Preventing suicide deaths in Wyoming is a priority at Wyoming Behavioral Institute (WBI), where staff are trained to understand the role of trauma in human behavior. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are risk factors for suicidality.¹ Familiarity with how ACEs affect mental health is part of the trauma-informed care training required for WBI employees.
Toxic stress, or extended or prolonged stress, can negatively affect brain development, immunity and stress-response systems. Children who grow up with toxic stress may struggle to form healthy and stable relationships, have unstable work histories as adults and experience depression over the course of their lives. The Veterans Administration reports that even one ACE event can be associated with an increased risk for suicide. One study found that the presence of ACEs could be more predictive of suicidal ideation than serving in a combat zone.² The risk factors for childhood trauma and the protective factors that reduce the incidence and consequence of trauma have become a national focus. ³
WBI trauma-informed care trainers and coaches Mitch Schoenwolf, RN, Lance Richardson, and Shannon Heaton help staff learn to identify and address trauma-rooted behavior and thinking. All WBI staff are trained to view others through a lens of compassion and empathy, Mitch says. He is an Army veteran and explained that he shares his personal experiences during trauma-informed care training because his worldview and the way he thought about himself changed after learning about ACEs. He and his team help patients refocus positively on themselves when using a trauma-informed care practice. Building healthy connections with patients helps them begin to recover, potentially mitigating suicide risk.
Among the protective factors that can shield children and teens from toxic stress is a community commitment to providing access to mental health services. WBI has collaborated for more than a decade with the Natrona County School District to offer Foundations for Success, a trauma-informed early intervention mental health program for kindergarten, first and second graders. In addition, as part of WBI’s Project AWARE partnership with the Wyoming Department of Education, WBI also partners with the Wyoming Department of Health to provide psychiatry support to the Laramie County jail and access to hospital care for Wyoming State Hospital–committed patients. WBI is part of the Natrona County Suicide Prevention Task Force and the Wyoming Alliance for Suicide Prevention.
Nationally, WBI is part of a network of hospitals supporting the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention and the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, promoting the #BeThe1To message that we can all take actions to prevent suicide. The five action steps for being there for others are to ask if someone is thinking about suicide and listen to what they share, be there for them, help keep them safe, help them connect and follow up. “There is a suicide death every 45 seconds in this world,” Mitch tells his trauma-informed care trainees. “How hard is it for us to listen to someone for 45 seconds, and maybe change that person’s future?”
¹Adverse Childhood Experiences and Suicide Risk: Toward Comprehensive Prevention – PMC
²From Science to Practice: Premilitary Risk Facts Associated With Suicide Among Veterans
³About Adverse Childhood Experiences | Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) | CDC
For more information about #BeThe1To, visit www.bethe1to.com online. Information about ACEs and individual and community risk and protective factors is available at www.cdc.gov or the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (Suicide & Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): Preventing Suicide through Collaborative Upstream Interventions – Suicide Prevention Resource Center).
Wyoming Behavioral Institute is a hospital in Casper, Wyoming, specializing in inpatient and outpatient mental health care for children, teens and adults. Trauma-informed care community education presentations by WBI’s training and coaching team can be scheduled by calling Emily Genoff, Director of Business Development, at 307-472-2251 or by emailing Emily.quarterman-genoff@uhsinc.com. For more information about treatment at WBI, visit wbihelp.com or call 800-457-9312.
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