MENTAL HEALTH: Make May matter

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. As a volunteer and advocate with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, this month I am asking everyone to join us and demand #MoreForMentalHealth.

As a father, I know the pain of loss. I lost my son, Devon, to suicide in 2017. I have been on a journey to ensure that no other parent has to suffer the pain and grief that I have.

My youngest son has had his own battle with mental health and at one point had to access mental health services. He did not know where to turn for services/resources and even was told the wait for services was about 90 days. This is unacceptable!

On July 16, those in distress and those that support them will be able to reach the Lifeline through a simple 3-digit number: 988. By making the Lifeline more accessible through this shorter number, calls, texts and chats to the Lifeline’s network of crisis call centers are expected to increase. It is vital that the federal government work with states to ensure callers in distress will have: 1) someone to call, 2) someone to come help, and 3) somewhere safe to go. We must act NOW to secure funding to equip call centers and community crisis response services throughout the country with the staff and resources to respond to everyone in crisis.

Join me this month in urging our federal and state public officials to do #MoreForMentalHealth. You can start by visiting: https://moreformentalhealth.org/

Together, we can help #StopSuicide.

PHILLIP TYLER

Spokane