Angie Arledge
Crisis Intervention Specialist, Crisis Lines Team
Lines for Life
At the age of 16, I attended my first funeral. A coworker had taken their own life. I had so many mixed feelings in that moment, but I didn’t know then how much suicide would impact my life and inform my passion for the work I do today as a Crisis Intervention Specialist. I’ve lost several other people in my life to suicide since then: an uncle, a high school friend, and my partner — the father of my children.
Each time, I felt blindsided by the issue of suicide – I didn’t know these people were struggling, and I didn’t have any training of what talking about suicide would look like, or whether it would help. I never had the opportunity to support them through their struggles.
After training and experience working at Lines for Life, what I know now is that talking about suicide is one of the key pieces of suicide prevention. We all struggle, and we all want a safe space that’s non-judgmental. We all want to feel heard, and we want others to listen. Thoughts of suicide happen, so LET’S TALK.
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