September is National Suicide Prevention Month, a time to remember the lives lost by suicide, the impact it has on loved ones, and to raise awareness about suicide prevention. According to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, California has the sixth lowest rate of suicide in the United States, but the number of suicide deaths in the state increased between 2020 and 2022. 

On this week’s “In Focus SoCal,” host Tanya McRae meets one man who shares his life story of dealing with depression and his suicide attempt 15 years ago. Arnold Chun, who’s appeared in a number of top shows on television, said he decided to see a mental health therapist in his late 20s after feeling angry and having thoughts of wanting to do destructive things. 

“That was through the encouragement of some of the friends that I had when I was in acting school, and seeing their stories and listening to the kind of help that they received,” Chun said.

When he lost his insurance coverage, Chun could not afford to return to his therapist and started drinking in excess. One night in 2010, he reached his breaking point and attempted to commit suicide while speeding in his car. 

“I lost control of the vehicle and I spun out and hit a tree. I was definitely trying to commit suicide and take my own life as a result of how I was feeling that night,” he said. “It was definitely by the grace of God that I walked away from that accident.”

Chun noted how that was a turning point in his life and returned to seeing a therapist where he slowly unpacked trauma from his youth, and looked at how that affected him in ways he didn’t even realize. 

McRae also sits down with Lula Haile, vice president of 998 Operations and Network Engagement at Vibrant Emotional Health, which administers the lifeline. This summer marked two years since the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline was rebranded to 988, and it has received 10 million calls, texts and chats from individuals seeking help since July 2022. The lifeline expanded its services in the last year to help more groups. 

“We added Spanish text and chat which really was an expansion of services for our Spanish-speaking individuals, our LGBTQI+ youth services, which provided dedicated services and support for LGBTQI+ youth and recognizes their really unique challenges and needs, as well as our ASL support, which introduced American Sign Language services to the cater to the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities,” said Haile. 

The 988 lifeline is also preparing to begin using geo-routing technology to enhance cellphone users’ connectivity to local services when they call 988. Haile said the technology will allow more personalized care to the caller who is seeking help. 

Also on this week’s show is Sen. Laphonza Butler, who was appointed to the U.S. Senate to finish the term of the late Dianne Feinstein. Butler became only the third Black female senator in history. Her time ends this December as she is not seeking a full term. Butler discussed the work she has been doing as Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, including a hearing she hosted in Arizona to examine the impact of various state laws on abortion patients and providers. 

“It’s been now two years since Supreme Court released the Dobbs decision, and women across the United States really have been struggling to navigate these ever-changing laws that now govern what they can do with their own bodies and how them and their families can grow or choose not to expand their families,” Butler said. “And so in the United States Senate, my Democratic colleagues have been working incredibly hard to fortify the rights that our women have to make decisions about their own bodies.”

Watch the show every Saturday at 11 a.m. and Sunday at 9 a.m., and send us your thoughts to InFocusSoCal@charter.com.