Suicide, Addiction Recovery Discussed at Meeting

The Behavioral Health Action Team (BHAT) of the Healthy St. Mary’s Partnership, supported by MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital, held a meeting on Aug. 12, 2016, and the meeting highlighted the importance of the restriction of suicide means, as well as gave the details of the Medication Assisted Recovery Support, or MARS, Survey. Also, the team made plans to work on a legislative update on policy items for the Healthy St. Mary’s 2020 Plan.

Suicide prevention is a complicated issue, but the meeting went into detail about one specific facet of it: restricting the means by which people attempt suicide. For instance, keeping guns out of the house or, if they are in the house, using gun locks and keeping the gun stored separately from the ammunition. In the presentation that was shown at the meeting, guns were shown to be the most common tool of suicide.

Restricting access to guns and other common tools of suicide is believed to be effective because many suicide attempts are short-lived, and the method people use often depends on its availability, according to the presentation. The drug overdose method can be prevented by locking away potentially lethal medications; barriers at high bridges can prevent suicide by jumping; and catalytic converters help prevent death by carbon monoxide.

Read the entire presentation online.

People at the meeting also discussed the Medication Assisted Recovery Support Survey, which also can be found online. The survey focuses on people who are using medication to help them recover from addiction, and asks whether they also are using recovery community meetings.

The next BHAT meeting is 2 pm Sept. 9, 2016, at the St. Mary’s County Health Department. The second annual meeting of the Healthy St. Mary’s Partnership is Nov. 17, 2016, at the Southern Maryland Higher Education Center in Calfornia.

For more information and one-click access to a full list of resources available at MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital, visit their Leader Page.