Last month (September) was suicide prevention month. Out of politeness and respect, I waited until October to publish an Op-Ed piece titled, “Beyond Suicide Prevention” in the Missoulian. If you want to read the whole Op-Ed piece, here’s the link: https://missoulian.com/opinion/column/john-sommers-flanagan-beyond-suicide-prevention-the-montana-happiness-challenge/article_a85d6b58-6469-11ee-bb12-b34752ffa53b.html

In the piece I review some information and make one point that I’d like to share more broadly. Below are several opening paragraphs from the Op-Ed piece.

*Beginning of Excerpt*

Beyond Suicide Prevention: The Montana Happiness Challenge

John Sommers-Flanagan, Ph.D.

All September, organizations and individuals celebrated suicide prevention month, sharing information about suicide and promoting strategies for preventing suicide deaths. Although the information was life-affirming, underneath the messaging lies an unpleasant truth: Broadly speaking, suicide prevention has been failing for over two decades.

In August, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released provisional United States suicide data for 2022. The news was bad. An estimated 49,449 Americans died by suicide in 2022—the highest number ever recorded in U.S. history.

The bad news goes far beyond last year. Suicide rates have risen every year for over 20 years, with only two puzzling exceptions. In 2020 and 2021—during the onset of COVID-19, lockdowns, and other national stressors—suicide rates declined; they declined despite the fact that by every other measure Americans were suffering from unprecedented stress, depression, anxiety, and suicidal thinking. Suicide researchers have long noted this odd pattern: higher stress, depression, anxiety, and suicidal thinking do not inevitably translate to more suicides.

If all this seems confusing—20 years of vigorous suicide prevention, and suicide rates steadily rise, while during 2 years of intensive COVID-related individual and public distress, suicide rates go down—it’s only because it is.  

In his book, Rethinking suicide, Craig Bryan, a renowned suicide researcher, called suicide “a wicked problem,” noting, “Wicked problems cannot be definitively solved or completely eliminated . . .” In fact, as Bryan and others have described, efforts to eliminate wicked problems sometimes make them worse. The preceding facts don’t indicate suicide prevention doesn’t work . . . and they don’t mean COVID pandemics solve the suicide problem. What they do mean—at minimum—is that suicide prevention doesn’t work for everyone, and we need to collectively think differently about this wicked problem.

Suicide prevention ideology over-focuses on eliminating “bad” or negative thinking and behavior. This conceptualization is contrary to science and common sense. The science says that telling people to stop engaging in unhealthy behaviors usually doesn’t work. When people are judged and told they should change, they often become defensive and more resistant to change. This is human nature.

All this brings me to share one strategy for moving beyond traditional suicide prevention. We should put more energy into growing and nurturing positive and meaningful thoughts and behaviors. People are more likely to change if they’re accepted for who they are, and then invited to try something interesting.

*End of Excerpt*

If you read the preceding and have a reaction, I’d love to hear your thoughts on how, with increasing suicide prevention focus, the suicide deaths keep increasing, and why, during the two worst years of COVID, suicide deaths decreased. Feel free to post on this blog or pop me an email.

This week, for the Montana Happiness Challenge, we’re focusing on adopting a mindset where we look for joy or for what inspires us. Last week I did a day-long training on Suicide Assessment and Treatment with professionals in Canada. At the end of the day, I was inspired that they took a full-day to learn about something so hard and challenging. Similarly, if you got through this whole blog because of your interest in making the world a better place, you inspire me.

If you want to keep up with the Montana Happiness Challenge, here are some clickable options:

MHP Website: https://montanahappinessproject.com/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@montanahappinessproject333/videos

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/montanahappinessnow/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Montana-Happiness-Project/100073966896370/

John SF Twitter: https://twitter.com/Dr_JohnSF

John SF LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnsf/

Thanks for reading and have a great day.