Activists offer help, hope: But programs struggle to find funding and support

The mantra for Utahns dedicated to finding ways to keep children from killing themselves is: Suicide is not an option.

Yet despite their best efforts, young people will take their own lives.

"I'm an expert in teen suicide," said Doug Gray, a University of Utah child psychiatrist. "Not every suicide is preventable, but most of them are."

Gray is among a handful of people who devote much of their off time looking for answers to the state's suicide riddle.

Utah loses at least three teenagers to suicide every month and one person of any age every 30 hours. The state's suicide rate consistently hovers among the 10 highest in the nation and has exceeded the U.S. rate for two decades.

But prevention efforts are inconsistent at best. Promising programs fall to the wayside for lack of funding. Task forces form with a slew of good ideas that eventually fizzle.

Sherri Wittwer spends her day as an advocate for mentally ill people, one of the most misunderstood segments of society. Many of them have suicidal tendencies.

"People say to me all the time, 'How do you do that?' It's because there is hope. Treatment is available. Recovery is possible. We see it," said the executive director of the Utah chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.

"I think hope is the answer."

Those who think about ending their lives often don't see light at the end of the tunnel. And those around them — friends, parents, teachers — don't know the warning signs or how to react if they do.

"It's too late when you're reactive," said Greg Hudnall, executive director of the Hope Task Force. "You're already losing kids."

Some high schools and junior high schools have taken a proactive approach.

The Utah chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill started a school-based suicide prevention program after what Wittwer called a "rash" of suicides at East High School six years ago.

Called Hope for Tomorrow, the program has reached 55,000 students in 55 junior and senior high schools statewide. Preliminary results of a study to measure its effectiveness show referrals to counselors or other adults is up as a result, Gray said.

One of the biggest problems with past prevention programs is that they didn't link people to help. Programs also need to be aimed at the most at-risk population. "People who are getting help don't suicide," he said.

An alarming suicide rate in Wisconsin prompted its state legislature to require public schools to teach suicide prevention.

Suicide risk is usually underestimated, said John Hisgen, a Wisconsin health and physical activity consultant. "We tend to believe people will not go to that extreme to end their lives," he said