New program aims to reduce gun-related suicide deaths in Southeast Missouri region

More than 20 out of every 100,000 Missourians died from intentional self-harm in 2018. Katie Ellison from the Missouri Institute of Mental Health (MIMH) wants to change that statistic.

Ellison along with her colleagues at the Missouri Institute of Mental Health launched the Gun Suicide Prevention Planning Project earlier this year. The project aims to reduce the availability of guns for people with suicidal ideation or substance abuse in Southeast Missouri.

Missouri has the seventh highest gun death rate in the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than half of the state’s annual gun deaths are related to suicide.

Ellison said she looked at the state’s data along with Elizabeth Sale, the Gun Suicide Prevention Planning Project’s primary investigator. They found Southeast Missouri had a consistently high rate of suicide compared to the rest of the state.

One way the Gun Suicide Prevention Planning Project plans to reduce suicide rates in the region is by partnering with local gun retailers. Ellison and her colleagues are working on educating retailers in Southeast Missouri about how to identify customers who may exhibit signs they intend to harm themselves.

The MIMH team plans to work with some of the largest employers in Butler County to raise awareness and train employees on how to recognize people exhibiting mental distress. These businesses include Three Rivers College, three area school districts, Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center and Butler County government, among others.

The University of Missouri St. Louis' Missouri Institute of Mental Health new project sets out to reduce gun-related suicide deaths.Jon Tyson

The project will begin in Butler County but may eventually branch to other areas including Dunkin, Pemiscot and Reynolds counties.

“We’ve also been working to educate gun owners and people who love gun owners on how to perhaps have uncomfortable conversations like, ‘I recognize you’re going through a tough time right now, and I’m worried you’re at risk for suicide. What can we do to make your home safer so you can’t easily end your life by accessing a gun?’”

There are lots of different variables playing into suicide risk, Ellison said. In Southeast Missouri, one factor may exacerbate some of the risks is gun ownership, or one having easy access to a firearm.

“That’s not blaming firearms or blaming gun owners,” Ellison said. “It’s just being aware of how you secure a gun at home. Storing them unloaded and locked in a gun safe decreases the chances that someone who is thinking of suicide could quickly and easily access that gun in a moment of intense emotional pain and distress.”

Another risk factor spiking suicide rates in Southeast Missouri could be cultural or social stigmas toward mental health, according to Ellison.

Even if a patient goes so far as to visit an emergency room or health care provider, they can still fall through the cracks, Ellison said. A health care provider may give them a list of resources, “but all too often, that’s where the process stops.”

To address this, the MIMH also assists with the Emergency Room Enhancement (ERE) Program, which works with people who frequent emergency rooms because of mental health issues.

The Community Counseling Center in Cape Girardeau utilizes the ERE to ensure patients are connected to the proper resources.

“A lot of times, people don’t know how to navigate the system,” Doris Irvin, a counselor at the Community Counseling Center said. “That’s where we come in. We remove some of those barriers and help people get the services and resources they need.”

The MIMH doesn’t have a goal set in how much it aims to lower the suicide rate. But as the suicide rate in Missouri has steadily increased in recent years, Ellison hopes to see some kind of change.