ELLSWORTH, Maine — Talking about suicide can be hard, but some free courses in Maine are making this important conversation a lot easier.
Healthy Acadia is holding free, two-day applied suicide intervention skills trainings (ASIST).
Each training teaches community members how to recognize the signs that someone is considering suicide, how to clearly and directly ask someone if they’re considering taking their own life, and how to assist individuals in a crisis, according to Health Acadia Drug-Free Communities Program Coordinator Tara Young.
“I think this is such an important training," Young told NEWS CENTER Maine. "Every time we’ve done it, I’ve had somebody come back and say, ‘I’ve used this training within a couple of months and had this person tell me if I hadn’t asked them if they were thinking about suicide and helped them, they wouldn’t be alive today.' Every time I do it, I feel at least one life is saved, and that’s really important.”
The next training has been postponed to Oct. 17 and 18. It will be held at the Cobscook Institute in Lubec. Anyone 16 years of age and older can email Young at tara@healthyacadia.org or call (207) 812-2090 to reserve a spot.
You can learn more about ASIST here.