By Mondell Keck | The Brookings Register
BROOKINGS — In 2024, 198 people killed themselves in South Dakota.
It’s a grim toll provided by the state health department, but it’s a number that suicide prevention efforts — along with you, dear reader — can help bring down.
Doing so locally is taking form via the “Stronger Together: Building Assets for Brookings, a Day for Suicide Prevention” event on Feb. 18. It’ll run from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Dacotah Bank Center, 824 32nd Ave., and the public is invited to take part.
“I think one of the most important things to know … is that you don’t have to be a professional to come to this event,” Brookings Area United Way representative Tehra Nelson told The Brookings Register. “This is something that everyone should know about, everyone should be involved in. (It’s) meant to bring people together.”
Suicide was the 10th leading cause of death in South Dakota in 2024, according to the state health department, and it was the leading cause of death for people between 20 and 39 years old. For American Indians in the state, suicide was the fifth leading cause of death.
“Suicide has touched more people than we realize, and not just our community, but surrounding communities. So, it’s really a day to learn about the concrete supports that we have available,” Nelson explained. “Every time we have this event — whether that’s training or resources that we have available — our goal is to make sure that the participants who come … leave with more information or access to resources than they originally came with.”
Multiple resources
The event includes dozens of booths, from which guests will be able to learn about mental health, suicide prevention and basic needs resources.
“People can learn about what’s going on in our community (and) what they can reach out to if needed,” Nelson said.
She noted that this year’s event is special because its keynote speaker — Machelle Kocer, the community engagement coordinator with the Sioux Falls VA Healthcare System — will focus on Conversations on Access to Lethal Means (CALM) training.
“The whole event is going to be centered around this training,” Nelson said, adding that it will lead to other conversations, including the first responder interactive panel. “What those first responders see firsthand, and how that goes in with the training; it’s interactive, it’s not just participants sitting there listening to the training. … We will get to see actual examples of how first response is happening in our community.”
Perceptions
Remember the 198 South Dakotans who killed themselves in 2024? It’s bad, but here’s what makes it even worse: That number was 10% higher than 2023’s total, which saw 180 people end their lives.
“Stronger Together” and similar efforts are more than necessary — but it’s also a challenge to overcome how society perceives suicide.
“Stigma is a big thing — I think you can sit here and talk about stigma all day,” Nelson said. “Suicide is still, as much as we talk about mental health nowadays, suicide still has this taboo feeling to it. The part of this event is to really help with that, that allow for people to talk about it, and that it doesn’t need to be something that we have to hide anymore.”
She described suicide as a disease, one that can be healed. All society has to do is embrace that cure.
“It’s no different than someone passing away from cancer, it was a disease in the body, right?” Nelson said. “Suicide is a disease someone died from, and so changing the way that people talk about it is very important. Having more of these kinds of events will help open that door a little bit more.”
Nelson said suicide is a huge issue, calling it a public health crisis — and her determination is backed by state health department data: From 2015 through 2024, a total of 1,836 people committed suicide in South Dakota. Of that number, 78% were male while 22% were female, with the greatest risk factor found among two age groups: 20 to 29, accounting for 22% of suicides; and 30 to 59, accounting for approximately 48% of suicides.
“It’s bigger than we think,” she said, noting that mental health is another component to consider. “There’s suicide, but mental health as a whole — it all goes together. So, it’s important that we address all sides.”
Giving it their all
BAUW has more than stepped up to the plate when it comes to taking on the issue of suicide. Nelson was especially happy that her organization, toward the end of last year, was accredited through the state as a prevention community site.
“What that allows us to do is provide prevention services to the community,” she said.
Nelson said she’s a certified mental health first-aid trainer for adults and youth, and that she also does QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) training. It’s an hour-long, basic level suicide prevention training that BAUW can perform in the community free of charge with support and promotion from the state, which helps with funding.
“We are able to provide a lot of those trainings and do a lot of that for our community, which is wonderful to be able to have those opportunities,” Nelson said.
On top of all that, she pointed out that BAUW also helps support the 988 line, which is a 24/7 resource for any individual who might not have immediate access to a counselor.
“We know that sometimes it can be hard to get a counseling appointment,” Nelson said. “You might call and you might not be able to get an appointment for two weeks. Where do you go from there? Accessing that 988 line as a bridge for some support until you can get in to maybe see a counselor or something, it does wonders. It can help to really have another ear.”
Other tools include local counseling resources, such as Avera Behavioral Health and Brookings Behavioral Health & Wellness.
“A lot of it is trying to make sure that people are aware of some of those resources,” Nelson said. “If they are unsure of how to reach out to them, that we can help provide them the information, or someone to go to, so they have that easier access — so they don’t have feel alone in reaching out to them, so they have that support to do so.”
You going?
When asked how she would convince people to check out the “Stronger Together” event — and she’s already made a pretty strong case for it — Nelson made it easy to understand.
The event … is just a really great opportunity to be able to really understand the topic of suicide but also know that suicide is preventable and suicide is everyone’s business,” she said. “We teach that in all of our mental health training — how everyone can be a support for someone else, how being a support and simple kindness can go so far for people, and you don’t have to be a professional with credentials behind your name to make an impact in someone’s life.”
In closing, Nelson said the “Stronger Together” event is a chance for community members to save another person’s life.
“It’s your opportunity to come step in and have a chance to learn some basic skills or some information to know that you can make a difference,” she said. “Not only for clients you may serve, but for yourself, for family members, for an acquaintance, or for someone that you might see struggling on the street.”
— Contact Mondell Keck at [email protected].
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