ST PAUL, Minn. — "Sadness, yet not shock."
Those words describe Patrick Rhone's reaction to the new report from the CDC, indicating a record number of deaths by suicide in the United States last year.
"We spent so long ignoring this issue, and what it would take to address it," Rhone said. "We're seeing the effects now."
As board president for Mental Health Minnesota, Rhone has spent years working to increase access and funding for mental health resources in Minnesota.
He's spent even longer working to avoid becoming a suicide statistic. He was diagnosed with a mental illness at the age of 14 and has spent decades speaking about his personal struggles and experiences.
"This is a mission for me because it not only impacted me directly, it's impacted my family deeply," Rhone said. "The numbers are striking and sad, but this is an issue that also brings hope and possibility.
It's become increasingly okay to talk about this, and because it's OK to talk about this, the awareness is increasing."
To understand the power of awareness, he says all you have to do is look at the public and societal response to another public health crisis in recent decades: cancer.
Patrick Rhone: "Someone who has had cancer and who is still alive, what do we call them?"
Kent Erdahl: "A survivor."
Rhone: "What about those of us who have tried to commit suicide? What do you call me?"
Erdahl: "Survivor."
Rhone: "That's what we all should say, but we don't talk about that. We talk about the Anthony Bourdains, the folks who seemingly had this perfect life and everything was going great and we celebrated them. But in reality, we didn't know their silent suffering. We didn't know that they were, in fact, surviving every single day.
Many people with mental illness have to wake up every day and make the choice to live, and we don't celebrate them. We don't celebrate that choice. We think it's just like waking up, 'What's the big deal? You got to get up this morning? Woohoo, good for you.' For some people, for a lot of people, for too many people, that's a heroic choice."
Erdahl: "Do you think we focus too much on the death and not enough on the hope?"
Rhone: "Yeah, I do."
Erdahl: "So what gives you hope with where we stand right now?"
Rhone: "Honestly, I have a 15-year-old daughter who, herself, talks about, acknowledges and works through her own anxiety issues. Her friends know, her teachers know and her school is even supportive. What gives me hope is that the kids, they get this. They know and they're not ashamed of it. It's part of the conversation and that gives me hope because they're going to be in charge. They're going to be the ones who are deciding, eventually, where the money goes."
Fortunately, he says more money has already been flowing in some areas of mental health response. Mental Health Minnesota and other nonprofits helped convince the Minnesota Legislature to increase funding and local service for the new 988 suicide and crisis lifeline. In the past year, they've already reported a 40% increase in calls and a 900% increase in texts.
"Boom, that's it," Rhone said. "That's the reason why we fund it, that's the reason why we should be doing it, that's right there the reason that it will save lives. It will save lives every single time because you can remember the darn number."
And the awareness doesn't stop there. A free online questionnaire offered by Mental Health Minnesota led to 10,700 mental health screenings in 2022, and Rhone says they've already exceeded 18,000 screenings in the first half of 2023.
Rhone: "That's life-changing."
Erdahl: "Do you think people appreciate what it takes to fill out something like that and take that step?"
Rhone: "Yeah, huge. Once again it's heroic."
Erdahl: "What do you want to say to those heroes then?"
Rhone: "Oh my gosh, just that, you're a hero. My gosh. You have to fight that feeling and say, 'I'm doing this for the kids, or I'm doing this for my wife, or I'm doing this for my job.' You have to find that reason, and you have to put one foot on the floor, followed by the next."
If you're looking for help, or a mental health screening, you can find all the information at Mental Health Minnesota.
There is also help available from the following resources:
- Crisis Text Line – text “MN” to 741741 (standard data and text rates apply)
- Crisis Phone Number in your Minnesota county
- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988, Talk to Someone Now
- Throughout Minnesota call **CRISIS (**274747)
- The Trevor Project at 866-488-7386
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