By Victoria Watson, Wildcats Media
PINEVILLE, La. (WildcatsMedia) — Kyah Iles, founder of Six Feet Above, a non-profit organization dedicated to mental health awareness and suicide prevention, will speak at Louisiana Christian University today, Sept. 15, during a Suicide Awareness Event titled “Six Feet Above.”
Iles is a resident of Central Louisiana and certified suicide interventionist and crisis interventionist instructor. Additionally, Iles has told her story of survival after her own suicide attemptto hundreds of students, educators, law enforcement officers, and mental health professionals throughout Louisiana.
Taylor Dauzat, the mental health counselor at LCU, believes that suicide awareness and prevention affects everyone.
“Suicide is definitely a big and growing area of concern over the last several years, especially among college students,” Dauzatsaid. “I was really inspired by her and her story and thought that she would be a perfect speaker for our students because when you are able to talk to someone who has really went through it and hear a story about a survivor, it impacts in a different way.”
Iles said her focus is to break the stigma around mental health, notably in the Christian community.
“Especially as Christians, we feel sometimes depression and God don’t go in the same sentence,” Iles said. “When you think of God, you don’t think of crying and the hard days that you can’t get through. So, it’s important that we start the conversation and know how important it is to be vocal about not being okay.”
The event, which is at 6 p.m., is open to the public in Guinn Auditorium.
