This news article contains references to suicide. If you or someone you know needs support now, call, text or chat the 988 Lifeline.
Signs with information about how to get help in a mental health crisis are being installed at state parks in Clermont County. The signs list the phone number for the Clermont and Brown County Crisis Line, as well as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (988), and the National Veterans Crisis Line (988, press 1).
The signs are going up in East Fork State Park and Stonelick State Park, as well as land managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. County-owned parks and other parks in the county are also participating in the initiative, according to Marcie Keith, community engagement manager with the Clermont County Mental Health and Recovery Board and chair of the Clermont County Suicide Prevention Coalition.
"In 2023 we had a handful of incidents that occurred between Stonelick, East Fork and some of our township-owned properties where people either died by suicide or attempted," Keith explains. "Given that trend, we realized that if that is an individual's isolated place to go and have these contemplative thoughts of suicide, then we needed to make sure that we had resources available within the parks to hopefully prevent an individual, or entice an individual to call and talk to somebody when they're having those type of contemplations or mental health difficulties."
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The plan is to have all of the signs installed by Sept. 10, which is when National Suicide Prevention Week begins. September is National Suicide Prevention Month.
"We're hoping that Ohio will — Clermont County being kind of the first — all other 87 counties will follow and have suicide prevention information in their rural and remote areas or public places," says Keith.
She reminds people that the term "crisis" doesn't mean you have to wait. You are encouraged to call any of the helpline numbers before your situation reaches the point where you're contemplating harm.
The signage is a partnership between the Clermont County Mental Health and Recovery Board, the Clermont County Suicide Prevention Coalition, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The number of Ohioans who died by suicide increased 2% in 2022, according to data released last month by the Ohio Department of Health. Black, non-Hispanic females and males had the largest increase in rate of suicide deaths. Firearms accounted for more than half of all suicide deaths.
If you or someone you know may be considering suicide or is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
