The Umatter YYA program for 2018-19 is complete. Overall, 12 schools and 68 youth participated and implemented Mental Health Wellness Community Action Projects in their schools. These projects included: mental health awareness week activities, an interactive play about healthy dating relationships, anxiety management resource information campaign, a school wide wellness day, and more. For a full list of [...]
Bellows Falls Union High School and Compass School brought teams of students to participate in the Umatter YYA program last month. These youth were excited to participate because they wanted to learn how to cope with their own stress and how to help their friends in distress. The Umatter YYA program begins with a [...]
Umatter for Youth and Young Adults (Umatter YYA) is a youth leadership and engagement initiative. The goal is to promote mental health wellness: healthy coping mechanisms among youth and young adults, and the ability to recognize when a peer needs help and how to provide it. The aim is to foster healthy community cultures for [...]
The impact of legalization of marijuana is far more involved than we may anticipate, including the potential for long-term debilitating effects on personal health, and an impact on educational and health care systems. JoEllen Tarallo, Ed.D., MCHES, FASHA, Director, CHL Should we be concerned about increased use of marijuana, now commonly referred to as cannabis, [...]
September was Suicide Prevention Month, which brought awareness to the fact that suicide is a preventable public health issue. Two events in fall 2016 brought this awareness one step further, helping Vermonters take those preventative steps. Umatter, the statewide suicide prevention campaign, emphasizes that “you matter because you may be able to help someone,” and [...]
Vermont’s suicide rate is higher than the national average by about 30 percent. According to the Centers for Disease Control, in 2014 Vermont’s rate was 19 people per 100,000,compared to 13 per 100,000 nationally. Additionally, 48 percent of Vermont suicides involved guns. Since last year, firearms groups and suicide prevention advocates have been working together [...]
Zero Suicide is a commitment to suicide prevention in health care systems and is also a specific set of strategies. Listen to our Executive Director, Dr. JoEllen Tarallo - along with Dr. Stephen Broer, Director of Behavioral Health Services at Northwestern Counseling & Support Services - discuss suicide prevention strategies in this live interview with [...]
Three Vermont locations will host Out of the Darkness Walks in the months of September and October, to raise awareness and funds for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). Individuals are invited to walk or to donate to a walker. AFSP has set a goal to reduce the annual suicide rate 20% by 2025, [...]
A large study published this year found significant results related to heavy alcohol use and male suicide risk. Among men, those who died by suicide experienced an 8% increase in heavy alcohol use at the onset of the recent recession than did men in a non-suicide comparison group, whose alcohol use decreased by 2%. September [...]
Last night I read the heartbreaking Facebook entry of a Vermont mother who lost her daughter to suicide five years ago. Her daughter would have been 21 today. She implored anyone suffering from suicidal thoughts to reach out and get help. What happens when someone asks for help? If you ask people what you should [...]
