Help increase awareness during Suicide Prevention Month

While there is a good chance that you may not know that September is suicide prevention month, the sad reality is that chances are you probably know somebody, who has died by suicide.

Mark White is Editor of The News Journal.

In Kentucky, one person dies every 11 hours from suicide. It is the second leading cause of death in people ages 15-34, and the fourth leading cause of death in people ages 35-54. Suicide enters the top 10 leading causes of death starting at age 10.

As I said shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic first struck, sadly I won’t be at all surprised if we don’t end up losing more people to suicide because of the isolation brought about by the pandemic than we do from the actual virus itself.

For the last several years, I have tried to dedicate at least one column in the month of September to talking about the issue of suicide. It’s a real problem in our society, and one that people are reluctant to discuss.

My first real experience with suicide came a few years back when I bumped into a friend that I had made through work, but we hadn’t seen each other in a quite a while.

As fate had it, we were both in the same place at the same time waiting to talk to the same person for entirely different reasons. We sat around for probably half an hour talking about life and so forth. He spent most of the time talking about his wife and daughter, but mainly about his daughter, who he adored.

Then the guy we were both waiting to talk with got free for a few minutes. What I needed was very short so I talked to him first, said goodbye to my friend, and left.

Less than 24 hours later, one of my co-workers walked into my office to inform everyone that my friend, who I spoken with the prior day, had died.

As it turned out, he killed himself.

I was in shock. I had spent half an hour talking to my friend a day earlier and had no clue anything was wrong.

Sometimes people decide to kill themselves, and those around them have no clue that anything is wrong.

Other times though there are warning signs, such as a sudden change in behaviors or giving away prized belongings for no obvious reason.

Sometimes there is something that you can do.

If you have a friend withdrawing from social interactions, or giving away cherished belongings or quitting activities that they love, then I would encourage you just to check on them to see if they are OK.

Make a phone call. Pay them a visit. Send a text message. Reach out on social media.

Just let them know that you wanted to check on them and see if they are OK.

Let them know that somebody cares. Make sure they know that if they need to talk to someone, then at least one person, you, is there to listen to them.

Sometimes reaching out to someone, who is down, can be the difference between life and suicide. Sometimes it doesn’t change anything.

If you make the effort though, you won’t have to live with asking yourself what if, particularly in the event your friend kills himself or herself. Just by checking on someone you may just save a life.

This year the “Still I Rise” one-mile suicide prevention walk was held virtually in downtown Williamsburg during the month of September due to COVID-19.

The walk is in honor of Bethany Faith Lawson, who was one of three people and one of two teenagers in Whitley County to die by suspected suicide over a 24-hour time period in August 2018.

She was a sophomore at Whitley County High School, who liked to model, loved horses, was artistic and passionate about rescuing animals.

The purpose of the walk is to raise awareness about suicide prevention and to promote the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, which is 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org.

Help is also available by texting 741741 and the word “home” to that number. Help via chatting through text is available 24/7 at that number.

Below are some links to resources you can seek if you or someone you care about needs help.

• Zero Suicide in Healthcare and Behavioral Healthcare – www.zerosuicide.org.
• Suicide Prevention Resource Center – www.sprc.org.
• National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention – http://actionallianceforsuicideprevention.org.
• American Association of Suicidology – www.suicidology.org.
• American Foundation for Suicide Prevention – www.afsp.org.
• National Council for Behavioral Health – http://www.thenationalcouncil.org.

If you are thinking about harming yourself, please seek help.