribute to things like unemployment, disability, homelessness, incarceration, substance abuse, and suicide.

“Early identification and treatment of mental illnesses have proven to be vital to any recovery process. Stigma association with mental illness prevents many individuals from seeking the necessary treatment,” said Sommer.

The House heard that there are particular stigmas and disparities within minority communities regarding mental health.

St. Louis Democrat Bruce Franks, who speaks openly about numerous traumas in his life including seeing his brother fatally shot when they were both children, said he has contemplated suicide in the past. He said there is a stigma in the African American community about getting help and what “mental health” is.”

Representative Bruce Franks (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

“I talk on the floor about the funerals I’ve gone through and some of the things that I’ve seen, and even a couple of my Republican colleague friends on the other side have been to my district to see some of these traumatic things, so just imagine when folks are going through this each and every day and it plays on you mentally and you never get the help that you need because the people in your community and society sees this as a stigma,” said Franks.

Franks said the legislation is “very important, and it’s not just about an awareness month. It’s about education and empowering people to let them know it’s okay to not be okay but it’s okay to seek help.”

Jefferson City Republican Dave Griffith said he hopes raising awareness will cause more struggling veterans to get help.

“Many of you may not have heard ‘hashtag-22.’ Hashtag-22 stands for the 22 veterans that commit suicide every day. It is for real. These men and women are suffering from PTSD and from many other mental illnesses and having a day or a month that we can recognize them is something that I stand for,” said Griffith.

“The perception of mental illness won’t change unless we act on it, and one way to do this is for us in Missouri to enact the Mental Health Awareness Month,” said Sommer.

With the House’s action on Monday, one more favorable vote would send HB 108 to the Senate.