As suicides rise in Southeast Minnesota, mental health specialists seek to promote a message of hope

Jun. 2—ROCHESTER — Before he became a suicide prevention coordinator, Josh Jensen was a teen who struggled with depression, feelings of hopelessness and trauma — conditions that he now helps others try to overcome as the supervisor of mobile crisis teams.

As a child, Jensen was raised in a tumultuous home by a mother who suffered a traumatic brain injury when she was a teenager. His stepdad was a kind and generous man who helped Jensen's mom cope and regulate her behavior.

One day, while returning from school, Jensen's biological dad pulled him aside and told him his step-dad had died as the result of an injury "sustained from a suicide attempt."

When he was 16, Jensen attempted to take his own life. He's thankful to be alive.

"Like many people, I didn't want to die. What I wanted was my pain to end. I felt like things weren't going to work out," Jensen said.

Now married and with two children, Jensen uses his lived experience as a platform to spread the message that, no matter how bad things may seem at a particular time, life can and will get better. Moving forward for some may mean imagining a day that is better than the day before.

It's a message of hope and faith in the future, borne out by his own life. It's a potent message and one needed more than ever, as red-flashing warning signals raise alarms of a mental health crisis both locally and nationwide.

The crisis is reflected in the number of suicides in Olmsted County.

Mental health has been identified as a top priority for every one of the 10 counties that make up Southeastern Minnesota. The challenge stands out in Olmsted County.

Last year, an average of 25 residents per 100,000 died by suicide in Olmsted County. That is nearly twice Minnesota's rate of 13.9 people per 100,000 and the national rate of 14.1, said Laura Sutherland, Olmsted County Adult and Family Services Adult Mental Health coordinator.

Mental health experts are unsure why Olmsted County's suicide rate is so high.

Today, both Zumbro Valley Health Center for which Jensen works and the National Alliance on Mental Illness Southeast Minnesota plan to hold a suicide prevention event in the near future.

"We want to change the narrative around mental health, but also more specifically around suicide," Jensen said. "How can we help those who are grieving? How can we encourage people to get help and combat stigma? That's the aim of the symposium."

As a community liaison for Zumbro Valley, Jensen's job is to teach folks how to recognize the potential warning signs for suicide, how to ask people if they are having thoughts of suicide, and how to persuade the person to get help.

Zumbro Valley's mobile crisis team served some 380 people last year, a "solid increase" over the past year in helping people de-escalate and connecting them with resources. Both the Southeast Regional Crisis Center and Olmsted County's Diversity Equity and Community Outreach teams, social workers who are embedded in law enforcement units, have seen a jump in crisis calls and mental health assessments.

Experts say there is no one single factor to explain the phenomenon or the increase in suicides.

Some blame the pandemic, but many experts note that suicides among young people were rising for years before COVID-19 struck — with school stress, social media and guns as potential factors, according to one study. The pandemic didn't create the problems. It added to them.

In fact, suicides were in decline among young people beginning in the late-1990s. But researchers found that the suicide rate among 13-and-14-year-olds nationwide doubled from 2008 to 2018 from roughly two deaths per 100,000 teens in 2008, to five per 100,000 a decade later.

Experts agree that social media is one of several factors that have contributed to the problem. Facebook, YouTube and Twitter were launched between 2004 and 2006, just a couple of years before suicides among young people began to rise, followed by widely popular apps such as Instagram and Snapchat.

Social media worsens bullying, exposes kids to negative messages, prompts them to compare themselves with others and often fixates them to their screens instead of real life.

"When you look at the things on social media — social media life is not real life," Jensen said. "I think we have a hard time recognizing that."

The beginning of the rise in suicides in young people also coincided with the economic downturn and housing crisis in 2008. That put parents under strain and pressure that communicated itself to children.

Researchers also found that young teens' suicides jumped during the school year and fell during the summer, suggesting that school stress may be a factor.

According to Olmsted County assessment, adults with a disability, unmarried adults and non-heterosexual adults were more prone to report suffering from depression.

County officials say intervention is critical in helping people who are experiencing emotional distress or a suicide crisis.

Jensen said people will often give some kind of clue, be it verbal or behavioral, that they are under mental duress, but it can also be ambiguous and hard to spot.

"Sometimes, we don't want to burden people around us. And so sometimes, we keep things to ourselves," Jensen said. "We're very cautious of how we portray our mental health and what's going on in our life."

Jensen said it's best to err on the side of caution and be direct with the person, such as "Are you thinking about ending your life?" or "Have you had thoughts about suicide?" Too often the question is phrased in a manner to elicit a desired negative response, such as "You're not thinking about suicide, are you?"

"Maybe, a parent knows that their child is struggling. Maybe there's a divorce going on. Maybe the child has been bullied or they lost a friend," Jensen said. "So there's a series of things going on. You can acknowledge the pain that those things bring. And then also ask, 'Hey, sometimes people who are going through this and this, they may have thoughts of suicide. I'm wondering if you're feeling that way, too?'"

Olmsted County is also highlighting and developing resources that can support people.

* In 2021, the Southeast Regional Crisis Center opened. Located at 2121 Campus Drive SE, the facility has a dining area like a restaurant, a garden, and a home-style atmosphere. Funded by 10 counties and Mayo Clinic and Olmsted Medical Center,

the center is open to anyone in Southeastern Minnesota.

"This is a place where anyone from any of these 10 counties can walk in 24/7 and say, 'Hey, I'm not doing well. I need some support.' And they'll receive it."

* A person suffering from mental health distress can also be connected with a crisis counselor by dialing 988. They will listen, support the caller and direct the person to appropriate resources.

*

NAMI Southeastern Minnesota's website

includes a calendar containing numerous support groups and educational classes available online. They range from support groups for individuals dealing with co-occurring disorders, such as mental illness and substance abuse, to skills-based groups to help build resiliency.

* NAMI also offers help in the form of peer-support specialists. These are people who are, in some cases, in recovery from a diagnosis of depression and have been trained to support others. "They have peer support specialists that will work alongside folks who are struggling and really be there with them," Sutherland said.

* A

statewide online resource called Wellness in the Woods

offers a "warm line" that people can call and talk about "literally anything." "You don't have to say you're calling for a mental health crisis. Somebody might call because they're really lonely that night. Someone passed away and they're sad," Sutherland said.

* For the last couple of years,

social workers have been embedded with local law enforcement

both in the Rochester Police Department and Olmsted County Sheriff's Office. The teams include trained social workers who are knowledgeable about resources that can help a distressed individual.

"We're never going to have enough therapists. And there's always going to be some people who are just not going to go to the doctor," Sutherland said. "That's why so many resources are being put into this, because it has been identified as a priority."

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