Dunleavy proclaims Sept. 13-19 Suicide Prevention Week in Alaska

Alaska loses people to suicide at roughly twice the national rate. The state's response this week is not a campaign or a program but a request that people talk to each other.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy designated Sept. 13 through 19 as Suicide Prevention Week, the third year he has issued the proclamation using the same framework. Its central instruction is that someone worried about a friend or family member should ask directly whether that person is thinking about ending their life. Careline Alaska, the state's crisis line, says the common fear about that question, that raising it plants the idea, is a myth.

After asking, the proclamation says, tell the person you care, and stay with them until you can connect them to Careline, another prevention resource, or someone they trust.

The reasoning behind the week is in the document itself. Stigma around mental illness and suicide keeps people who are in trouble from seeking help, it says, and warning signs go unrecognized. The risk factors it lists are the familiar ones: a previous attempt, substance use, hopelessness or isolation, chronic pain, a history of mental health conditions, and no access to treatment.

Two state efforts are named. The Alaska Statewide Suicide Prevention Council does outreach and education, and the Division of Behavioral Health's Community-Based Suicide Prevention Program trains Alaskans in basic prevention.

The need is not evenly distributed. The Anchorage Assembly, which passed its own resolution this month, noted that the region covering Anchorage, the Mat-Su and the Kenai records the most deaths in the state. A state epidemiology bulletin found Alaska Native young people aged 10 to 18 die by suicide at more than five times the rate of white youth the same age.

The Careline can be reached by call or text at 988, or at 877-266-4357, around the clock.