With May being Mental Health Awareness Month, experts from Santa Clarita and across the nation are raising awareness and educating the public about mental illnesses, as well as remembering those who have lost their lives from suicide.

Every year, College of the Canyons sets up over 1,000 lanterns in the Honor Grove during the Shine A Light event to represent the number of college students who lose their lives each year from suicide, said Gayle Freund, program coordinator at College of the Canyons.

“The goal is to raise awareness that 1,100 college students die by suicide in the United States annually and to reduce the stigma for getting help for any mental health illness,” Freund said.

Although a high rate of suicides is reported annually on a national scale, COC has not had any in the last two years, said Larry Schallert, assistant director of the Student Health and Wellness Center at COC.   

“This is due to your conscientiousness and support of our students,” Schallert said. “This nevertheless is a stressful time for students, and a lot is going on in their lives, so we want to continue to be diligent.”  

Mental health experts also led a Suicide Prevention Intervention and Response Training (SPIRT) on Tuesday. SPIRT is designed to help educate students and staff the risk factors and warning signs of suicide, according to officials.

Attendees learned about issues related to mental health, recovery and stigma, and how to respond compassionately and effectively in order to prevent suicide and self-harm, according to officials.

Those in attendance were also taught how to support individuals who may be experiencing significant distress interfering with their life or personal functioning, and know where to locate community resources that can help those in need, according to officials.

Half of all lifetime mental health conditions begin by age 14 and 75 percent by age 24, but early intervention programs can help, according to officials.

“We have 25 licensed therapists and 23 therapist interns as part of our Educationally Related Intensive Care Services (ERICS),” said Dave Caldwell, spokesperson for the William S. Hart Union High School District. “Sequoia School has 55 students in grades 7-12 who have specifically been diagnosed with mental or emotional challenges.”         

In any given year, 46.6 million Americans, experience a mental health condition, according to the National Association on Mental Illness (NAMI). This represents approximately 20 percent of the country.

“With effective care, suicidal thoughts are treatable, and suicide is preventable,” according to NAMI.

Americans with mental health conditions face an average 11-year delay between experiencing symptoms and starting treatment, according to officials.

Common barriers to treatment include the cost of mental health care and insurance, prejudice and discrimination and structural barriers like transportation, according to officials.

“Even though most people can experience relief from symptoms and support for their recovery in treatment, less than half of the adults in the United States get the help they need,” according to NAMI.

One reason for individuals not receiving the help they need is due to stigma.

“Stigma is when someone, or yourself, views you in a negative way because you have a mental health condition,” according to NAMI. “Some people describe stigma as shame that can be felt like a judgment from someone else or a feeling that is internal, something that confuses feeling bad with being bad.”  

For anyone who is having suicidal thoughts experts urge them to call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.

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