PRESS RELEASE

Read all about it!

SALT LAKE CITY LAUNCHES A MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS CAMPAIGN TO HELP TEENS

SLC, Utah- A new wellness initiative is pushing for greater awareness and action regarding mental health and suicide prevention among teens in the Salt Lake City area. The campaign will launch ads on Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok to encourage teens to reach out. There will also be educational classes available to teens and adults teaching healthy thinking practices and safe gun and drug storage practices.

“We realized that there was a very serious problem in our community, and that the cavalry wasn’t coming, so we needed to be proactive in addressing it,” council member Steve Mendenhall said. “We recognize that suicide prevention typically isn’t the role of the city; however, we feel that significant problems require unique solutions, and that suicide prevention needs to be addressed more broadly — it needs to be a combined effort throughout the community.”

Jenny, 16, whose younger cousin died from suicide last year, is thrilled about this new initiative. “I want people to know that they are not alone. There are people who care and this initiative will help connect people with each other and with resources they need to help each other. We are stronger together.”

Utah falls #6 in the nation for suicide rates, and for teens 10-17 years, suicide is the #1 cause of death.

“We know that Salt Lake City can change,” Mendenhall states, “We know that everyone has a part to play, and we know that we are stronger together.”

Stronger Together is a multi-faceted program that addresses wellness issues in Utah, such as mental health and suicide prevention. In 2017 they launched their first initiative regarding safe messaging practices which led to a 5% decrease of deaths from suicide in Spanish Fork, Utah.

###