Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Avera Health is launching an "Ask the Question" campaign to fight an increase in South Dakota suicides.
In 2021, the South Dakota Department of Health reported 198 suicide deaths, the largest number since it began tracking suicide deaths. The campaign urges people to ask people showing warning signs of suicide if they are thinking of suicide, according to the Sept. 6 Avera news release.
"People may already have had the thought, yet research tells us that asking the question often provides relief by giving the person an open door to respond honestly," Thomas Otten, assistant vice president at Avera Behavioral Health Hospital, said.
Anyone experiencing thoughts of suicide can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 for 24/7 support.