Are you thinking about taking your own life?
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Help is available for people contemplating suicide. Coalition President Mike Flaherty said the annual walk is created to educate the public about the problem of suicide and offer prevention as a viable solution.
In August, VA hosted its first roundtable discussion, “Suicide Prevention is Everyone’s Business”, with corporate sector partners. The reasons are myriad: shortages of mental health professionals, high rates of firearm ownership, and the rural sense of proud independence, among many others. The forum will benefit yourself, loved ones, co-workers and your community. “Thus, an important public health problem is left hidden in secrecy, which hinders effective prevention”, said Erie County Health Commissioner Gale Burstein.
September is Suicide Prevention and Awareness month.
“Once again, we would like to see the community come together and support survivors, who are individuals who lost someone to suicide”, she commented. While this does occur, most of the time the person suffering has tried to talk about his or her pain or suicide-related plans to somebody else.
This week, September 5-11, is National Suicide Prevention Week and local events will be taking place on the Arkansas Tech University campus later this week to help raise awareness. Most experts believe the majority of suicidal people don’t want to necessarily die; they want to end their pain.
Research suggests people who attempt suicide differ from others in many aspects of how they think, react to events and make decisions. “Drug and alcohol issues are contributing factors, but the stigma of mental illness gets in the way of getting help – it’s like a dark cloud that doesn’t go away, but we’re getting there”.
In Kansas, suicide is the 10 leading cause of death overall and the 2 leading cause of death for people ages 10-34.
In Vermont, the Vermont Suicide Prevention Center can be found at www.vtspc.org and the Vermont Suicide Prevention Coalition meets quarterly. It is a health concern that needs to be addressed.
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World Suicide Prevention Day’s 2016 theme – CONNECT, COMMUNICATE, CARE – is made up of the three words that are at the heart of suicide prevention, that can guide community members in how to help.
