City leaders discuss mental health resources available in Sioux Falls
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - September is Suicide Prevention Month, and community leaders in Sioux Falls are sharing resources available for those seeking help.
At Wednesday’s One Sioux Falls media briefing, Public Health Director Joe Kippley and Helpline Center Chief Operating Officer Amy Carter discussed mental health resources available in the community, including 988 and Falls Community Health, and ways to reduce the stigma.
According to Kippley, SAMSA data shows that more than 49,000 people in the U.S. died by suicide in 2022, meaning one death every 11 minutes.
“In Sioux Falls, we saw an increase in 2023, up to 38 suicides. That had been averaging more in the low 20s in the prior two years, but still, roughly two to three suicides a month in the city of Sioux Falls,” said Kippley.
Kippley said South Dakota is above the national average in suicide rates. Nationally, there are 15 suicide deaths per 100,000 people. South Dakota, however, is seeing 20 suicide deaths per 100,000 people.
For Native Americans in South Dakota, that rate only increases to 55 suicide deaths per 100,000. For Caucasians in South Dakota, that number is 18 per 100,000.
Through the city, Falls Community Health provides a primary care clinic on top of the Avera and Sanford health systems. Kippley said that while these providers are primary care, they deal with mental health often.
“In our top five diagnoses, major depression disorder and general anxiety disorder are both in the top five. So, when we’re talking about suicide risk and assessing people’s mental health, our primary care clinic and other primary care providers around the community are really the front lines of the action in mental health,” said Kippley.
Kippley said the best advice he can give is early intervention is key, recovery is possible, resources are available, and we need to reduce the stigma in asking for help.
“Us Midwesterners, I’m originally a Brookings kid, sometimes we are not willing to talk about our feelings or share or talk openly, but I’ve also lived in other parts of the country where people talk about the Midwest, and South Dakota in particular, as a place where you ask people how they’re doing and you actually listen for the answer. So, that’s something that I think we can talk pride in,” said Kippley.
The Helpline Center is another resource that has been crucial for supporting mental health in Sioux Falls.
988 is a statewide number for those experiencing substance use concerns, suicidal thoughts or a mental health crisis. Those on the other end of the line at the Helpline Center have advanced degrees in mental health to help others work through a mental health crisis.
988 is available through chat, texting or calling. Carter said this is crucial as the younger generation tends to use the chat or text option rather than calling.
“Help is three numbers away. No matter what sort of help you need, help is three numbers away,” said Carter.
Carter said over 20,000 contacts have come into the 988 number in the last two years. 18,000 were calls, 1,300 were texts and 858 were chats.
97% of the contacts that come into 988 in South Dakota are stabilized or de-escalated without further intervention.
Carter said 988 can be used to seek help for a loved one, ask about resources or just to talk. Only 32% of the contacts to 988 are crisis-related.
72% of the 988 contacts are from females.
Carter said that recently, major cell phone carriers have implemented geo-routing, which means calls are routed to the state from which they are calling, not the resource center matching the area code.
“It allows us to connect people with resources locally versus trying to respond to someone in New Mexico when they’re living in South Dakota or vise versa,” said Carter.
Learn more about Helpline Center resources here.
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