Edmond Family Counseling Creates App To Aid In Suicide Prevention

It's never easy talking about suicide and suicide prevention, but a new cell phone app is trying to improve the lines of communication.

Edmond Family Counseling has created the "BeEdmond" app that not only provides teens with suicide prevention information, but several other tools.

The app was created in response to Edmond's unusually high suicide rate a few years back. BeEdmond now gives anyone who downloads it the tools they need to find help.

On any smartphone, a quick search through the app store finds this tiny little bumblebee; a small bee carrying a wealth of information including registering for your ACT or driving test. But it also gives youth and teens battling suicidal thoughts immediate access to help.

“Anything that will slow a teenager or even an adult down in a situation where they are thinking about acting on a suicidal thought is important,” said Kathy Matthews, Edmond Family Counseling.

Studies have found even when there is a computer in the room-- kids are more likely to use their phone to search for suicide prevention help. Matthews says this is why they wanted created an app that puts this information and more at teens fingertips.

“Our agency and our board members wanted to create something that would be helpful for our teenaged and young adult community here in Edmond,” she said.

Through the app kids are able to email and even text agencies to find support. They can also watch videos from families who lost loved ones to suicide and testimonials from people who've committed suicide.

Matthews says kids these days are increasingly becoming more and more isolated.

“The analogy I like to use is that that we have a group of young people who are dying of thirst in the middle of a river and we need to teach them how to be proactive,” she said.

Matthews says many school counselors, youth leaders and coaches are encouraging their kids to be proactive and download this app before they might actually need it.

This app has been downloaded an estimated 3,000 times. And it's free for both Android and Apple users.