Breaking Through the Mental Health Stigmas...
And Reducing Veteran Suicides.
Veteran Suicide by the numbers
The Department of Veteran Affairs released a report in September of 2022 on National suicide rates. These numbers reflect the data from 2020.
6,146
Veterans committed suicide in 2020
118
Veteran Suicides week
512
Veteran suicides per month
17
Veterans per day end their life intentionally
Our Response
The American Legion Post 9 in Brunswick GA, has a certified QPR instructor. QPR is a suicide prevention technique that trains people in the veterans social circles and community, in ways of identifying when someone is considering suicide, and teaches them ways to intervene and refer someone with suicidal ideation to the correct mental/behavioral health therapy they need to save their life.
Throughout this training we also address the stigmas behind mental health disorders. There are a lot of negative and damaging stereotypes that a lot of people have surrounding mental disorders. Be The One is addressing these stigmas and as part of this Initiative we are holding free QPR gatekeeper trainings at our post on the first Wednesday of every month at 5:00pm. The trainings last about an hour and a half. We have a goal of training 100 new QPR Gatekeepers during 2023. So if you would like this training to be brought to your location and given to your employees, please send Mike Williams an email and he will be in contact with you to schedule your training and answer any questions you may have.
Q.P.R Suicide prevention Workshop
Be The One to Save a Life!!
American Legion Post 9 has a certified Q.P.R Gatekeeper instructor. On the First Wednesday of every month Mike Williams holds a Suicide Prevention Workshop. It is not crisis intervention. This class is designed to prevent a veteran with suicidal ideation from reaching the point of crisis. We cover how to ask the QUESTION of suicidal intent, learn how to PERSUADE them to live, and finally how to REFER them to the help they need. The more people in the community that know what to watch for, the higher the likelihood a veteran approaching crisis will encounter someone who knows how to help them. Thus reducing the Veteran Suicide Rate.