Trigger warning: This article contains mention of suicide. If you are struggling or in need of mental health assistance, please reach out. You are not alone. You may call or text 988.
On Saturday, Dog-Eared Books in Ames will host a Suicide Prevention Month book club in collaboration with YSS.
Dog-Eared Books is a local Ames bookstore that offers a safe space for patrons and their furry friends to enjoy the comforts of a good book. Though Dog-Eared Books is hosting the event, they highlighted the importance of working with YSS and Ames’ mental health and sobriety service.
“We’re really excited to be hosting it,” Bailey Sterk, manager at Dog-Eared Books, said. “It’s really lovely to work with YSS. We’ve worked with them several times in the past.”
The event begins at 1 p.m. and will be held in the Dog-Eared Books loft.
The group plans to read “How Not to Kill Yourself” by Clancy Martin, a book focused on the signs and signals that lead up to a suicide attempt and how to notice them in yourself and your loved ones.
“The book itself will put people in a position that they might not always understand where suicide is going to come from,” said Brenda Tyrrell, mental health and wellness education coordinator for YSS. “The content is valuable to spread the word [about how] to prevent someone from completing suicide.”
“In How Not to Kill Yourself,” Clancy Martin chronicles his multiple suicide attempts in an intimate depiction of the mindset of someone obsessed with self-destruction,” according to the Dog-Eared Books website.
According to the book’s description, “He argues that, for the vast majority of suicides, an attempt does not just come out of the blue, nor is it merely a violent reaction to a particular crisis or failure, but is the culmination of a host of long-standing issues.”
Anyone planning on attending the event should be aware that the subject matter of the book is very heavy, with themes of suicide and self-destruction. Dog-Eared Books assures all attendees that the book club is a safe space to discuss mental health and the stigma surrounding it.
“We are always honored to be a part of our community and support those conversations,” Sterk said.
YSS will help lead the event discussion and utilize the “thumbs-up method” to ensure all attendees feel comfortable in the environment. The thumbs-up method allows readers to show their comfort level in the space without verbally confirming it.
“Our hope is that an open, honest and fully supported conversation about suicide and suicidal thoughts and behaviors will resist the stigma surrounding suicide and encourage attendees to start conversations of their own when they leave the book club,” according to the Dog-Eared Books website.
For more information about YSS, its services or the book club’s environment, contact Brenda Tyrrell at [email protected] or call 515-233-3141, ext. 4335.
Student Counseling Services: Website, 515-294-5056
Suicide Prevention Hotline: Call or text 988
Crisis Text Line: Text 741741
