Mental Health organization reaches out to gamers at Fan Expo San FranciscoAttending Fan Expo San Francisco is becoming a Thanksgiving-weekend tradition for me. When I attended the first Fan Expo a few years ago, I was pleasantly surprised to see the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) tabling. They’re a volunteer organization that advocates for research and education surrounding suicide. I was intrigued because that year they were tabling in the gaming area. This year I found them amongst community organizations on the vendors’ floor. They’re still doing outreach to gamers and others suffering from mental health issues. I wanted to know why they have information directed to gamers. I spoke with Lucianne Ryan, special events coordinator for AFSP’s Greater San Francisco Bay Area chapter. Aside from being a volunteer with AFSP, she also has some serious cosplaying skills. When we met, Lucianne was wearing an awesome “Harry Potter” cosplay she made of the character Hermione Granger.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Jenee Darden: Why are you tabling at a comic book convention?
Lucianne Ryan: Well, personally, I'm here because I'm a survivor of suicide. I've lost family to suicide. Like many people here, I use things that I'm a fan of, like “Harry Potter” and gaming, to escape from some of the things in my life that I don't want to deal with. While we're here in this escapism space, it's really important that we're paying attention to what we are escaping from.
You have flyers here with tips for supporting friends and gamers who may be struggling with mental health issues or showing signs of being suicidal. Why target the gaming community? I know isolation can be an issue with some gamers.
Well, I think the problem is it's a population that may not always be able to reach our resources. Many of my friends who game, stay in their room much of the time. When they socialize, they often do it online. So they're not getting that in-person connection which is important. But when you go to something like Fan Expo, people are coming out and showing their colors here. And we actually get to interact with them.
We just celebrated Thanksgiving. The holidays can be a hard time for people struggling with mental health issues.
Absolutely. It's a tough time of the year. Loneliness is a really big contributor. Being with or without your family can make things difficult. For those of us who've lost family and friends, this can be a tough time when you're not with them. Like, I miss my uncle every Thanksgiving. I think of him every Christmas. I wish he could be here with me. Before I started doing this work, I might have just turned on a video game and tried to escape from those thoughts. But I'm here, the day after Thanksgiving, having these conversations and reminding other people to have these conversations. I think it's a great time of year to actually do this.
Thank you for doing this work. My condolences on the loss of your uncle.What are some signs we should look for from someone who may be suicidal, whether they’re a gamer or not?
I first want to point out there's a big misconception that suicide comes out of nowhere. In reality the research shows that there usually are signs. We may not just be familiar with them. So I like to remind people to look for changes in how a person talks. For example, if they’re saying things like "I’m being a burden to others" or "I’m feeling trapped." Think about their behavior. Have they been withdrawing from activities or saying goodbye to people? Have they been acting aggressively, or the opposite? Then there’s mood. Look for general loss of interest, depression, rage or anxiety. Sometimes even excessive happiness can be a sign in the later stages. Talk, behavior and mood are the three things you want to look out for. Just notice any changes from their norm.
You mentioned excessive happiness. We'll see people who are usually in a good mood and then find out they took their lives. People are left wondering what happened.
I like to be happy and bubbly because that's the way I put on a face to the world. But sometimes those are the people who are struggling the most. Think about [ a person’s] change in behavior. If someone has been depressed for a long time and all of a sudden one day they seem happy, it potentially could be because they've made a decision to end their life and they're feeling relieved.
You don’t have to be worried about all of your happy friends. But if you notice a very marked change [in someone’s mood], that’s something to pay attention to.
I'm looking at this flyer you have with the top five tips for supporting friends and gamers. If you're a gamer who lives in North Dakota and plays online with somebody here in San Francisco, are there signs you can notice remotely?
Yeah, the first one I would say is if you're regularly gaming with a friend and they don't log on– big red flag. Also, notice if they’re [missing] regularly scheduled games. Like a lot of my friends play “Rocket League.” If you miss a Thursday night playing “Rocket League” with the buddies, that’s a really big deal. Also another sign is if you're on your mics and you're listening and they say something like, "I just want to die." I think everyone jokes about that sometimes in this society. But if saying it is out of character for them –there could be an issue.
Pay attention if they start using harsh language, especially if they discuss any kind of means of suicide. A really big red flag is if they ever say they have a plan or they've thought about what kind of methods they might use.If you notice some of these things, you don't have to be their therapist. It's really okay to contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lines.
What kind of support does the The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention offer?
We don't offer therapy, support groups or things like that. The main things we do are community based. So we just finished our fall season of fundraising walks. We also do some public policy and advocacy work.
Have people come to this table who are struggling right now?
Yeah. All of the volunteers at this table are trained in something called Table Talk, so we know what to look for and we kind of know how to handle those conversations. But we have people who stop by because they need someone to listen to them.
We met someone today who just lost a family member last week. We had someone who lost someone eight years ago. Although it might get easier to talk about over time, the pain doesn't really go away. I like being here at Fan Expo because we have this “Messages of Hope” board where you can see so many people have experienced this or know someone who has.
Is there anything else you’d like to mention?
Check on your friends and your family. Use the 988 Crisis Line if you need help. Remember that there's hope for a better tomorrow. Your story is definitely not over.
If you are in crisis, please dial 988 anytime to call, text or chat with the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
