Mental Health Awareness

Suicide Prevention
9-14-2020

Hello everyone, I have the unpleasant task of reporting that there have been two more Berkshire County Veterans that recently committed suicide. Thank you for your attention.

We all know the signs; depressed, anxious, agitated, sleeping all the time or not much at all, loss of interest, feelings of guilt, lack of purpose in life and the list goes on and on. Some signals require immediate attention: talk of death, dying, or suicide. Talk of hurting or killing oneself and looking for ways to do so, voicing a plan...

The question is How Do We Help Our Fellow Veterans? The answers are many; awareness, being in the right place at the right time, knowing what to say, knowing what to do and who to call: 9-1-1 or 1-800-273-8255 ext. 1 if this happens to be you or someone near you in crisis. Buddy checks worked while we were in the service and they work out here in the civilian world too. Sometimes a person just needs us to listen, a sounding board if you will, other times the act is so spontaneous we are all left in shock.

There are numerous resources such as the two in the subject line, but they don’t work if you or I don’t take the time to stop, listen, observe, or ask the question that needs to be asked; Do you intend to hurt yourself?

National Strategy for Preventing Veteran Suicide 2018–2028.

The majority of you on this “Blind Copy” are Veterans, some are not, regardless of our status, we all have to watch out for our fellow man/woman.

Respectfully,
John

John S. Herrera
Director, Veterans’ Services
City of Pittsfield
70 Allen Street, Room 204
Pittsfield, MA 01201
O: (413) 499-9435
F: (413) 448-9638
Email
Former Marine / USCG Retired