Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, Shelby County Sheriff’s Office Partner Together for Suicide Prevention
In an effort to decrease the number of suicides in Tennessee, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare (MLH) and the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) are working to distribute firearm safety education and gun locks to at-risk patients. SCSO recently donated a supply of gun locks for MLH to distribute through its primary care offices.
“Suicides in Tennessee have been steadily increasing over time,” said Dr. Laura Shultz, director of Behavioral Health for Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare. “With firearms accounting for about 60 percent of all suicide deaths in the State, we appreciate the Sheriff’s Office placing priority on firearm awareness and gun safety as part of our suicide prevention efforts.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), suicide rates increased 33 percent between 1999 and 2019, with a small decline in 2019.
“In the law enforcement profession, we have a higher suicide rate than in the general population,” said Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner, Jr. “It’s important for us to raise awareness and connect those in need with resources that can save lives. The loss of any life is tragic.”
National research shows that, of those who die by suicide, about 40 percent visited their primary care provider in the month prior to their death and 20 percent visited their primary care provider within 24 hours of their death. Earlier this year, to help improve patients’ access to behavioral health resources, MLH began to integrate licensed mental health providers into all its primary care physician offices.
“Many decisions to commit suicide are made somewhat impulsively, which is why limiting access to lethal means of suicide is so important,” Shultz added. “When put in place along with a safety plan, these gun locks will increase the time between thinking and doing, allowing them the time and space to make a different choice.”
To locate a primary care provider, click here.
To be connected with local mental health resources, please call the Dennis H. Jones Living Well Network, offered through Methodist Healthcare, Mon.-Fri., 8am-4:30pm, at 901-762-8558 or visit thelivingwellnetwork.org.
For 24/7 suicide prevention resources, please visit suicidepreventionlifeline.org or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
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