Ninety percent of all suicide cases could be prevented, if someone were to recognize the “signs.”

A change in one’s behavior, making or changing a will or putting personal and business affairs in order may seem typical for someone growing older and maturing, but in actuality they’re considered signs of someone contemplating suicide.

Thanks to a Garrett Lee Smith grant, the Marriage and Family Therapy program has created the Helping Educators and Learners Prevent Suicide project, ULM HELPS, aimed to create suicide prevention awareness on campus.

The numbers of suicides committed are on a constant rise and about one million people make a suicide attempt each year, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

ULM HELPS, a program designed to train students and faculty to notice the signs of someone considering suicide, as well as teach them how to respond in such situation, offers many different types of workshops throughout the semester.

Peggy Buffington, project director for ULM HELPS, presented the “Question, Persuade, Refer” model recently during a classroom workshop. The QPR model emphasizes three skills: how to question a person about suicide, persuade the person to get help and refer the person to the appropriate resources.

“We’ve trained over 200 people in the past two years,” said Buffington. “Suicide is big in the news. It’s kind of sensationalism. So I think it is important now to create more awareness, not just on ULM’s campus but everywhere around the world.”

Students who participated in the classroom workshops found the QPR model interesting and enjoyable.

“It was informative. I liked how she was straight forward; she didn’t beat around the bush, and she didn’t make us feel guilty about the way we think about those things,” said Candice Johnson, a senior kinesiology major.

While Buffington travels to classrooms to train, she’s willing to train anywhere and to anyone. “I can come to any department, the football team, baseball team [or] sororities. Wherever anyone wants me to come, I’ll come,” said Buffington.

Face to face workshops are not the only training ULM HELPS offer. Online training can be also found on Moodle.

As another way to bring awareness to suicide prevention, the Heartbeat of Monroe will host an awareness walk on Oct. 14 from 1-4p.m. at Kiroli Park. Many ULM students are already involved. “We have a long list of students that are volunteering, and they could always use more,” said Buffington.

The next workshop will be held Sept. 26, from 12-1p.m. in Student Center 170.