The annual suicide rate in the United States increased twenty four percent over the past fifteen years (1999 to 2014), from 10.5 to 13.0 suicides per 100,000 people, the highest rate recorded in twenty eight years, according to Wikipedia.
That’s why there are programs to help people that are thinking of suicide programs like Question Persuade Refer (QPR), a suicide prevention program meant for people that know someone contemplating suicide. Big Sky staff attended a QPR training on february 15th.
“The information you get only helps there’s no harm ,I think it’s really helpful for teachers and even people in general to know,” said teacher Justin Mikkola “It’s not too complicated, but effective information,” Mikkola adds.
Mikkola thought the presentation was helpful “It was a presentation about what it is and when to use it, you don’t need to be certified to do it. The knowledge and skills that you get from (QPR) training could save someone in that sort of situation.”
So this goes out to any person that reads this. The worst thing a person can do when they think their friend or family member is thinking about suicide it to say nothing at all or to take steps to help them. So when under those circumstances take those extra steps look in to programs like (QPR) and help that person in need.