Preventing suicide
12/09/15 05:36
In some ways the message is simple. I’ve written about it many times in this blog. There are deaths that can’t be prevented. We all age. No one is immune from the effects of time. In the course of time all of us will die. Some deaths are premature. Accidents happen. People make mistakes. A moment’s thought or a different decision can make a big difference. In the midst of this one cause of death is the one that is the most preventable. More lives could be saved by preventing this type of death than any other.
That cause of death is suicide. Death by suicide can be prevented. Studies have proven that Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) work. When people are trained in suicide first aid, lives are saved. When suicide prevention networks are formed in communities, death by suicide is decreased.
Knowing that many suicides can be prevented, however, has a downside. For those who have lost a loved one to suicide there is a deep sense of the depth of the tragedy. What happened didn’t need to happen. It could have been different. “If I had only known . . .”
The problem is huge and it affects a lot of people. In the United States, more than 39,500 lives are lost to suicide each year. It is estimated that close to a million people attempt suicide annually - that’s an attempt every minute. It is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. and the second leading cause of death of teens and young adults. And here in South Dakota, our suicide rate is 2 1/2 times the national average.
Preventing suicide means that we have to talk about a subject that is marked by stigma and one that has been kept quiet in many communities. We are uncomfortable talking about mental illness. We are uncomfortable talking about suicide.
It is, however, a conversation that we must have.
Talking saves lives.
Three days mark the calendar for those of us who work for the prevention of suicide in Rapid City:
World Suicide Prevention Day is September 10 each year.
National Survivors of Suicide Day is the Saturday before Thanksgiving.
Our local “Out of the Darkness” walk is the Saturday before Mother’s Day.
In recent years, we have moved our community observance of National Survivors of Suicide Day from the Saturday before Thanksgiving to the Saturday after World Suicide Prevention Day. We have discovered that the unique grief of survivors and the prevention of suicide are not two separate topics, but intimately related subjects that need to be approached together.
For us, today is the day. I know from experience that the group won’t be large. There’ll be less than 50 of us gathering in the fellowship hall of the church. The day will be part remembrance as we honor the lives lived and remember the loved ones lost. We will tell stories. We will share a service of remembrance.
The day will be part education as we watch the International teleconference report for World Suicide Prevention Day, learning of the latest in research, teaching ourselves the skills we need to continue our work of preventing suicide, discovering how to network for greater effectiveness.
The day will also be about building a community where we are free to talk and express our feelings. We have already decided that we won’t be silent. We won’t bow to the stigma. We will speak openly about loss and grief, but also about hope and the possibility of prevention.
The day isn’t about publicity and press, however. We know that speaking publicly, getting the attention of media, and talking to the general public is important. But we also know that there is a difference between hype and genuine conversation. We know that the messages we need to communicate don’t lend themselves to mass production, but rather are shared person to person in small group settings. For us, in our community, today, getting to know one another and engaging in genuine conversation is more important than mass communication.
It’s been a tough year in our community. Suicide is still on the rise in the hills. 2015 looks to be unfolding as another record year for the number of suicides. Our LOSS (Local Outreach to Survivors of Suicide) team has responded to more suicides than ever. We’ve gone to too many funerals. We long for a break - a change - a decrease.
Suicide is never simple. It is always complex and involves a number of underlying factors. Feelings of pain and hopelessness come from a variety of illnesses and conditions. Some of those illnesses are easily diagnosed and treated. Treatment for clinical depression, for example, is over 85% effective. Some of the underlying causes of pain and hopelessness are more difficult to identify and treat. People go for years without any formal diagnosis and experience a maze of ineffective or less-effective treatments along the way. It is not uncommon for sufferers to self treat with alcohol or other drugs that intensify rather than decrease the problems.
The ease of access to the means of suicide also affects the suicide rate. Because there is a degree of impulsiveness involved in most suicides, especially teen and young adult suicides, having trouble obtaining the means of suicide can help with prevention. The leading means of suicide in our community are firearms, medicines and rope or other items used for strangulation. Worldwide, poisons, including pesticides that are banned in many countries are on the rise as means of suicide. As I wrote before, the issue is complex. There are specific steps that can be taken to make some means less available to those contemplating suicide. Other things are harder to totally remove from the environment.
Like many other complex problems, we know that we do not possess a complete solution. We know that there is more to learn. We know that there is more that can and should be done. We know that we can’t fix all of the problems of the world.
But we can make a difference.
And so we will gather again and again.
It is an investment worthy of the gift of time that we have been given.
That cause of death is suicide. Death by suicide can be prevented. Studies have proven that Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) work. When people are trained in suicide first aid, lives are saved. When suicide prevention networks are formed in communities, death by suicide is decreased.
Knowing that many suicides can be prevented, however, has a downside. For those who have lost a loved one to suicide there is a deep sense of the depth of the tragedy. What happened didn’t need to happen. It could have been different. “If I had only known . . .”
The problem is huge and it affects a lot of people. In the United States, more than 39,500 lives are lost to suicide each year. It is estimated that close to a million people attempt suicide annually - that’s an attempt every minute. It is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. and the second leading cause of death of teens and young adults. And here in South Dakota, our suicide rate is 2 1/2 times the national average.
Preventing suicide means that we have to talk about a subject that is marked by stigma and one that has been kept quiet in many communities. We are uncomfortable talking about mental illness. We are uncomfortable talking about suicide.
It is, however, a conversation that we must have.
Talking saves lives.
Three days mark the calendar for those of us who work for the prevention of suicide in Rapid City:
World Suicide Prevention Day is September 10 each year.
National Survivors of Suicide Day is the Saturday before Thanksgiving.
Our local “Out of the Darkness” walk is the Saturday before Mother’s Day.
In recent years, we have moved our community observance of National Survivors of Suicide Day from the Saturday before Thanksgiving to the Saturday after World Suicide Prevention Day. We have discovered that the unique grief of survivors and the prevention of suicide are not two separate topics, but intimately related subjects that need to be approached together.
For us, today is the day. I know from experience that the group won’t be large. There’ll be less than 50 of us gathering in the fellowship hall of the church. The day will be part remembrance as we honor the lives lived and remember the loved ones lost. We will tell stories. We will share a service of remembrance.
The day will be part education as we watch the International teleconference report for World Suicide Prevention Day, learning of the latest in research, teaching ourselves the skills we need to continue our work of preventing suicide, discovering how to network for greater effectiveness.
The day will also be about building a community where we are free to talk and express our feelings. We have already decided that we won’t be silent. We won’t bow to the stigma. We will speak openly about loss and grief, but also about hope and the possibility of prevention.
The day isn’t about publicity and press, however. We know that speaking publicly, getting the attention of media, and talking to the general public is important. But we also know that there is a difference between hype and genuine conversation. We know that the messages we need to communicate don’t lend themselves to mass production, but rather are shared person to person in small group settings. For us, in our community, today, getting to know one another and engaging in genuine conversation is more important than mass communication.
It’s been a tough year in our community. Suicide is still on the rise in the hills. 2015 looks to be unfolding as another record year for the number of suicides. Our LOSS (Local Outreach to Survivors of Suicide) team has responded to more suicides than ever. We’ve gone to too many funerals. We long for a break - a change - a decrease.
Suicide is never simple. It is always complex and involves a number of underlying factors. Feelings of pain and hopelessness come from a variety of illnesses and conditions. Some of those illnesses are easily diagnosed and treated. Treatment for clinical depression, for example, is over 85% effective. Some of the underlying causes of pain and hopelessness are more difficult to identify and treat. People go for years without any formal diagnosis and experience a maze of ineffective or less-effective treatments along the way. It is not uncommon for sufferers to self treat with alcohol or other drugs that intensify rather than decrease the problems.
The ease of access to the means of suicide also affects the suicide rate. Because there is a degree of impulsiveness involved in most suicides, especially teen and young adult suicides, having trouble obtaining the means of suicide can help with prevention. The leading means of suicide in our community are firearms, medicines and rope or other items used for strangulation. Worldwide, poisons, including pesticides that are banned in many countries are on the rise as means of suicide. As I wrote before, the issue is complex. There are specific steps that can be taken to make some means less available to those contemplating suicide. Other things are harder to totally remove from the environment.
Like many other complex problems, we know that we do not possess a complete solution. We know that there is more to learn. We know that there is more that can and should be done. We know that we can’t fix all of the problems of the world.
But we can make a difference.
And so we will gather again and again.
It is an investment worthy of the gift of time that we have been given.