The coroner of St. Tammany Parish is sounding the alarm on an uptick in suicides.
Dr. Christopher Tape says the parish is on pace for 60 suicides this year, which would be a record. He says most of these suicides are not planned in advance.
“The vast majority of the people, 90-plus percent, their suicides are spontaneous; and they’re in a crisis, and they have a gun and they shoot themselves,” Tape explained.
Dr. Tape says just some routine gun safety practices can prevent suicides.
“Putting up a barrier like a gun lock, that slows you down, but you can still have your gun available; just that few seconds of slowing you down may be just enough to have a second guess,” Tape noted.
Tape says if you’re going through a crisis, there’s the 988-suicide prevention hotline, which you can call for whatever crisis you’re going through, whether you’re contemplating suicide or not. He says there are other things you can do to take your mind off those thoughts.
“Sometimes you can just have a hot cup of tea and a shower; that would help you mentally as well, too. So people just need to start taking care of themselves, go for walks; walk until your feet hurt so you don’t think about your mental pain,” Tape advised.
