I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
Seven teen suicides around the small towns of Thoreau and Prewitt in McKinley County have led state, federal, school and Navajo officials to join forces, the Albuquerque Journal reported over the weekend.
Agencies, especially those of the Navajo Nation, are providing counseling and staffing a 24-hour hotline to deal with the fallout from seven suicides by teens 17 and younger, the Journal tells us.
Michelle Linn-Gust, president-elect of the American Association of Suicidology, told Journal reporter Olivier of the unimaginable pain left in the wake of the teens’ suicides and how important it was for health professionals to help the communities grapple with that reality.
“It’s going to take years for these people to process the grief of what they’ve been through as a community,” Linn-Gust said.
“My concern is for the long-range health of this community,” she said. “The community will require long-term support.”
Residents and mental health professionals have posited various explanations for the spree of suicides, ranging from the region’s struggling economy to drug and alcohol abuse and a lack of opportunities and activities, Uyttebrouck writes.
The Journal story also tells of how Indian Health Services is offering stepped-up counseling services in Thoreau. That includes:
• 24-hour crisis intervention services at the Thoreau Clinic, 3 Navarre St., 505-862-8250.
• IHS staff will offer behavioral services from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Thoreau Chapter House.
• IHS crisis hot line: 877-836-8110 or 505-862-0225 or 505-862-0227
