Suicide and mental health struggles are too common in mountain towns. Winter can be tough for a lot of people. Going into this winter, I urge you to check in on your friends, the ones you know struggle with mental health, the ones that party pretty hard, the ones who are always seemingly upbeat and happy, all of them. Give them a hug when you see them, greet them with a smile, tell them how much they mean to you, ask them about their day, see how they’re really doing, tell them you love them, and go do fun things with them.
And if you are struggling, please reach out to someone. Know that you are not alone, that people love you, and that there is help. Speaking up can be really hard, but it's ok to not be ok. It's ok to ask for help. Its ok to talk about what is actually going on in your life.
In mountain towns, we live this incredible fast-paced, exciting, fun lifestyle filled with high highs, consisting of incredible skiing, and often times hard partying with drugs and alcohol. It’s a lot of fun, but it can turn dark pretty quickly. We see people leave mountain towns before the season is over to get the fuck out of there. We see people self-isolate. We see people ski less and party more. We see people having mood swings. We see it in the look on people’s faces. We see firsthand how their mental health is being affected.
Please be there for your homies.
Some harsh realities:
Suicide is the leading cause of death in people aged 15-24 and the second leading cause of death in people aged 10-14 in Colorado, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho.
Mountain towns have a suicide rate alarmingly higher than that of the national average.
79% of people who die from suicide are men.
LGBTQIA+ youth are over 4x more likely to attempt suicide compared to non-LGBTQIA+ peers. (and LGBTQIA+ people are more likely to struggle with mental health than their non-LGBTQIA+ peers)
Guys, talk to your guy friends. Men collectively don’t do a good job checking in on each other and really talk about how we’re feeling and how we’re doing. Showing a little extra love can go a long way. Be a homie.
And please be inclusive to everyone, make some new friends, and just be cool with everyone, regardless of where they came from, what their sexual orientation is, or any perceived “differences” you might have. At the end of the day we’re all human and we all are here for the same reasons.
Mountain towns can be isolating as-is. Feeling alone and isolated sucks, it can really impact people’s mental health. Having friends, feeling supported, being apart of a community, and having someone to go to can really improve mental health. I cannot stress the importance of friendship and community enough.
There’s not really one cure-all for mental health, but here’s a little checklist that has helped me a lot. Please use this if/when you're struggling, or show it to a friend if you see them struggling.
Therapy and Talking to Your Friends
Doing things you love
Getting outside and appreciating nature
Soaking up the sun whenever it’s out
Exercising. A lot.
Singing and Dancing
Making Conscious Mindset Shifts and training your brain to get out of the negative loop
Surrounding Yourself with loved ones and supportive friends
Meditating and Stretching
Deleting Social Media and stop comparing yourself to others
Making yourself a good home cooked meal
Too many of us have lost friends, family members, loved ones, and colleagues to suicide. This post aims to help educate people of the mental health struggles and suicide risk in mountain towns and to remind people to look after their friends and take care of themselves, in an effort to make a change. There has started to be a bigger push for mental health awareness and resources in the ski community within the last couple of years. And we need to keep talking about it. We, as a community have the power to create change. Little things can make big impacts. Make someone smile today.
I urge you to check out the films, “Mountain in My Mind 3” (below) and Drew Petersen's film "Feel It All" (below), and check out our brand, "Hug Your Homies". We just launched Hug Your Homies this year, in an effort to bring people together, spread love and stoke, and get people talking about mental health. Link for our Instagram is here: https://www.instagram.com/hug.yourhomies and link for our website is here: https://www.hugyourhomiesworldwide.com/ . Thank you for your time and please feel free to add your questions, comments, stories, concerns, and love.
If you or someone you know is in a mental health crisis, please call 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
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