'Man Therapy' Uses Bingo To Help Prevent Suicides
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. (CBS4) - Inside Otto Pint, a group of people are coming together to offer a safe place for men to come and decompress while playing bingo. Bar owner Brian Tessari says suicide prevention is a worthy and often not talked about issue, especially in mountain communities.
"It's not talked about. Nobody wants to talk about it, and so the fact that we were able to really kind of talk about an uncomfortable situation and affect change (was our goal)," Tessari said.
They are taking their notes from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment's Man Therapy program.
Man Therapy aims to prevent suicide among working men age 25 to 54 -- a demographic that accounts for the largest number of suicide deaths in country according to the CDC.
Tessari says men in that group also are the least likely to receive any kind of support.
"The fact that people are willing to talk about this is really, really important. And that organizations and restaurants and community members will take it on is amazing progress, " said Jerrod Hindman, spokesman for the CDPHE's suicide prevention office.
Wednesday evening's bingo was the final gathering for this season but the group is committed to coming back next year.
