In a story that is
becoming a frequent reminder, it was reported that another young student ended her
life by means of suicide. The victim was a 16 year student from Keystone High
School in Lagrange. She becomes another reminder that this silent epidemic
plaguing society continues to attack with reckless abandonment.
When I read the
obituary and saw the picture of this young lady, it is heart wrenching. She
looked like your typical 16 year old with the promise of a bright future and
happy life. It is clear that she had a family that cared deeply for her, who
now find themselves searching for answers that they may never learn.
As of now, little is
known about the what was going on with this student, but like the recent ones
in Medina, Sheffield and Vermillion suggest, the public reacts with the anticipated
how could she or why did she commit this act. Disappointingly, that outcry is
only temporary until the death fades from memory, and inevitability another one
occurs. In spite of many local deaths, there is never the sustained outcry
demanding changes in schools and community to intervene before the tragedy
occurs. However, in almost every case, the schools insist that grief counselors
will be available for the ones left behind. My question is simple; Why not create
more intervention programs to help prevent the deaths rather than provide
assistance for the survivors?
Charlie Neff, the
Executive Director of the Lorain County Board of Mental Health spoke about this
tragic death. He said; "We recognize
the tragedy of teen suicide is not just a problem for the schools to address
alone. Rather it is a community-wide problem and all of us, educators, medical
and mental health professionals, parents and youth, have an important role to
play in eliminating it."
Mr. Neff is
correct in pointing out that this is a problem in which everyone needs to be an
integral part of the solution. Not only must educators be open to training to
identify at risk kids, but the students themselves need to be included in its
solving. They must be made to feel free to approach someone when morbid thoughts
of death becomes relentless in their minds. Also, they must feel free to
approach a teacher to let them know that a friend is in crisis and then the
school must intercede and make a strong effort to protect that young person. Finally,
the schools need to be proactive in every case, and never discount the efforts
of students when they ask for help.
Currently, Mr. Neff
has announced that two network clinicians are in the process of becoming
certified in Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASSIST). They will enhance
the region's efforts to educate the public in community intervention programs.
These trained specialists will be invaluable in Lorain County and will make an
immediate impact. Kudos to the Lorain County Board of Mental Health for the effort
they are putting onward with educating the public.
Though I am
witnessing a slow thaw in the ignorance surrounding the public's acceptance of
the deadly consequence of untreated mental illness, we have a long way to
go. I have written about many similar
tragedies such as this one, and the responses that I have received have been mixed,
and in some cases, outright hostile. It is as if many people in positions of power
that can enact real change to provide the necessary support to students, dislike
the idea that what they are doing is not working! It is time for everyone involved
ensuring that immediate corrective measures take place. The work being done in
Lorain should stand as an example of how to begin to make the necessary transformation.
Hopefully, with
further information on mental illness, the stigma associated with these
disorders will continue to be diminished. With that education, a larger part of
the public will realize that mental illness is a treatable physical condition
and with treatment, the suicidal ideation will disappear, and one suffering the
disease can recover.
I have been asked
on numerous occasions as to why do people commit these acts. The best response
I can give is that individuals finally decide that, with their clouded thoughts
that ending the suffering is a much better choice then waking up and experience
it once again. I know firsthand as I lived with that domineering pain for many
years, and with the constant fear that it will one day reappear. In her book, "Night
Falls Fast", the noted Psychiatrist and Author, Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison
said, "Suicide will have seemed to
its perpetrator the last and best of bad possibilities,..." In
essence, though many will fight the demons of their conditions, when the firm
pain becomes unyielding, then self-murder appears to be the only solution.
To be clearer, anyone
who has fought the pain associated with excessive depression, life is not
viewed with the same enthusiasm as those who live within the realm rational thinking.
To draw a comparison, many people have the irrational fear that when they go to
sleep at night, they will not wake up. Conversely, when someone with an untreated mental illness
goes to bed, the overriding fear is that they "will" wake up and be confronted
with that emotional pain once again. Few people realize the magnitude of that agony,
but once someone experiences it, they never
forget it.
There are so many
words associated with mental illness and suicide. Depression, bullying,
ostracize, stigma, ignorance and the index are never ending. They seem to be a crucial
element of every suicide that we read about. Fortunately in Lorain County, it
is clear that some leaders are taking corrective measures to address the causes.
I have discovered that efforts such as theirs are rare throughout most
communities, so it is imperative that the Lorain County Board of Mental Health continue
to open eyes on this invisible killer.
On numerous
occasions, people have asked what can be done to help those afflicted. The
greatest advice I can give everyone in helping to reverse the trend of ever
increasing numbers of suicide are three simple words. These were from a book
whose author is a remarkable young woman named Lizzie Simon, whose personal
battles with mental illness and suicide were chronicled in her biography,
"Detour, My Bipolar Road Trip In 4D". The words are simple, but deliver
a powerful message. To assist your loved ones and to help prevent suicide,
never forget to "JUST BE THERE!"
