September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month

September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. 
According to the Arkansas Department of Health, suicide is the leading cause of violent death in Arkansas. In 2020, 583 Arkansans died by suicide. That same year, close to 46,000 individuals died by suicide nationwide. That is one death every 11 minutes. 
The number of people who think about or attempt suicide is even higher. In 2020, an estimated 12.2 million American adults seriously thought about suicide, 3.2 million planned a suicide attempt, and 1.2 million attempted suicide. 
In 2017, the legislature passed an act that ensured Arkansans were answering calls made from Arkansas to the crisis hotline and now someone with knowledge of local resources will be available to answer the hotline. 
In 2021, Act 640 was passed. This act ensures that the crisis line employs individuals who have experience working with veterans. 
There’s also an online service available and Arkansans can chat with a trained crisis counselor at 988lifeline.org.