Attendees gathered at Bay View Park ahead of the walk to listen to speeches and receive support from community partners, focusing on mental health resources.

Pat Loughery, Alpena resident and author of “Stay Here,” took the stage at the Alpena Bandshell to address those who were participating in the walk.

Loughery described his battle with depression and with suicidal ideation. He told a story of the time he attempted suicide but reached out to a friend before he was able to follow through on his plan.

“He came home,” Loughery said, referring to his friend who lived with him. “Came downstairs and found me, just trying to take my life.”

News Photo by Kayla Wikaryasz Partners in Prevention Executive Director Mary Schalk speaks to a crowd of participants on Saturday at the sixth annual Alpena Suicide Prevention Walk.

He said his friend laid on the floor with him, comforting him while he cried.

“I was so thankful that someone heard me,” Loughery said.

Loughery described his experience with depression and suicidal ideation as being something he tried to hide from others.

“I was struggling inside my head, but nobody knew it, because I masked it and I was really, really good at masking it,” Loughery said.

He said as a kid he was “wild” and said “I had a lot of fun, but at the same time, I was struggling inside my head.”

News Photo by Kayla Wikaryasz Participants walk along the route on Saturday in the sixth annual Alpena Suicide Prevention Walk.

Loughery said he observes people “getting in trouble for things” and encouraged attendees to take someone’s “acting out” as an opportunity to intervene.

“If you see some of your friends acting out, if you see family acting out, don’t chastise your kids for acting out,” Loughery said. “Sit down and ask them. So ask them if something’s wrong. Because at the end of the day, that might be all they need.”

Loughery said that through his struggles, and leading up to his attempt, the people around him did not speak up and ask if there was something bothering him.

“All I ever wanted was someone to hear me in a sense of, ‘I’m crying out, I’m acting different,'” Loughery said. “My friends could see it. The people around me that knew me a little bit, could see it … and nobody said anything.”

Loughery concluded his speech by encouraging walk participants to “be kind to people.”

“At the end of the day, you don’t know, I don’t know what you’re going through. You don’t know what I’m going through,” Loughery added. “Just ask people, ‘Are you all right? Is everything okay?’ That goes a lot farther than you could ever think.”

The Alpena Suicide Prevention Walk is organized by the Alpena Suicide Prevention Team, with Partners in Prevention at the helm. The walk is held on the fourth Saturday in September each year at Bay View Park. The loop route has been the same each year, at 2.35 miles on a fitness tracker.

After Loughery shared his story, Partners in Prevention Executive Director Mary Schalk offered some words before the walk began.

“The more of us that can talk about our own personal struggles, the more we make it OK for other people to speak up,” Schalk said. “That’s so important.”

Schalk added that the Alpena Suicide Prevention Team is working on several projects, one called Creating Safer Spaces.

“If we can put space and time between the tool someone might use to take their life, and that moment of thinking ‘now is my time,’ we can really save lives,” Schalk said.

Firearm locks and medication lock boxes were some of the available resources at the event.

“We have a support group that meets every month,” Schalk added. “It’s a place where people who understand, who have been where you are, and although their experience isn’t exactly the same, they have some idea, and we can really help and support each other when we have lost someone.”

That support group meets from 6 to 7 p.m. on the second Monday of the month in the lounge of First Presbyterian Church, 1600 W. Chisholm St. Although the group meets in a church, it is not affiliated with any religion. The Partners in Prevention offices are also located in the Presbyterian church building.

If you or someone you know needs immediate help in a mental health crisis, call or text 988 to reach the 24/7 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

For more local mental health resources, visit partnersinpreventionnemi.org.

Kayla Wikaryasz can be reached at 989-358-5688 or kwikaryasz@TheAlpenaNews.com.