(PHOTOS) Community turns out for Suicide Prevention Walk

NOTE: If you or someone you know is in immediate danger of harming themselves, please call 911. If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts, call the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or text “WYO” to 741-741 for the Crisis Text Line.

CASPER, Wyo. — Hundreds of people showed community solidarity and received a variety of mental health resources at the annual Breaking the Silence: Suicide Prevention Walk on Saturday. The event was hosted by the Natrona County Suicide Prevention Task Force.

“We walk together to remember those we’ve lost and to show support for our community members who are struggling,” task force chair Tina Sterken said. “We walk as one and we walk as a team to help bring hope.”

Among the mental health and suicide prevention organizations taking part were the task force, the Wyoming Behavioral Institute, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Never Forgotten 77, the Mercer House and more.

Speaker Kent Corso reminded those in attendance why shows of support matter.

“If you’re not aware, you’ve lost two community members in the past week and six in the last month,” Corso said. “[Being connected] reduces risk; so the more we connect with other, the more we are protecting ourselves from suicide.”

Corso urged everyone battling suicidal ideation to reach out and find a support network.

“Everyone copes differently,” he said. “Some people turn to God, a higher power; some people turn to family [or] friends. Turn to whoever you need to turn to to find support and be loved.”

In a May interview with Oil City News, Natrona County coroner Jim Whipps said that while Wyoming famously has one of the worst suicide rates in the country, Natrona’s rate is one of the highest for a localized community in the entire world.

“Even places like third-world countries — places that are in utter chaos — don’t have a suicide rate like the one here in our county,” he said.

Whipps guessed that the “Cowboy mentality” might play a role in the suicide rate.

“There’s still this idea that you should suffer alone, pull yourself up by your bootstraps and not ask anyone for help,” he said. “For the life of me, I don’t understand why that’s still something people hold on to.”

Historically, Whipps said, the most common demographic to die by suicide was middle-aged men. However, recent trends are deviating from that, he said.

“In recent years, it’s strayed from that in both directions,” Whipps said. “I’ve been seeing a lot more younger people and a lot more older people.”

Sterken said she was happy with the turnout, as well over 100 people took part.

“It shows that we’re a community and that we care,” she said.