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Expert sheds light on mental illness in Coastal Bend

After recent suicide attempts on the Harbor Bridge, the Nueces Center for Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities wants you to know there is help available.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — In just two weeks, there have been two alleged suicide attempts on the Harbor Bridge. 

Luckily, these individuals were talked down and given a second chance at life but there are still several other people who will not get that same opportunity. 

According to the World Health Organization, around one million people commit suicide throughout the world, each year. 

Andrea Potter with the Nueces Center for Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities said suicidal thoughts can be brought on by a variety of things.

"It can be anyone, it can be loss of a job, it could be loss of a family member any kind of loss in general it can happen, it can happen to anybody," she said.

Potter said there are several signs that friends and family can detect to determine if someone is suicidal, including depression, anxiety, mood swings, hopelessness, isolation, change in appetite, or talking about dying. 

Potter said they do their best to also educate the community to remove the stigma from mental illness. 

"We do things to help prevent it like we have mental health first aid which we do for the community to help family members, to help teachers," Potter said. 

Project Engineer Nick Manfredini with the new Harbor Bridge said there will also be a barrier on the pedestrian side.

"There's a 10-foot tall fence with an arch on it. It's meeting all the codes for a pedestrian bridge," he said. 

The NCMHID also has a mobile crisis team that is available to attend to people in distress.

"They have people who can go in, assess you, in home or at a facility, wherever you are," Potter said. 

There are a variety of resources in the Coastal Bend to get mental health help. The psychiatric crisis hotline is 1-888-767-4493. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. For more information, visit www.ncmhid.org or https://namitexas.org/ngcc.

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