The Narrative

Inquiring about lethal means safety and suicide prevention can be such an overwhelming topic to approach. There are so many angles and facets to a complication that reaches out to every corner of our lives; because we are dealing with lives in their totality when we deal with suicide.

Given this complexity, there are three facets that can be applied to any lethal mean, focusing on the ease of access, lethality, and immediacy of completion. These operational definers allow for a comparable understanding of lethal means and safety protocols; understanding how and which means are highest or lowest on these critical scales.

When discussing ease of access, we consider not only how easily a lethal means can be obtained and used but also the time it takes to do so. This temporal aspect is often overlooked but plays a critical role in both attempts and interventions.

Often overlooked, the temporal aspect of a lethal mean is important to consider as it deeply changes how it is attempted to be employed, its criticality, and what preventative interventions look like. With ease of access, prevention focuses on how the availability of substances or firearms intersects with the escalation of crisis. Slowing access can create a critical window for intervention and support.  

The literature

Peer reviewed literature has well established that impulsivity increases failure of higher order control such as decision making as well as overall suicidality. This is critical to consider when it is also established that mental health issues such as depression or anxiety that are related to suicide increase impulsivity.

This dynamic creates a self-reinforcing cycle that can drive individuals deeper into suicidal behaviors. Ease of access determines not only how one gains access to a means of suicide in this state but so to ways in which preventative measures can be directly applied, disrupting the cycle of impulsivity and giving room for further prevention.

The Culmination

Measures such as cable locks or trigger locks for firearm safety, or secure medication storage suddenly become an integral role in lethal means safety and suicide prevention. Devices that purposefully integrate intricacy and disturb ease can halt impulsivity or at the least provide a bridge of time for alternative services to intervene.

In crisis, a second can turn the tides, thereby it is vital that preventative interventions approach from this angle so the perpetual cycle of impulsivity causing increased mental health illnesses, causing increased impulsivity, ceases.

Local Initiatives and Involvements

Mental Health and Suicide Prevention 2025 EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES IN MESA COUNTY Register Here!

Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST): March 20-21, September 18-19, November 6-7 This two-day workshop(16 hours) helps participants learn how to prevent suicide by recognizing signs, providing a skilled intervention, and developing a safety plan to keep someone alive.

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA): April 11, September 26, October 17, December 5 This eight (8) hour training teaches people how to recognize signs of mental health or substance use challenges in adults, how to offer and provide initial help, and how to guide a person toward appropriate care.

Youth Mental Health First Aid (Youth MHFA): April 18, August 29 This Six and half (6.5) hour training for adults who regularly interact with people ages 12-18. It introduces common mental health challenges, typical adolescent development, and plan for how to help in crisis and non-crisis situations

Soul Shop™: October 2 This 90-minute workshop equips faith community leaders and other people of faith to train their congregations to minister to those impacted by suicidal desperation.

If you or someone you know is feeling suicidal, call or text 988. The National Suicide Hotline is staffed around the clock with certified members of the American Association of Suicidology. Or the Crisis Text Line, text CO to 741741 from anywhere in the United States, anytime. A live, trained Crisis Counselor receives the text and responds, all from a secure online platform.