Group addresses death by suicide in Richmond, Columbia counties

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - In Richmond and Columbia counties, 10 people died by suicide last month, and three of them were between the ages of 15 and 19.

Studies also show suicide is the leading cause of death for kids ages 10 through 14.

One is too many for Dr. Martha Tingen and her team at the Medical College of Georgia.

“That’s our goal, not one but zero,” Tingen, professor of medicine. “There’s always hope. That’s a big message for us.”

Tingen also headed the Suicide Prevention Project.

She leads a team to help get people to “Choose life.”

“We want to reduce the stigma of reaching out for help,” said Tingen. “You know, if you had diabetes, and your blood sugar kept running really high, or you kept ing out from that or something, you go seek help, but oftentimes, in today’s world still, unfortunately, there’s a stigma associated with mental and emotional health.”

They work in three counties: Richmond, Columbia and Jones counties.

For Tingen, this work is very close to her heart. In 2018, one of her two sons, Nate Tingen, died by suicide.

“We had such a happy home. I never thought anything like this would happen,” she said.

She says he was a phenomenal athlete and a precious person that everyone adored. He and his brother, Joseph, were two years apart. They were brothers, but also friends.

“Joseph stood up and spoke at the graveside funeral and I thought this was very powerful. He was standing by the casket and I was standing by him as well. He said ‘I want y’all to know what my brother did was not a good decision. All of y’all who loved him have come out today to honor him and to show us thank you. What he chose was not a good decision. If anybody’s here that thinks that way, I’ll give you my cell phone number and my mother will give you hers. Don’t choose this. Somebody really loves you and somebody cares for you. Don’t ever make the choice. All he had to do was to reach out to us, but he did not choose to,’” said Tingen.

Now, Tingen misses Nate every day.

“It’s a trauma to your spirit and you don’t get over it. You figure out how to move forward with it,” she said.

She looks to make a positive impact by working to get resources out there to the community. They’ve made resource guides specific for Richmond and Columbia counties.

They look to get into the school systems to help the younger generation know there are options.

“When we looked at Columbia County, and we took a look at the number of suicide deaths, and most of those suicide deaths occurred in individuals 25 and older, but suicide is still the leading cause of death for 10 to 14 in Columbia County,” said Brandon Warrick, program coordinator for the Suicide Prevention Project.

Tingen said: “We want to provide various resources to Columbia County and Richmond County for school students, beginning with the earliest stages all the way through high school that will promote the best mental health.”

One way they are looking to do this is with a new program that has had success at dropping suicide rates across the country called The Hope Squad.

“It trains students to be their mentor students to be a friend really, not a therapist, but it helps them also connect maybe their friends or students or struggling with adults like trusted adults. The training that the students go through once they’ve been nominated it’s a lot on prevention, resilience, and bullying. The Hope Squad is actually in 1,700 schools across the United States and in Canada as well,” said Ashley Prager, community program assistant for the Suicide Prevention Project.

Their team has presented this new method to a Columbia County School Board Meeting and has been in with the Richmond County School System.

“Columbia County has lost a lot of students to suicide in middle and high school and this isn’t something that goes away on its own. It really takes a community effort. We are working with churches in Columbia County that have welcomed us they are experiencing suicides with their they want to know what can we do, so they have opened their arms to us. Hope Squads are for everyone,” said Tingen.

She says schools in the area are interested in participating, but everything is still in the works.

This group also works with equipping first responders with the tools to respond to life-or-death situations.

“The fire department how closely we’ve worked with them with Question, Persuade, Refer. We’re very, very grateful that we’ve had that connection there and be able to work so closely to have so many gatekeepers in our communities, especially first responders,” said Prager.

Watch the full interview below.

Most importantly, they want those of all ages to know they have options.

“I want to make sure that message comes through that it is not the only option. There is, and I’ve talked to many people who have attempted suicide, that fortunately lived and they are so thankful they did,” said Tingen.

They say their next steps are to further education and training opportunities to address and break down the stigma surrounding mental health and suicide.

They also are looking to equip community stakeholders with the necessary materials to better those in the community, while also continuing to further and grow relations with current community agencies like schools, mental health agencies and faith-based communities.

“Every single life has value and my goal is for all children to grow up and become whatever their goal was the next astronaut the next president, whatever it is, that discovered the cure to cancer, you never know what the possibilities are. And when a life is cut short, of course, it is a dramatic impact on them not fulfilling whatever their dream was, and the loss is substantial,” said Tingen.

The Richmond County Suicide Prevention Coalition they’re apart of meets once a month. They’ll discuss new data, reducing rates and more.

Their next meeting is February 22 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.

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