Here’s how and where to get help; use this or give to a friend

Published 5:00 pm Tuesday, May 6, 2003

People must seek help if they or someone they know is contemplating suicide or suffering from depression, says Sue Eastgard, Youth Suicide Prevention Coordinator for Washington. People often struggle with inadequate insurance and finding counseling, but options exist on both sides of the Columbia River – regardless of income.

Clatsop CountyClatsop Behavioral Healthcare provides care for Oregon Health Plan patients, director Steve Estes says. For those without insurance, the clinic provides care on a sliding scale based on income. The clinic staff tries to see everyone within two weeks. If a case is more dire, he says, counselors will see that person first. If someone is in crisis, Estes says clinicians will see the person regardless of his or her ability to pay for treatment. Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare is at No. 10 Sixth St., Suite 103 in Astoria and also at 783 First Ave. in Seaside. The clinic can be reached by phone at (503) 325-5722 in Astoria or (503) 738-4115 in Seaside. The clinic maintains a 24-hour crisis line at (503) 325-5724.

Several private counselors practice in Clatsop County. Check the phone book under psychologists, counselors or psychiatrists for details.

A Suicide Bereavement and Support Group meets 7:15 p.m. on the third Thursday of every month at Vince Morrison’s counseling office at 555 Bond St. in Astoria. For more information, contact coordinator Claudia Edwards at (360) 642-2692.

Bereavement support groups for children meet at Lutheran Community Services. The support groups are free for children and funded through Lower Columbia Hospice. LCS also provides counseling for adults, which can be paid for on a sliding scale. For more information, call 325-6754.

National Alliance for the Mentally Ill meets at 7 p.m. the second Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. at the Premarq Center, at 65 N. Highway 101 in Warrenton. For more information or help call 738-5231.

Pacific County, Wash.Willapa Counseling Center providescare for Medicaid or Medicare patients, director Roland Lindstrom says. For those without insurance, the clinic provides care on a sliding scale based on income. People are usually able to get into the clinic within 10 business days, but clinicians will see more urgent cases first, regardless of a person’s ability to pay, Lindstrom says.

Willapa Counseling is at 1107 Pacific Ave. N. in Long Beach and can be reached at (360) 642-3787 or toll-free at (800) 884-2298. For after-hours service, the office phone number is diverted to a phone crisis intervention service based in Portland.

Complimentary therapyIn addition to traditional medical care, people can seek “complimentary therapy,” with herbs, massage and hypnotherapy, among other things. Vicki McAfee, owner of A Gypsy’s Whimsy Herbal Apothecary at 1124 Marine Drive, recommends herbal supplements and aromatherapy for people suffering from depression. Because of the gloomy weather in the winter, people complain of depression more frequently. McAfee also refers people who seek other kinds of complimentary therapy.

OregonPeople seeking training to assist in suicide prevention programs can contact Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training. Training sessions cost $40 per participant for groups of 14 to 30 people.

To organize a training session, call Josephine County Mental Health Department ASIST Director Gary McConahay at (541) 474-5365 or see the program’s Web site at www.jcmhd.com/suicideprevention.htm

For more information regarding Youth Suicide Prevention in Oregon, call Ron Bloodworth at (503) 731-4978, ext. 440, or log on to the Web site at www.ohd.hr.state.or.us/ipe/ 2000plan/welcome.htm

WashingtonWashington Youth Suicide Prevention director Sue Eastgard hosts training sessions, if communities invite her. She can be reached at (206) 297-5922 or by logging on to www.yspp.org

If someone calls (360) 665-TEEN, they’re likely to catch DeWayne LaPointe, a pastor at Peninsula Assembly of God in Ocean Park, Wash. LaPointe started the teen hotline, funded through his church, shortly after the suicides last year.

The hotline will continue to operate through the summer to “pick up the slack for some of the other agencies” when the school is not open, he says.

National contact detailsCounselors are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at the National Hopeline Network (800) SUICIDE.

Another teen talk line is available through Teen Link at (888) 431-8336.

Other useful numbers include a National Hotline at (888) SUICIDE or a Youth Crisis Hotline at (800) 999-9999.

For more information, log on to American Association of Suicidology at www.suicideology.org