Minneapolis VA Suicide Prevention Community Engagement Coordinator Andrea Perry presents information on the VA SAVE method of helping veterans in crises.

NEW ULM – Local veterans, family, and community members learned how to help veterans in crisis during a Veterans Affairs (VA) S.A.V.E. lecture Monday.

S.A.V.E. stands for:

• Signs of suicidal thinking should be recognized

• Ask the most important question of all

• Validate the Veteran’s experience

• Encourage treatment and Expedite getting help.

The training was led by Andrea Perry, a Community Engagement Coordinator on the Minneapolis Veterans Suicide Prevention Team.

As someone who has been a mortician and a nurse before going into a VA career, Perry said she has seen multiple perspectives of veterans’ suicide. In her junior year as a mortuary science major, she served practicum days in a local funeral home. There, she said she worked on a family friend and veteran named Matt who had died by suicide.

Perry said signs of suicidal thinking could include statements like ‘I don’t have any future.’ ‘I’m hopeless.’ or ‘I don’t know how much longer I can take this.’ Actions could also be signs, including giving away personal possessions, surrendering pets, engaging in substance abuse, and withdrawing from friends and family.

If these signs are present, Perry said the most important question of all needs to be asked. ‘Are you thinking of killing yourself?’ She said it should not be asked as someone is walking away, or in a way that implies you are looking for a ‘no’ answer, like ‘You’re not thinking of killing yourself, are you?’ It is ideal to ask in the flow of conversation and only after warning signs have been seen.

Once a veteran shares their experience and potential crisis, it is important to validate their experience. This means talking openly about their crisis and suicide. Listen, allow the veteran to express their feelings, and give encouraging comments. Do not try to joke about it, or pass judgment about their situation.

If a veteran is having thoughts of suicide, try to get them help. Perry said actions taken to help a veteran in crisis should not be done behind their back, as it will create resentment and drive a further wedge between them and their supports. If they are in a crisis and seriously considering suicide, don’t leave them alone and call 911 to receive assistance.

Perry said having these conversations and providing information is crucial to make sure everyone can help.

“We need the help of every one of our community members,” she said. “Having conversations about suicide reduces stigma and can lead to a powerful positive impact.”

In her experiences traveling across the state telling people what to do, she said she has learned suicide prevention is extremely complex.

“Most people in the community have the intention to help,” Perry said. “They need the transfer of resources to feel empowered.”

Having crisis services like the 988 hotline, veterans crisis line 1-800-273-8255, and South Central Movile Crisis Team 1-877-399-3040 are huge assets, Perry said. With the amount of resources growing online and offline, she said conversations around suicide have gotten much richer in the last few years.

“People are open and willing to have conversations after COVID about mental health and well-being,” she said. “The delivery has changed. I used to only do virtual presentations. Now that we can be in person, we can have conversations like this. We’ve been able to reach further as time goes on.”

For more information, a free course on VA S.A.V.E. is available at https://learn.psycharmor.org/courses/va-save.