September is Suicide Prevention Month, and the LHS counselors set aside a week out of the month to make sure students felt seen.
The tradition was started about seven years ago by the counselors of Lewiston High School.
Olivia Wilson, an LHS counselor, created a video with a compilation photos of LHS staff, students, and over 10 businesses in Lewiston participating in the “You Matter” event. Roses were left on people’s cars in the parking lot with uplifting messages and posters have been hung around the school to let people know they aren’t alone.
The Counseling Center also put on a Mental Health Resource Fair which was very successful with many clubs and students participating.
Suicide Prevention Month was created in September 2008 and has been recognized ever since, according to the Air Education and Training Command website. It’s a time to pay extra attention to struggling individuals and the resources available to them.
There is also World Suicide Prevention Day, which, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), is recognized on Sept. 10th and organized by the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP). It is a nationally recognized day to raise awareness and remind people that suicide can be prevented.
The national suicide hotline is 988. Bernard Mayes was the first person recorded in creating the hotline. He created it in San Francisco in 1961. The country followed suit and there have been hundreds of suicide prevention hotlines created across the nation, according to the New York Times.
