Fighting Suicide
By Albert B. Kelly
We are three months away from the event, but on October 21st
the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is holding a walk at the
Cumberland County Fairgrounds to raise awareness about mental health issues and
also to raise funds for research, education, and legislative action.
You will no doubt be hearing more about the event as the
time draws near, but it is not too early to engage, plan, and to help spread
the word…it is not something to take lightly.
We live in in strange times. Even as we speak, suicide is,
according to NJ State health data, the third leading cause of death in our
state among young people 15-24 years old and second among those aged 25-34.
Think about that for a minute.
We’re talking about what I like to think of as the
springtime of our lives- the years between 15 and 34 years old- the time when
young people are supposed to dream dreams and make plans and soak in the
fullness of life. The fact that suicide is second and third on the list of
those things that end these young lives is a sobering thought.
I’m not a mental health professional and so there are many
things about this type of anguish I do not understand. But I can’t help but
think that whatever it is, it includes a profound sense of hopelessness,
despair, and disconnection.
I say that because on average there are twice as many
suicides as homicides in the state. Closer to home, between 2005 and 2014,
there were 136 suicides in Cumberland County versus 106 homicides. With these
numbers as a backdrop, I have to wonder just what we’ve given away over the
last couple of generations that make these numbers a reality.
In generations past, it was the depths of our relationships
with family and friends that helped sustain us through those desperate times in
our lives. I also think of the church and the role that a strong and robust
faith played in allowing people to access a port in the storm.
While we are seemingly far more connected these days through
social media and digital platforms, I suspect that all these platforms have
really done, at least in our personal lives, is offer a cheap alternative to
the sometimes hard and uncomfortable work of building real relationships- which
makes us vulnerable.
There was a time not all that long ago when a person’s work
gave them a sense of purpose as well as pride and dignity. With technology and
artificial intelligence, workers are just one algorithm away from being
obsolete. No group is more impacted than the 15-34 year-old group.
Then there are those in the 45-60 year-old group, too old to
start over and too young to retire. This group is in much the same boat as the younger
group- meaning they too are just an algorithm away from obsolete. Not to stray
too far, but this might also explain some of why we have such a raging opioid
epidemic in this country.
Which brings me to another thought, there is suicide that is
quick and there is suicide that is slow like substance abuse unfolding over
months and years. The report “Suicide in New Jersey 1999-2014” gives some grim
stats. Hanging, suffocation, firearms, and poisoning appear to be the primary
means by which individuals end their lives.
What we don’t know, and perhaps can’t know, is how these
individuals were dying a little bit inside each day leading up to the point when
they believed that ending their lives was the only way to end their suffering.
That’s why the October 21st event is so important;
because suicide prevention begins and ends with us- it is a way to take the
grief, and perhaps guilt, of hundreds of families and do something redemptive,
namely help the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention here at the local
level.
Join the effort on Saturday, October 21, 2017 at the
Cumberland County Fairgrounds to fight suicide and raise awareness about mental
health in order to “turn hope into action, and create a culture that’s smart
about mental health”.
Funds raised at the walk will allow for more research,
educational programs, advocacy for public policy, and support for survivors of
suicide loss. There will also be memorial activities to honor loved ones along
with resource tables to visit before and after the walk.
You can register by visiting www.afsp.org/cumberlandcounty