According to the CDC, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States for all age groups. And that’s why the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office is raising awareness on how to prevent it.

“We see that suicide is on the rise, and we felt it necessary to do a three part series on suicide prevention,” said Deputy Chief Eddie Thibodeaux.

Through their social media campaign, “Did you know’, SLPSO is shining a light on multiple topics surrounding suicide.

“We discussed who’s at risk, some do’s and don’t’s, some myths about it, and the last thing we did was gave some information on who to contact,” explained Thibodeaux.

He adds that the Sheriff’s Office felt felt it was important to provide the public with this information, “Most people think we’re just arresting people, but one of our biggest things is deterrent. And we wanted to come out and say ‘Hey, we know there’s problems out there, but there are answers instead of suicide’.”

The CDC reports, every day, approximately 123 Americans die by suicide– they state there is one death by suicide in the US every 12 minutes. The St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office wants to decrease those numbers. The information they’re providing can very well save lives. 

If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, you can find help here:

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255)

National Hopeline Network: 1-800-SUICIDE (784-2433)

The Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386

txt4life: Text the word “LIFE” to 61222 to be connected to a trained counselor.