SOLEDAD: IT IS 911, BUT FOR URGENT MENTAL HEALTH CARE. 988 IS THE SUICIDE AND CRISIS LIFELINE NUMBER FOR THE HIGH NUMBER OF PEOPLE CONTEMPLATING SUICIDE. SINCE ITS LAUNCH LAST SUMMER, NUMBERS SHOW MORE PEOPLE ARE REACHING OUT FOR HELP AND SPENDING LESS TIME ON HOLD. THAT’S COMPARED TO THE PREVIOUS TEN-DIGIT LIFELINE NUMBER. AND YET, LESS THAN HALF OF AMERICANS EVEN KNOW ABOUT 9-8-8. — 988. LAST FALL, PRODUCER TERESA KRUG TRAVELED TO MONTANA. IT’S PART OF WHAT’S CALLED THE “SUICIDE BELT. A GROUP OF WESTERN STATES WHERE SUICIDE RATES ARE HIGHER — ESPECIALLY AMONG VETERANS, WHITE MEN AND NATIVE AMERICANS. SHE SPOKE WITH THE PEOPLE WHO TAKE THOSE DIFFICULT CALLS EVERY SINGLE DAY. >> $30. — >> IN CASCADE, MONTANA, PEOPLE GATHER FOR ONE OF THE LAST RODEOS OF THE SEASON. >> HERE WE GO. >> TO SHOWCASE LOCAL TALENT AND HONOR THE LARGE NUMBER OF VETERANS IN THE STATE. >> LORD, TONIGHT WE COME TO YOU. WE ASK A SPECIAL BLESSING ON ALL OF OUR MILITARY. >> I’M PROUD. I WISH I COULD STILL BE SERVING. BUT PHYSICALLY, I CAN’T. >> HELENA RESIDENT KEN MCLEAN IS A VETERAN SUFFERING FROM PTSD WHO’S COME CLOSE TO SUICIDE MORE THAN ONCE. HE SAYS ISOLATION AND MONTANA’S COWBOY UP CULTURE HAVE PLAYED A BIG ROLE. >> WE’RE SUPPOSED TO BE THESE ELITE WARRIORS. WE’RE STILL HUMAN BEINGS. WE STILL HAVE MORAL INJURIES. WE STILL HAVE MORAL VALUES. TAKING ANOTHER LIFE OR WATCHING THAT HAPPEN. THAT THAT’S NOT NORMAL. WE’RE SUPPOSED TO BE STRONG. REACHING OUT, SAYING SOMETHING’S WRONG AND I NEED HELP WASN’T IN THE CARDS. IT WAS DRINK MORE BEER, DRINK MORE BOOZE. COVER IT UP. SHUT UP. >> AFTER FINALLY SEEKING HELP, KEN SAYS THAT THINGS STARTED TO IMPROVE. HE NOW HOSTS BARBECUES AROUND THE COUNTRY TO RAISE FUNDS FOR VETERANS MENTAL HEALTH AND ENCOURAGES THEM TO SPEAK UP. >> BECAUSE YOU BELIEVE THAT WITH YOU NOT THERE, YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS WILL BE BETTER OFF AND YOUR PAIN WILL BE GONE, BUT IT’S NOT TRUE. THEIR PAIN WILL INTENSIFY DRAMATICALLY BECAUSE THEY’VE LOST SOMEBODY THEY’VE LOVED. >> WHEN WE LOOK INWARDLY, WE’RE REALLY LOOKING TO HEAL. >> TERRANCE THE FROM BOY, A MEMBER OF THE BLACKFOOT CONFEDERACY NATION, UNDERSTANDS KEN’S STRUGGLE. HE’S PART OF THE STATEWIDE TEAM THAT ROLLED OUT THE 988 SUICIDE AND CRISIS LIFELINE EARLIER THIS YEAR. >> WE HAD TO CREATE A ’COWBOY UP’ MENTALITY TO SURVIVE. THAT THEN HAD RIPPLE EFFECTS OVER TIME. THAT CREATES SOME OF A MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS AS WE’RE SEEING TODAY. I GET REALLY EMOTIONAL BECAUSE MENTAL HEALTH IS AFFECTING OUR INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES. WE’RE LOSING TOO MANY PEOPLE AT A HIGHER RATE THAN I’VE EVER HAD IN MY LIFETIME. >> IS IT SCARY WHEN IT’S A SUICIDE CALL? >> YEAH. YOU’RE CONSTANTLY TRYING TO THINK ONE STEP AHEAD OF THE NEXT. >> JACKIE GITTINS IS THE DIRECTOR OF VOICES OF HOPE IN GREAT FALLS, ONE OF THE THREE 988 CRISIS CENTERS IN THE STATE. >> WHEN YOU’RE A BIG STATE LIKE MONTANA IS, IT’S NOT UNUSUAL FOR SOMEBODY TO HAVE TO DRIVE 60 MILES ONE WAY TO GET TO A COUNSELOR OR A PSYCHIATRIST. >> JACKIE SAYS SHE CONSIDERED SUICIDE AFTER HER DIVORCE AND KNOWS FIRSTHAND JUST HOW VITAL LIFELINES LIKE THESE ARE. >> I WISH I WOULD HAVE HAD SOMETHING LIKE THIS TO CALL AND WENT TO. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN NOT EASY, BUT IT WOULD HAVE MADE IT EASIER FOR ME TO KNOW THAT THINGS THAT I WAS FEELING WERE FAIRLY NORMAL. >> THAT EXPERIENCE LED HER TO VOICES OF HOPE, WHERE SHE TOOK CALLS IN THE BEGINNING AND NOW MAKES SURE THERE’S ENOUGH PEOPLE TRAINED TO RESPOND TO CALLERS FOR MORE THAN 30 COUNTIES, INCLUDING THOSE WHERE TERRENCE AND KEN LIVE. >> SO I’M NOT, YOU KNOW, 100% SQUARE, BUT I’M DOING PRETTY GOOD AND I’M MAKING PROGRESS ON MYSELF EVERY DAY. >> THE STAFF ON THE 988 LINES SAY THAT WHILE THE PERSON MAKING THE CALL MAY BE IN PAIN, THEY STILL NEED TIME TO ACCEPT HELP. HELP THAT’S JUST A FIRST STEP. YOU’RE A BIG ADVOCATE FOR MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES. YOU ARE ALSO THE PERSON WHO’S ANSWERING THE PHONE WHEN PEOPLE ARE REALLY STRUGGLING. >> SO AT ONE POINT, YOU KNOW, COWBOY UP SERVED US TO BE STRONG, TO COME FROM A TERRITORY THAT WAS VAST AND ROUGH, TO SURVIVE. WE SHOULD NO LONGER CREATE SPACES TO TOUGHEN UP.
If you or someone you know needs help, you can talk with the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or sending a text message to 988, or you can chat online here.Professional golfer Grayson Murray died by suicide, his parents confirmed in a statement released through the PGA Tour.Related video above: Advocates hope 988 number will help curb suicides”We have spent the last 24 hours trying to come to terms with the fact that our son is gone,” Eric and Terry Murray said. “It’s surreal that we not only have to admit it to ourselves, but that we also have to acknowledge it to the world. It’s a nightmare.”The statement continued, “We would like to thank the PGA Tour and the entire world of golf for the outpouring of support. Life wasn’t always easy for Grayson, and although he took his own life, we know he rests peacefully now.”Murray’s death was announced by the PGA Tour on Saturday, a day after the 30-year-old withdrew from competition, citing illness, at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas.Earlier this year, Murray won the Sony Open in a playoff against former PGA Championship winner Keegan Bradley and South Korea’s An Byeong-hun, ending a six-and-a-half-year winless streak during which he admitted to struggling with mental health and physical issues.Hailing from Raleigh, North Carolina, Murray was regarded as one of the world’s best junior players, capturing three IMG Junior World titles in 2006, ’07 and ’08.At age 16, he became the second youngest to make the cut on the PGA’s developmental Korn Ferry Tour, and at age 19, he played in the 2013 U.S. Open, according to the PGA. He went on to win the 2017 Barbasol Championship at just 23 years old.
If you or someone you know needs help, you can talk with the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or sending a text message to 988, or you can chat online here.
Professional golfer Grayson Murray died by suicide, his parents confirmed in a statement released through the PGA Tour.
Related video above: Advocates hope 988 number will help curb suicides
“We have spent the last 24 hours trying to come to terms with the fact that our son is gone,” Eric and Terry Murray said. “It’s surreal that we not only have to admit it to ourselves, but that we also have to acknowledge it to the world. It’s a nightmare.”
The statement continued, “We would like to thank the PGA Tour and the entire world of golf for the outpouring of support. Life wasn’t always easy for Grayson, and although he took his own life, we know he rests peacefully now.”
Murray’s death was announced by the PGA Tour on Saturday, a day after the 30-year-old withdrew from competition, citing illness, at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas.
Earlier this year, Murray won the Sony Open in a playoff against former PGA Championship winner Keegan Bradley and South Korea’s An Byeong-hun, ending a six-and-a-half-year winless streak during which he admitted to struggling with mental health and physical issues.
Hailing from Raleigh, North Carolina, Murray was regarded as one of the world’s best junior players, capturing three IMG Junior World titles in 2006, ’07 and ’08.
At age 16, he became the second youngest to make the cut on the PGA’s developmental Korn Ferry Tour, and at age 19, he played in the 2013 U.S. Open, according to the PGA. He went on to win the 2017 Barbasol Championship at just 23 years old.
