SACRAMENTO – May marks Mental Health Awareness Month and since the stay-at-home order, suicide prevention crisis hotlines across the state have seen an uptick in calls from people struggling with depression, loneliness, and anxiety.
One Mother, Danielle Hunt, recently lost her daughter to suicide and is now raising awareness when it comes to mental health during COVID-19.
Hunt’s daughter, 15-year-old Jo’Vianni Smith was a talented softball player who one day wanted to attend UCLA. But on April 2, a day her mother will never forget, Smith took her own life.
“She was a great kid, she had so much life left in her… She was smart, funny, crazy, a kid at heart, but she had so much drive,” Hunt said.
She says before the stay-at-home order her daughter’s days were made up of socializing and sports, but once the coronavirus outbreak began, Smith struggled with staying indoors.
“Being stationary for that long is a big deal,” Hunt said.
She says that when the incident occurred, Smith would have normally been at school if it were a typical day.
The CEO at Well Space Health, Jonathan Porteus, says the clinic has seen a 40 to 60 percent increase in calls to their suicide prevention crisis line since shelter-in-place began in California.
“We have a number of calls specifically about COVID, beyond that there’s the anxiety, the ambiguity, the helplessness people are feeling,” Porteus said.
He notes that it’s specifically impacting young adults and teenagers just like Jo.
“We have young people stuck at home and it’s very stressful. Going out and communicating being in school – they don’t like to be in school, but it’s the context of school, it’s the context of being around others,” Porteus said.
Since Jo's death, her mother is warning other parents to speak to their kids about mental health during this pandemic.
“If it can happen to my kid who was that crazy, bubbly, driven, motivated, active kid that you wouldn’t expect, it can happen to anybody’s kid,” Hunt said.
Typically, 3,500 calls are made to the suicide hotline a month, but since the coronavirus crisis that number has jumped to 4,700 calls a month.
Hunt says she’ll continue to raise awareness around her daughter’s story and stay strong because that’s what Jo would have wanted.
If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts and need someone to talk to, you can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.