Bedford County Mayor Chad Graham signed a proclamation Tuesday recognizing September as Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network volunteer Nora Fielding joined Graham for the signing.
Suicide is the ninth-leading cause of all deaths in Tennessee, the second-leading cause of death among youth ages of 10 to 14 as well as young adults ages 25-34 and the third leading cause for children ages 15-24. More than three lives a day are lost to suicide in Tennessee, which means the state loses 21 Tennesseans each week and 97 people per month.
The three-digit number 988 was recently introduced for emergency access to mental health services. There is now a text version of the National Suicide Prevention hotline; text “TN” to 741 741.
TSPN’s statewide September Suicide Prevention Awareness event will be held on Sept. 7-8 at the Cool Springs Marriott in Williamson County. The theme will be “Building a Mentally Healthy Future.” For more information, go to https://spae22.eventbrite.com.
