Mental health: the quiet guy and the 988 line

More construction workers die by suicide each year than from falls, struck-bys and electrocutions put together. The rate in this trade runs roughly four times the general population. This is a five-minute talk, not a lecture.

The points

• CDC's numbers put suicide among construction and extraction workers at about 65 per 100,000 men, against roughly 14 per 100,000 for the country as a whole. Approximate, but the gap is not close.
• Why us: long hours, layoffs between jobs, pain and the pills for it, being away from home, and a trade where nobody talks about it. Same crew, same hazards, same fix: notice, and say something.
• Check on the quiet guy. The one who used to talk and stopped, who is giving away his tools, who is drinking more, who says everybody would be better off. Ask him straight: are you thinking about killing yourself. Asking does not plant the idea.
• 988 is the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Call or text, 24 hours, English and Spanish. Put it in your phone now, for yourself or for the guy next to you.
• The rule that applies is training in recognizing an unsafe condition, and a man on this crew who is done with living is one. Nobody gets written up for saying they are not okay.

Why it goes wrong

The figure: CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report on 2021 deaths found a suicide rate of about 65.6 per 100,000 among men in construction and extraction occupations, and 56 per 100,000 for men in the construction industry overall, against about 32 for all working men. The national rate across everyone is around 14. Call it roughly four times the general population and about double other working men; the exact ratio moves year to year, the direction does not.

Why the trade: it is mostly men, in the age range where suicide peaks, with seasonal layoffs, chronic pain, easy access to opioids after an injury, long drives, time away from family, and a culture that says you handle it yourself. Firearms are in most trucks. None of that is a character flaw; it is the risk profile of the job, the same as a trench is.

What to look for: a change. Withdrawal from the crew, irritability or picking fights, showing up late or hungover more than before, talking about being a burden or about not being around, giving away gear, a sudden calm after a bad stretch. You know these men; you will see it before anyone in an office does.

What to say: ask directly and privately. 'You have not been yourself. Are you thinking about suicide.' The research is settled that asking does not increase risk, and it is the question most people in that place are waiting for someone to ask. Then listen, do not argue him out of it, and do not leave him alone if he says yes. Call or text 988 with him, or drive him to the ER.

988: the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, call or text, 24 hours a day, free, Spanish by pressing 2 or texting AYUDA. Veterans press 1. It is for the man in crisis and for the man worried about him. Many company insurance plans also carry an EAP with free counseling; the number is on the card or with the office.

No lecture, and no fixing. This talk is on the schedule because the rate is what it is, and because a crew that checks on each other is safer in every other way too. You do not need to be a counselor. You need to notice, ask, and know one three-digit number.

Questions for the crew

1. Who on this crew have you not really talked to in a week, and what is going on with him?
2. If a guy on this crew told you he was thinking about it, what would you actually do in the next ten minutes?
3. Does everyone here have 988 saved in their phone right now?

To close

Everyone here saves 988 before the trucks move today, and this week each of you checks on the man you have not talked to.