PINE BELT, Miss. (WDAM) – While Mental Health Awareness Month is highlighted in May, behavioral centers and school districts strive daily to educate those unaware of services available.

Mental health has an umbrella of subjects that fall underneath, one being suicide.

“I think that there is a lot of progress that’s happened, but I still think there’s need to be more progress,” said licensed social worker Michelle Wohard, Southeast Mississippi Rural Health Initiative behavioral health consultant.

Day in and day out, Wohard spends time with patients battling mental health illnesses.

“What I do is I come in and I do just a brief assessment,” said Wohard. “I provide support resources referrals, and crisis intervention as needed. I also do coping skills. And yes, we do have people come in here saying they’re suicidal.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control, suicide is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. Reports show suicides increased by 2.6% from 2021 to 2022.

“There’s no discrimination,” said Wohard. “Everybody is affected from all walks of life. Children, teenagers, adults, older adults. Anybody and everybody is affected.”

The CDC reported a little more than 7,000 individuals ranging from age 10 to 24, committed suicide in 2021 through 2022. That age group hits grade school to college students.

Forrest County School District counselor Kris Arnold said she knows all too well the importance of catching and recognizing warning signs within schools.

“Any changes in a student that you see could potentially be a suicide warning sign,” Arnold said. “Changes in behavior, change in academic performance. Changes in physical appearance, hygiene, things like that,” said Arnold.

Arnold said after spotting those changes, it’s her job to set up one one-on-one talks with the student, talks that eventually may lead to outside resource help.

“We do what we call a ‘threat assessment’ to see if it’s a high risk or a low risk,” Arnold said. “Students who are at a high risk we advise out. Typically, we work with Pine Grove (Behavioral Health),” Arnold said. “So, we send our students over there to work with mental health professionals, where they would do intake interviews and meet with the families.”

Wohard said although mental health is being talked about more, she still believes there’s a stigma.

“I think the more we talk about it, the better,” Wohard said.

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