Holmes County leaders spotlight mental health during Suicide Prevention and Recovery Month

On Monday, Sept. 8, the Holmes County Commissioners met with a number of leaders in the field of mental health throughout Holmes and Wayne counties to pass proclamations honoring September as both National Suicide Prevention Month and National Recovery Month.

At the meeting area leaders were joined by Shelly Shriver, who is advocating for not only suicide prevention, but also awareness after losing her son Patrick more than one year ago.

“To me, it’s suicide awareness because prevention for me is hard to swallow,” Shriver said. “Because if we could prevent it, we would. I believe that mental health awareness is so important, and the stigma with mental health and people needing help is something we need to work hard to do away with in our community.”

Shriver and her family have recently created an endowment fund in honor of Patrick Shriver.

She said the monthly meetings with other family members struggling to deal with a member who passed away from suicide has provided strength in her life as she learns more about dealing with loss to suicide.

“We are all in the same boat and can help each other,” she said. “I appreciate all of the support we’ve gotten by so many.”

She said like many people, her hope is to carry on the memory of her son in a meaningful way, especially because she said Patrick worked so hard to make other people’s lives better.

Commissioner Dave Hall commended Shriver for her work in creating awareness in the community.

“It’s making a huge difference,” Hall said. “You’re carrying his story and his legacy of giving back to others, and whoever you help, you may never know.”

“We can't imagine how you feel because children are so special,” Commissioner Joe Miller said. “Fortunately, you don’t have to carry this burden alone.”

Joining Shriver were Tina Zickefoose of Holmes County OneEighty; Jen Grim, director of National Alliance on Mental Illness of Wayne and Holmes County; Nicole Williams, executive director of Mental Health & Recovery Board; Becky Starner of the Holmes County General Health District; and Bobbi Douglas, director of OneEighty.

Speaking on behalf of the Wayne-Holmes Suicide Prevention Coalition, Williams said the group is blessed with very strong representation throughout the coalition, and all involved are working toward helping people overcome the struggles life can create.

“There’s work that’s done for people who have lost a loved one to suicide,” Grim said. “That is grief with a whole lot of trauma.”

She said creating the monthly meeting group for individuals facing that trauma has added true support to the lives of participants, who can recognize they aren’t alone in their struggles.

“We work very hard on mental health awareness and suicide prevention awareness, but it’s not completely preventable, and it’s very unpredictable,” Grim said. “We want the community to know we are here, and we’ve done a lot to promote mental health crisis line and suicide hotline usage to help people get ahead of the issue before they consider suicide.”

As for the recovery aspect, Williams said this area is fortunate to have an organization like OneEighty that is dedicated to helping people struggling with mental health issues.

“They provide a full continuum of care, which is something that most counties don’t have," Williams said. “We just had an event to celebrate Recovery Month for Overdose Awareness. It impacts a lot of folks. It is a disease, but we can recover to become productive and impact their communities in meaningful ways.”

Douglas said OneEighty has been working intently with the local probation offices concerning prevention.

She said there are certain initiatives they focus on such as an opiate task force that began in Wayne County in 2015 and was joined by Holmes County this year.

“Prevention is the next frontier and probably always has been,” Douglas said.

She said focusing on harm reduction, marijuana, drug-endangered children and community engagement are great starting points.

All the area agencies were eager to join in these proclamations because they are all working to reiterate life is better with each individual here and healthy.

Grim said the Wayne-Holmes Suicide Prevention Coalition will promote a Suicide Prevention: You Can Save a Life seminar Sept. 25 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Holmes County Health District, 2600 Glen Drive, Millersburg.

Participants can learn more about suicide warning signs and skills to help people who are considering suicide. The event is free and includes lunch catered by Rodhe’s IGA.

Registration is required and can be made at secure.givelively.org/.