Suicide and attempted suicides affect more people than you might realize, and when the economic downturn results in upheavals, such as lost jobs and homes, the numbers rise. According to a SAMHSA press release,

“This is a critical situation – calls into suicide crisis centers have substantially increased during the past year – 54,054 calls in the last recorded month alone — with between 20 to 30 percent of calls being specifically linked to economic distress,” said SAMHSA Acting Administrator, Eric Broderick, D.D.S., M.P.H. “These funds will help provide desperately needed assistance to those on the front lines, responding to this urgent public health need.”

Suicide is a permanent solution answer to a temporary problem and that’s what economic crisis are. No-one is saying it’s easy to get through this type of crisis, but it is do-able.

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• In the United States, please call 1-800-273-TALK if you feel yourself sliding to the edge and considering suicide.
• In Canada, check out the Centre for Suicide Prevention to find what number you should call.
• In the United Kingdom, Suicide.org lists numbers for you.
• Australia’s Suicide.org lists their prevention organizations as well, as does New Zealand’s Suicide.org.
• Internationally, for a list of many other countries and their help lines, go to Worldwide Suicide Crisis Hotlines.

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Photo courtesy PhotoXpress.com

Post from: Blisstree

U.S. Suicide Help Calls Rising

According to this article, Washington state to enact assisted suicide law , written earlier this year, this law allows for “aided dying,” not “euthanasia” or “assisted suicide”:

“Aided dying is neither euthanasia nor suicide,” said Terry Barnett, president of the Washington branch of Compassion & Choices advocacy group.

“It’s not euthanasia because euthanasia implies action by a physician to end a patient’s life. It’s not suicide because people who choose aid in dying are not choosing to end their lives.

“They don’t want to die — they’re choosing to end suffering that cannot be relieved and suffering that they are experiencing that is worse than death.”

The law is called the Death With Dignity Act .

The person at the center of this, the first one to die under this new law, is Linda Fleming, a 66-year-old who had been living with late-stage, terminal, pancreatic cancer. She made this choice when she was still able to with a clear mind and the ability to make her wishes known.

Death under these circumstances is rarely easy and for those who fear that people who believe in laws like this are rejoicing – I doubt it. While they may be grateful that Ms Fleming was given this opportunity, it’s never a good thing to see someone die.

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Image: iStock

Post from: Blisstree

1st To Die in New WA State Suicide Law

But on April 16, Jaheem appeared happy when he came home from school with a glowing report card. It may have been a glimmer of hope for his mother Masika Bermudez that her darling boy may have found peace with the situation. But later that evening, when her calls for him to come to dinner were not answered, she and Jaheem’s sister went up to his bedroom and found his body in a closet hanging by a belt.

This, just weeks after another 11-year-old boy, Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, from Massachusetts, took his own life after relentless taunts by his peers.

What most surprised me is that DeKalb County, Georgia has what experts called an “exemplary” anti-bullying program in place that included an awareness program and a specially trained staff member to address the issue. Kids even were asked to sign a no-bullying pledge.

So what went wrong? And what can we, as parents, do to stop our child from bullying or being bullied, since we cannot rely simply on our schools?

Here’s yet another resource, a free Bully Reporting Site powered by www.BullyStoppers.com where parents and students can provide details of bullying situations. And, here is an example what the reports look like. The anonymous bully reporting is designed to help students who suffer from bullying, decrease behaviors that build over time and lead to violent outbursts, create a deterrent effect against bullying in a school or bus, and prevent embarrassing students who report problems.

Will it help? Who knows. The U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center seems to think that such a system could have prevented many of the countless school shootings over the years. Regardless, a workable solution must be found before another child kills himself.

Photo, Flickr, sarah bara wears mascara

Post from: Blisstree

Suicides Question Anti-Bullying Programs

According to this young boy’s mother, he was constantly getting picked on at school. Kids made fun of him, called him gay, said he acted like a girl. Eventually it took a toll, he didn’t want to deal with it any longer and took his own life. Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover was found hung by an electrical cord, his mom found him like this only moments before she was due to go to a meeting at the school over the bullies.

”They were always saying, ‘you’re gay, you must be gay, you act like a girl.”

There are no words I can say to ever make her feel better, this was her baby. I’m so sorry this has happened. I will also say, tonight readers check on yours (or tomorrow), find out how they are doing in school and see how the kids treat them. Start an open communication. Don’t forget to tell them how much you love them.

In the meantime, how do you deal with bullies? Has your child been a victim of a bully at school? Is there a way to end this?

source

Post from: Blisstree

11-Year Old Commits Suicide Due to Bullies

One reason for this could have to do with thinning of the right cortex of the brain. This thinning could be one reason why certain people are able to adapt more easily to emotional events than others. It’s also one reason depression is hereditary.

Research has changed quite a bit since even the time when Sylvia Plath experienced depression (and wrote about it in her novel, The Bell Jar.)  . The increased knowledge we have today may mean that treatment for people more prone to depression can be targeted and therefore more effective.

Image: Barnes and Noble.com.

Post from: Blisstree

Suicide in the Family

Now her son Nicholas Hughes, just 47-years old, has also taken his own life. Hughes was single and had no children of his own. He had recently left his job as a marine biologist to open a pottery studio.

Hughes grew up with his father and sister, Frieda. Both of his famous parents have written about him in their poetry.

Frieda Hughes has struggled with depression in the past as well, and has said of Nicholas, “He was a loving brother, a loyal friend to those who knew him and, despite the vagaries that life threw at him, he maintained an almost childlike innocence and enthusiasm for the next project or plan.”

Image: Barnes and Noble.

Post from: Blisstree

Sylvia Plath’s Son Commits Suicide

GEORGETOWN — A Georgetown man struggled for years, battling a painful spine injury and fighting to obtain Social Security benefits. He even reached out to a television reality show, hoping to be a better dad to his two sons.

Friday night, his struggle ended in a Georgetown cemetery. Scott Terrill died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest after a 90-minute standoff with police.

Terrill carried ”a lot of emotional baggage from the past,“ said Dwayne Russell, pastor of Safe Harbor Baptist Fellowship in Georgetown, who will officiate at his funeral.

Despite those trials, Terrill was a dedicated father, Russell said. His appearance on a Supernanny episode that first aired in January showed his ”desire to be a better dad.“

Terrill, 37, suffered from reflex sympathetic dystrophy since an accident about five years ago, said his mother, Margaret Ng.

The disorder causes sufferers to feel continuous, intense pain out of proportion to the severity of the injury, which gets worse rather than better over time. There is no cure.

Terrill had tried getting a job to work from home, but he could only sit up only a certain amount of hours of the day, Ng said.

”It might not have looked like it on the TV, but he could not get up for more than a couple hours a day because of the RSD,“ she said.

The Supernanny episode featuring Terrill first aired on Jan. 23. Terrill said he had struggled to set boundaries for his sons, Lane and Tate, who were 11 and 5 at the time, because of his own harsh childhood.

In an attempt to avoid repeating the past, Terrill went to the other extreme, where he could not set discipline in his home.

Terrill later became the mascot for the show’s ”Foxy Dad of the Year“ competition.

Ng said Terrill went camping with his sons and was also involved with his eldest son’s soccer and his children’s schooling.

”He was a loving father with a big heart,“ Ng said.

On Friday, Terrill called Georgetown police about 6:50 p.m., Capt. Scott Starns said Monday. He told police he was thinking of killing himself and had a gun.

Terrill asked to speak to Police Chief Greg Reeves, and told him he was at his father’s grave at the Georgetown Cemetery.

Officers went to the cemetery, blocking off the scene and evacuating some of the houses nearby.

As he talked to officers, Terrill had a .38-caliber handgun pressed to his chest the whole time, Starns said.

”About an hour and a half into this whole scenario, they thought progress was being made, and he just abruptly squeezed the trigger,“ Starns said.

Scott County Coroner John Goble pronounced Terrill dead at Georgetown Community Hospital about 9 p.m.

Terrill grew up in Georgetown and attended Lexington Catholic High School, where he played basketball. He obtained his GED and went to one year of college at Morehead State University, Ng said.

In 2002 he ran in the Republican primary for a state House seat against Charlie Hoffman, but lost.

At Safe Harbor Baptist Fellowship, Russell said he had not seen or spoken to Terrill in six or seven months. But he said Terrill, a likeable guy who had been active in the church, had remained in contact with other church members.

Terrill’s death has greatly affected his congregation, Russell said. Many watched Terrill grow up, and church members have helped take care of his children.

”People who are struggling with those emotional struggles, they need to get connected with other people,“ he said. ”Not one of us as human beings could handle the stresses and struggles of life by ourselves.“

A graveside service will be 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Georgetown Cemetery. Visitation will be 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Tucker, Yocum & Wilson Funeral Home.There are two things that Scott’s story teaches us. One, is that the personal struggles (that we all face) can become overwhelming if we do not seek out support. We live in a society that makes connecting with others, easier than it has ever been. There are support groups, internet chat groups, moms groups, shows like Supernanny and many other resources for gaining emotional support. We never have to be alone, if we choose to allow others into our lives and actively seek them out. If you have suicidal thoughts, or even feel an overwhelming sense of hopelessness/loneliness, please reach out to someone. There are services that are dedicated to just that purpose, like 1-800-SUICIDE. Remember, suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

The second, less important lesson is this: What you see on a reality television show is never enough to assume that you know a person. Forty-three mniutes just isn’t enough time to paint a complete picture of anybody’s life. I read things about Scott that I had no idea he was dealing with. I’m sure you felt the same as you read the above excerpt. ABC had to show only the parenting aspect of Scott’s life, because of time constraints. Scott obviously dealt with so much more than what we were allowed to see. I can certainly attest to the fact that our lives are far more complicated than what you saw on March 5th’s episode of Supernanny. People assumed so many things about us, just as I’m sure they did about Scott. It is human nature to draw assumptions, I know. However, maybe this will teach us to be more compassionate when judging people based on a first impression, brief encounter, or even a television episode. Watch the Terrill episode again, this time with the knowledge that you’ve gained through this tragedy. I’m willing to bet that you will come away with a very different idea about Scott and his struggle to be a better father. I know that I sure will.

Post from: Blisstree

Lessons Derived From A Tragedy

James Scott Terrill, age 37, died Friday, July 4, 2008, in Georgetown.He was born in Lexington on April 6, 1971, to Margaret Kenley Terrill Ng, of Georgetown, and the late Charles Ralph Terrill. He was a member of Safe Harbor Baptist Fellowship in Georgetown.

In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Safe Harbor Baptist Fellowship, Building Fund, 131 N. Broadway St. Georgetown, KY 40324.

I do not have any other details, as of yet. I do know that his family, especially his two sons, must be in a world of shock and hurt. I offer my family’s condolences and prayers for peace from the Heavenly Father. 

Source: Georgetown News

Post from: Blisstree

In Memory Of James Scott Terrill