Baptist Health Corbin presents ‘Chalk the Walk’ for National Suicide Prevention Awareness Week

Sept. 4-10 is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Week, and Baptist Health Corbin is doing its part to help with their “Chalk the Walk” campaign.

By presenting this event, Baptist is aiming to “raise awareness for our friends, family and co-workers who are battling a mental health condition.” In order to participate, hospital officials are urging anyone in the community to create a positive message using sidewalk chalk. It can be a picture, an inspirational message or both.

After creating the sidewalk art, participants are encouraged to take a photo and e-mail it to brcmarketing@bhsi.com. Entries will be accepted through Sept. 18, and after a voting period between Sept. 19-26, three winners will be announced on Sept. 27. Those winners will receive prizes for their work.

On Wednesday, several Baptist Health Corbin employees were outside the hospital’s Briscoe Clinic, creating their own works of inspirational art on the sidewalk there. In the group was recreational therapist Mike Dezarn, who shared his own personal story about struggling with mental health issues.

“For probably 14-15 years of my life, I was severely depressed, and had terrible anxiety,” Dezarn said. “I had suicidal thought almost daily. I just couldn’t see the light. I put a good mask on, but inside I was completely broken.”

“I hid it really well,” Dezarn added. “A lot of people dealing with these issues will mask it so that no one will know what they’re going through. What ultimately kept me around was my family, and thinking about what would happen to them if I actually went through with it.”

“Eventually, I started looking at things closer, and I realized that things weren’t really as bad as I thought they were. I realized that there are a lot of positive things to focus on. There are so many beautiful things in the world, and so much to live for.”

“If you want to look for the bad stuff, you can find it easily,” Dezarn cautioned. “But it’s actually the same way for all of the good stuff too.”

Dezarn said that Suicide Prevention Awareness Week is all about “bringing to light the struggles that people are going through that might lead them to commit suicide,” and as for Baptist’s sidewalk art campaign, he said, “people can stop, look at these messages, read them, and know that people are here to help them and support them.”

Dezarn encouraged anyone dealing with depression, anxiety, or thoughts of suicide to take the time to reach out to someone. “If you don’t, it will just build and build,” he said. “You might think that you’re broken, or weird, or messed up, but you’re not. You’re just human, and there are more people than you think who are feeling the exact same way as you.”

To learn more about how to get help for mental health issues, call Baptist Health Corbin at (606) 528-1212. Those in need can also contact the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by texting or calling 988.