Trigger Warning: This article contains discussions about suicide.

Last month was Suicide Awareness Month. I want to share a personal story. On my 10th birthday, my godfather (who was also my uncle) took his own life. This was my first brush with suicide, and it was not my last. I, like many of you, have lost friends and family. 

Members of my family have struggled with addiction. I have lost friends, and I know friends who have lost children.  Many of you reading this have similar experiences.   No one is immune from having a mental health crisis or substance use disorder.

For decades, Idaho has had one of the highest suicide rates across all categories. The good news is that the suicide rate fell in 2021 for the first time in many years, after a peak in 2018. In 2021, for the first time in many decades, we were not in the top 10 states for suicides per capita.  While this is cause for cautious optimism, we do not have 2022 or 2023 numbers yet to know if this trend is holding.   I am personally aware of multiple youth and young adult suicides locally over the past two years, and I have reason to be concerned that this trend is not holding.  

After 2018, the governor and legislature took some steps to address the growing crisis and citizen demand for action. The Idaho Behavioral Health Council (IBHC) was established in 2020 through a partnership between the three branches of Idaho state government. The Governor recommended, and the Idaho Legislature appropriated, $4.4M of funding to provide additional resources for the implementation of the 988 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. I support these positive efforts and I believe that 988 is going to make a difference. However, we still have a lot of problems to solve. 

Right now, I want to express concern for our most vulnerable populations: children who experience extreme trauma, members of the LGBTQ community, and postpartum women.  Addressing the mental health crisis in Idaho will be a legislative priority for me if I am elected to serve in Idaho State House District 29A.

YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH 

We are now really learning the role that generational trauma, home environment, and other adolescent environmental factors play a role in mental health and substance use.  Unfortunately, there is a significant shortage of school psychologists in Idaho. The National Association of School Psychologists recommends a ratio of one school psychologist for every 500 students. Currently in Idaho, the ratio is about 1,700 students per one school psychologist.

My experience as a Child Welfare Law Specialist allows me to witness this problem up close in Bannock County. We simply do not have enough providers to accommodate our mental health care needs. The National Council for Behavioral Health reports 77% of counties in the U.S. have severe shortages of behavioral health professionals.  Rural counties are hit hardest, and Idaho is currently suffering.  A Harvard University study recently found just 17% of phone calls placed to get an appointment with a mental health counselor were successful. Patrick O’Neal, a therapist and owner of a counseling service in Idaho Falls, Idaho, said many mental health providers in his area are booked months in advance. “We’re not able to treat the clients that need treatment,” O’Neal said. “At the same time, they’re getting worse while they’re waiting for that treatment to arrive.”  This is consistent with my experience in Idaho.  Even when we have secured funding and after we have dotted all the i’s and crossed all the t’s, it takes us months to actually connect many of my juvenile court clients with a provider even under emergent circumstances.  The best we can do is stabilize them, monitor them, and hope for the best.  

Idaho needs to do more to attract and retain mental health professionals.  We need those school nurses and school counselors in every middle school and high school, as they provide important on scene support and triage for vulnerable kids.  The Idaho Youth Ranch just opened a new residential treatment facility for high needs kids, using mostly private funding.  I haven’t toured it yet, but I have been following the progress and I am excited to see the facility in person.  However, it only has 64 beds.   A new residential treatment facility is coming to Idaho Falls, but it will only have 24 beds.   We have approximately 1500-2000 kids in foster care in Idaho at any given time, and it is estimated that approximately 80% of them have serious mental health needs.  It is probably the largest unmet need in the foster care system, because kids in crisis are very hard to place safely.  

Nearly all foster kids are on Medicaid, further limiting options for treatment.  

We need to do more to build the resiliency of kids who come into the child welfare system, so we can end trauma cycles.   I know that the government is not here to solve all of the social problems in this sometimes cruel world, and I am a firm believer in teaching kids to rely on their personal agency to improve their own lives.  We can do better for our kids by investing, as a society and as communities, in the resources they need to help themselves.

LGBTQ YOUTH

LGBTQ children experience suicidality at a rate 4 times higher than their peers (Trevor Project). Surveys isolate rejection from family and lack of tolerance and acceptance as the main causes of these feelings of distress.  The increase of Anti-LGBTQ rhetoric has led some LDS mothers to form organizations like the Mama Dragons to protect their kids from hate, with many supporters here in South East Idaho.  I am proud to know the organizers of All Under One Roof, a Pocatello organization that strives to help LGBTQ youth and young adults, and members of the community of all ages,  feel seen, heard, and accepted for who they are.  

We have all witnessed the increasing attacks on the LGBTQ community, nationwide and without doubt in Idaho over the last two years.    Idaho was the target of an intended hate crime organized by a white nationalist organization, the Patriot Front, just last year. 

I worry that the anti-LGBTQ political rhetoric and some hate speech coming from some extremists and hate groups in Idaho is reinforcing the idea that this community will not be accepted.  I worry this will lead or is already leading to higher rates of suicide and severe mental distress. Our LGBTQ kids are especially vulnerable.  No one deserves to feel unsafe or unwelcome in Idaho because of their gender identity, expression, or sexual orientation.  

POSTPARTUM RISKS AND UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES

1 in 7 women will develop postpartum depression while a smaller percentage experience postpartum psychosis.  When severe, postpartum depression and psychosis can lead to child neglect, child abuse, and serious violence to self or others.  A lot of folks are surprised to learn that suicide is a leading cause of pregnancy related mortality in the first year post-partum. Postpartum depression is common and treatable; however, many suffering feel like they need to handle it without support. I worry about losing providers who can help identify risks and direct mothers to the resources they need. I worry about the dissolution of the Maternal Mortality Review Commission, which was funded entirely by federal money.  Idaho is now the only state without one. 

 I worry about the legislature’s refusal to extend Medicaid coverage to the first 12 months postpartum. This is troubling because we know that the first 12 months post-partum are the most dangerous for the mother, both for mental health and physical health. We remain the only state in the nation with a near total abortion ban that is not on track to extend Medicaid coverage for this postpartum period.  Providing much needed support for our most vulnerable mothers and children is not “socialism.” It is good governance, it is a smart investment of our government resources, and it is “pro life.”   

ADDICTION

Professionals now have a better understanding of the relationship between substance use disorders and mental health. People with mental health struggles are more likely to engage in substance use. People engaged in substance use are more likely to develop mental health struggles. 

Once one is hooked on opioids, there is always a hard way out. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend the movie “Painkiller” on Netflix.  While Painkiller is a fictionalized depiction of the birth of the opioid crisis, it refers to many real events and figures, including the Sackler family. Sadly, Painkiller only scratches the surface of the damage that opioid abuse has caused. The collateral effects of addiction do not just tear families apart; the suffering ripples throughout our communities.  Anyone who has ever loved someone addicted to opioids knows that shame and blame are not effective public health policy tools.   They also know how easy it can be to slip into an opioid addiction.  

The Idaho Legislature is not only failing to seriously address this crisis, but in some ways, they are actively making it worse. Previously, the state provided free naloxone kits to bars, hotels, restaurants, and tattoo parlors to combat overdose death.  Now, the state has restricted the use of these kits to first responders only. This is extremely problematic because only 25% of Narcan has been administered by first responders in the past. 

Many, including the proponents of this legislation and the IFF, would like you to believe that harm reduction is a silly government program that gives drugs to addicts. I prefer a data based rather than shame/blame approach to saving lives, reducing overdoses, and solving the root causes of addiction.  There will be more to come from me on this growing crisis in Idaho that specifically impacts District 29A.  

Despite the challenges, Southeastern Idaho Public Health, the Pocatello Police Department, and Governor Little have been doing their best to stem the tide. In addition to a series of info sessions, they have been sponsoring initiatives to distribute Narcan, educate community members, and target fentanyl distributors. Bannock County is part of the Oregon/Idaho High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area state/federal partnership; we join the Boise area and parts of northern Idaho as high activity areas for fentanyl distribution..  Our local federal and state prosecutors and law enforcement officers are doing their best to keep these dangerous drugs off of our streets, out of our homes, and away from our kids. I support all of these efforts, but prison is not the only answer.  We need to adequately resource prevention programs; education programs; and evidence based treatment programs.  We need to support those addicted so they can help themselves recover.  

I value all human life. No one deserves to feel so alone, so thrown away by their communities, that they see suicide as their only option. The Idahoans and specifically the Pocatellans I know are compassionate and they care for the well-being of their neighbors. Idaho is doing a lot of good things to support our vulnerable populations, but we can do much better.  I want to get on the team and do my best to help.  My promise to you is that I will not close my eyes. I will learn what I can, promote what I can, and I will always keep Idaho’s mental health and related substance use crisis at the forefront of my mind, especially for our most vulnerable populations.  

If you or someone you know is experiencing thoughts of self harm, please seek help and reach out to someone you know for support.  Dial 911 for emergencies or visit your local emergency room.  Dial or text 988 to connect with the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, active in Idaho.

If you have a family member or friend who is suicidal, do not leave them alone. Try to get the person to seek help immediately from an emergency room, physician, or mental health professional. Take seriously any comments about suicide or wishing to die. Even if you do not believe your family member or friend will actually attempt suicide, this person is in distress and can benefit from your help in receiving mental health treatment.

You are worthy.  You are worth it.  You matter.  You are not alone.