OPINION

Opinion: Recognizing mental health warning signs can save lives

Marcus Thompson
Opinion contributor
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, opiates – including heroin and prescription painkillers – are present in 20% of the more than 48,000 deaths a year in the U.S. that result from a suicide.

Like so many families across our community, mine has been affected by addiction. An uncle became addicted to heroin, contracted HIV and subsequently died from the disease.

As a member of the construction industry, I know that addiction to drugs and alcohol, along with other mental health factors, can lead to suicide. And through my involvement with the Center for Addiction Treatment (CAT), where I currently serve as president of the board, I know that hope, help and healing are available.

Since 1970, CAT has remained a leader in the treatment of addiction, providing modern scientific approaches to the assessment of medical care of patients suffering from addiction. As we reflect on Suicide Prevention Month, it is important to understand the number of overdoses corresponds heavily to the level of mental stress affecting people. 

The stress experienced by people across the country in 2020 is believed to be linked to COVID-19. All the factors that came into play during the pandemic were things we don't want to happen to our patients with mental health and addiction issues: transportation challenges, economic stress, increased isolation, family and social stress.    

We know in construction that other factors can also negatively impact mental health, including isolation and loneliness, increasing financial and family resources, workplace injuries, chronic pain, stigma and other barriers to care seeking and lack of treatment and recovery options.

Tragically, construction workers are nearly five times more likely to die by suicide than other jobs. Research shows that drug and alcohol addiction can lead to suicide, and drug use has unfortunately been on the rise among construction workers.

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, opiates – including heroin and prescription painkillers – are present in 20% of the more than 48,000 deaths a year in the U.S. that result from a suicide. While depression and other mood disorders are the number-one risk factor for suicide, alcohol and drug abuse are ranked a close second.

Research shows that white men still face the highest risk of opioid overdose as a group, but a University of Cincinnati study found that the rate of overdose is growing fastest in a different group: Black men.

Alleviating the stigma of addiction is difficult, in part because the rejection of people with addiction or mental illness arises from violations of social norms.

Among business leaders, there must be wider recognition that susceptibility to the brain changes in addiction are substantially influenced by factors outside an individual’s control, such as genetics or the environment in which one is born and raised, and that medical care is often necessary to facilitate recovery as well as avert the worst outcomes like overdose.

When people with addiction are stigmatized and rejected, it only contributes to the vicious cycle that entrenches their disease. 

At Skanska, we are trying to make a difference through the following steps: 

Openly discussing mental health during town hall/all hands gatherings, project review meetings, site orientations, toolbox talks and crew reviews. 

Providing training on recognizing workers who are struggling with their mental health and provide them with the information and resources available to them. 

Fostering a culture where it is okay to ask someone if they are struggling; if they thought about seeking assistance; and even if they have or are contemplating suicide. 

Providing signage on sites and hardhat stickers to raise awareness. 

Changing our vocabulary by not using the term "committed" suicide; instead, we say that people died by or of suicide. 

If we all strive to recognize the potential mental health warning signs in our colleagues and then letting them know that help is available, lives can be saved.

Marcus Thompson is the community development officer in the Cincinnati office of Skanska USA. 

Marcus Thompson