Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Issues are Important Every Month
Sonya Bohmann is our guest blogger and the Executive Director of the Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention (CIASP). CIASP is a non-profit organization created to raise awareness about suicide prevention and provide resources and tools to create a zero-suicide industry by uniting and supporting the construction community. CIASP is dedicated to changing the alarming construction industry suicide statistics by educating and equipping organizations, industry service providers and construction professionals to STAND Up for suicide prevention and address it as a health and safety priority.
September is Suicide Prevention Month
The topic of Workplace Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, specifically in construction, needs to be a conversation that we have twelve months a year, not just for one month. Mental health does not just affect one sector or portion of our industry but everyone, from leadership to our craftspeople. Suicide and mental health issues do not discriminate, and this topic is bigger than the things that divide us.
First, it is important to establish that mental health is a continuum; we all have it; we just are not all in the same place at the same time on that continuum. Sometimes, we hover on the Thriving side for weeks at a time and other times we may dip all over the scale. No one is constant. Life’s challenges and opportunities are continuous, as is our mood. Knowing when to seek help, or when to offer help is what we often find challenging. “Will I be labeled, looked down upon, or worse?” Having open, honest, and compassionate conversations is the first step in creating awareness and breaking stigmas.
How You Talk About Suicide and Mental Health Matters
Sharing stories can be a powerful tool when it comes to suicide prevention. It can create communities that allow others to know they are not alone and can also aid in the healing process for those who have experienced loss. If done safely, shared stories can give others hope and encourage those at risk to seek help.
Here are a few things to keep in mind when sharing your story:
- Emphasize the journey: Highlight the before and after the loss or attempt, if possible, and how far you have come in recovery.
- Avoid glamorizing or sensationalizing: Use compassionate language. The word “commit” is no longer used when speaking about suicide. There has been a shift to less stigmatizing wording such as “died by” or “ended one’s life.”
- Skip the details about suicide method: You can tell the same story by taking the listener on your journey, avoiding the activating or graphic details.
- Be honest and comprehensive: Share your struggles and how you manage your mental health today.
How Does Suicide and Mental Health Specifically Relate to Construction?
Statistics show that construction has a 4x higher rate of suicide than the national average. When I share that statistic, the question is always “why.” The things that we love about construction workers, that pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps, brush-off-the-dirt, and get-it-done-at-all-costs mentality are the exact same things that keep our workers from seeking help.
Construction has multiple risk factors that are somewhat unique to our industry.
Some of which include:
- Chronic pain
- Extreme pressure to have a job come in on budget and on time
- Travel and isolation from family and friends
- Access to lethal means
- Sleep disruption
- Poor access or utilization of behavioral health care
Ignoring these risk factors is not the answer. Statements like “We do not have a mental health or suicide problem” are no longer aligned with the growth of the construction industry. Addressing these risk factors is key to creating a caring culture that attracts and supports employee engagement.
Creating a Caring Culture: Upstream, Midstream, Downstream
Upstream Approach
Creating a caring culture that is smart about mental health and suicide prevention starts upstream with Leadership. At the Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention, we’ve made that first step easy:
Share that you’re committed to mental health and suicide prevention as a company. Talk about it in newsletters, town hall meetings, and state of the union addresses. Make the conversation as normal as the ones around physical safety. Place the same importance on the topic.
Midstream Approach
Educate jobsite leadership to know the warning signs. Look for the differences in performance issues and a deeper mental health concern. What are employees saying, doing, or going through that is out of character? Education is key to identifying changes in patterns of behavior and creating safe spaces to discuss concerns. Using toolbox talks on job sites is a great way to introduce the topic of mental health and suicide prevention.
Downstream Approach
Be prepared for the worst. Have a crisis plan in place. Provide appropriate response and support. As much as we want and work to prevent a crisis, they could and do still happen. How they are spoken about and handled for those who are on the jobsite sets the example on a go-forward basis.
Budget Considerations
Since it is also budget season for most construction companies, the question always comes up: How does creating a caring culture fit into our budget? There are plenty of options that can be economical and free resources to go along with them. Things like flexible scheduling, education on finances, substance abuse, and awareness signage cost little to nothing and are often available through resources already engaged, such as insurance or EAP. Setting up social opportunities or connection points to get people outdoors and engaging in physical activity is also beneficial. Peer-to-peer support groups are a great resource to create within a company, with a little structure and initial training of the peer facilitator. Some companies have created Mental Health Champions or Suicide Prevention Task Forces to bring the conversation into the light.
Resources
To get you started, here are a few resources:
- The StandUp pledge: Once you have taken the pledge, check out the Needs Analysis to help identify gaps in your existing program.
- Tool Box Talks: Safety, Training, Awareness, Normalize, Decrease. A light introduction to suicide prevention that can happen in a 15-to-20-minute morning meeting.
- Mindwise mental health screening: A baseline evaluation to help educate a person on what they are feeling.
If you are in crisis, the national suicide prevention hotline is 988, or you can text 741741. There is always help on the other end of the line.
All of the resources are available in both English and Spanish and are always free on our website: https://www.preventconstructionsuicide.com
