On Thursday, June 8, 2017, the Groton Public Library, under the direction of Teen Librarian Jessa Franco, sponsored a 90 minute panel on Suicide Prevention. The program was formed to follow up on the popular Netflix show “13 Reasons Why” concerning a young girl who had left 13 separate tape recordings that detailed the reasons why she ended her life. Ms Franco indicated that the show “has become controversial for its graphic depiction of suicide and rape, as well as how it addresses mental health challenges.”

The panel itself consisted of three local experts to answer questions about the show and methods for suicide prevention. Dr. Robert Harrison of Westerly Hospital has over 40 years experience specializing in the Emergency Room and is a certified trainer for the Australian program for Youth Mental Health First Aid. Lacy Johnson is Director of Programs for Creative Potential LLC based in Montville, which supports families via integrative therapy using counseling and crisis intervention, specializing with tweens, teens and young adults. Michael McGovern is Senior Clinician for Emergency Mobile Psychiatric Services (EMPS) which is a division of United Family and Community Services. EMPS provides 24/7 crisis intervention services via telephone, accessed by calling 2-1-1, with approximately 150 trained professionals in CT to respond by phone or within 45 minutes for a child experiencing emotional or behavioral crisis.

The panel was presented with questions by Ms Franco that were based on the above Netflix show, which covered a variety of topics. Suicide is the 2nd most common cause of teenage deaths. Is it possible to predict suicide? What are the common signs of a person at risk? How should you react if someone tells you they are thinking about killing themselves? What else can you do to prevent suicide? How do you start a conversation about suicide with someone you suspect might be at risk? Do you have any advice for teens who are worried about a friend harming themselves?

Comments followed in response to those questions and additional info was provided by the panel. 90% of suicide victims were in need of psychiatric help. The Tween and Teen years are perhaps the hardest time to grow up because (especially with social media bullying) information can come from so many sources. There are more suicides now during the middle school years. Signs vary considerably, but kids who are more quiet than usual, more passive, “not trying any more” with activities, using drugs or alcohol, going from being anxious to suddenly being very calm, feeling very “alone” can all be indicators. And if nothing else, if you sense a person is in difficulty, ask them outright and be supportive with their replies, allowing them to vent and not abandoning the conversation.

The audience was represented by several teenagers and young adults, along with older representation from the CT Coalition for Children, the Noank Baptist Church, a retired Board Member of Noank Baptist Group Homes for girls and a retired employee from Care Plus programs of Natchaug Hospital. There was an overall feeling expressed by members of the audience that there needed to be much stronger attention focused on these issues by the schools themselves, including increased staffing and more extensive training. This, of course, is difficult to deal with because of the current CT budget problems, especially for Groton.

The panel portion of the program was video recorded by the Library and is expected to be shown on the Groton Municipal Television channel beginning early in July. Because of the extensive commentary by the panel, we strongly encourage that as many of you as possible, especially if you have children, try to see the broadcasts. For this writer, the discussion was an eye-opener.