'We can all play a role': Utahns mark World Suicide Prevention Day

SALT LAKE CITY — It will be 18 years this October since Taryn Hiatt's father took his own life.

Back in 2002, it wasn't clear where to turn after such a loss.

"There was so much shame and stigma," Hiatt told KSL.com. "People just didn't talk openly about it."

What's worse, she said, were the insensitive comments she heard about her father taking "the easy way out" or being "selfish." Hiatt said most people didn't understand the severe, largely untreated depression her father lived with for years and the intense physical problems to which it contributed. They didn't understand the 22 surgeries he underwent, many on his stomach, and the addiction to prescription opioids that resulted from them.

Suicide then "wasn't looked at as the health issue it was," Hiatt said. "This is an illness. This was a disease. He lived with a disease that killed him."

Fortunately, Hiatt found the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention online and "began reading and learning everything I could," she said.

Today, Hiatt is the foundation's Utah area director. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention fundraises for prevention research, raises awareness about the realities of suicide, and provides support to those who've lost a loved one.

Thursday is World Suicide Prevention Day and the Utah AFSP is hosting a virtual candle lighting ceremony in the evening to support suicide prevention and remember those lost. The event has gone a bit viral, Hiatt said — about 12,500 people have either indicated they will attend or said they are interested on Facebook.

Allison Foust, the suicide prevention program administrator for the Utah Department of Human Services' substance abuse and mental health division, said World Suicide Prevention Day is an opportunity to remind us that "we all can play a role in suicide prevention."

"It can't just be on the shoulders of our health care providers, or our schools, or government agencies to prevent suicide," Foust said. "We all have to find what our role is in suicide prevention, whether it's as a family member, a co-worker — whatever it is, find out what our role is."

Foust said it's important to reach out and make connections to people who are struggling. "Such a small, simple act of compassion and kindness can make a huge difference," she said.

Hiatt recommends Utahns take a class and get trained in mental health intervention, or what she called "mental health first-aid classes," through AFSP or other reputable organizations as a starting point.

"The best advice I would give you is have a caring conversation that says, 'I'm worried about you. I care about you. I see that things are not well. I see the changes. Talk to me about that.' And allow the person to share openly and honestly, without our judgment, without our advice to fix. Just let them get it out — and then direct them to the appropriate resources," Hiatt said.

She said the dialogue around mental health and suicide has improved drastically since her father's death and that it's "so vital to see this conversation change."

"People today believe there's something we can do about suicide," she said. "They believe that we can help, because we can."

The COVID-19 pandemic and a tumultuous 2020 are throwing another factor into the mental health mix. "We're in this period of uncertainty," Hiatt said, "and none of us do well with uncertainty." Foust said, fortunately, the number of actual suicide deaths doesn't appear to have increased substantially this year despite its challenges.

Foust and Hiatt said Utahns who are struggling with suicidal thoughts, or know someone who is, should reach out for help right away.

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