RATES CLIMB 1
The
national average
suicide rate is
13.26 i per 100,000
individuals
BY IAN VAN ORDEN
photos by Collin Berêod
The Vista Bridge is nicknamed “Suicide Bridge” due to the high number o f suicide
attempts from the bridge. Following three fatal attempts in 2013, a suicide barrier
(pictured below) was added to help disuade further attempts.
4 Clackamas Print NAY 31,2017 ttieclackamasprint.com
Over the years, I have known several
people who have contemplated suicide.
Many more have expressed feelings of
depression or despair. In each situation,
with the help of friends, family, and in
some cases counseling, they were able
to escape the feelings of despair that had
overwhelmed them and nothing ever
came of those thoughts. Four years ago,
that changed.
Shortly after the death o f my great
grandmother, a close relative of mine lost
her spouse in a sudden and unforeseeable
way. Because o f the circumstances that
surrounded the loss, she blamed herself.
Though the fault certainly did not fall
on her, the loss was understandably
shattering.
Even before the death of her husband,
she had always struggled with abuse she
had experienced during her childhood and
had used alcohol as a coping mechanism.
Afterwards? this was accentuated even
m ore. She becam e verbally abusive
towards those around her and, in many
cises, ended up driving everyone away
that attempted to help. It wasn’ t long
after that she first expressed a wish to die.
Though it was not the first time I haid
heard someone express this wish, it was
the most shocking. Perhaps because it
was family this time, or because of how
involved in the situation I was, but it felt
different. It felt sincere. The next couple
of years passed much like this, and no
matter what anyone attempted to do to
help her, no matter how much m yself
or others tried to convince her to see a
counselor, she refused.
Finally, about two years after her
husband’ s death, she w ent back to
work and eventually met and began a
relationship with another person. This
seemed to help, though her abuse of
alcohol continued.
Then it happened. One night, after she
returned home from her job, she poured
herself a glass of wine. And then another. 1
And another. A n hour or two passed
before her boyfriend noticed the bottle
of Xanax that had been prescribed to her
to help combat her depression was empty.
The two fought, with my relative claiming
it was empty to begin with, but luckily her
boyfriend informed me of the situation
and we were able to call an ambulance and
get her to the hospital in time. .»
We were not able to see her until the
next day, and though she was out of the
woods, she looked as if death itself loomed
beside her. For the short time that she was
conscious, she could barely reply and she
was hardly lucid. The doctors informed us
that she had, in fact, ingested the Xanax,
along with other common painkillers. It
took another two days before she was
discharged from the hospital and a few
more before she fully recovered.
Though this was the only true suicide
attempt she made, before she was able
to recover from losing her husband she
would attempt to harm herself on one
occasion. Shortly after she began to see
a counselor, something I believe truly
helped her work through much of the pain
that had built up from her past.
Though she managed to recover, there
are many that do not. According to the
N ational Institute of M ental H ealth,
suicide is the tenth leading cause o f
death in the United States and the second
among ages 15-34. Over the last 15 years,
total suicide rates have increased about
24 percent. M en are also four tim es
more likely to attem pt suicide than
women. Oregon’ s suicide rates are also
substantially higher than the national
average. In 2015, the average national
rate was 13.26 per 100,000 individuals.
Oregon’ s sat at 17.77.
“4ffess//iff your counseling
services is a good way to start.”
-D avIdKIeln
The American Foundation for Suicide
Prevention, a non-profit organization
dedicated to suicide prevention also
- states that these numbers may not be
100 percent accurate. It is likely, if not
certain, that the actual num bers are
higher than the available data states,
due to the stigma surrounding the topic
of suicide. This stigma lias discouraged
some from reporting or possibly even
from seeking the help that they need.
Our society has a problem with mental
health. Though we have more resources
for those who seek help than ever before,
our society still looks down on those
who choose to take advantage of those
resources, and looks upon those that
attempt suicide as weak or selfish. It is
imperative that we move away from these
assumptions if we are to have any success
helping those that truly need it.
Clackam as C o m m u n ity C o lle g e ’s
counseling department struggles against
these stigmas. Stephanie Schaefer, the
department chair for counseling services
at CCC, spoke about many events-the
counseling department holds to bring
awareness-„to the services available at
the college.
“ The year before last we did a suicide
awareness event,” said Schaefer. “We had
people put yellow ribbons up if they had
ever thought about or attempted suicide,
and then another ribbon up for every
person they had lost or they knew who
had attempted it, and there were a lot of
people putting up ribbons that you would
not expect.”
.photos by'Sam Weston.,
Schaefer
Klein
; I David Klein, a counseling intern at CCC,
also had some ideas on how to remove
the stigma.
“ Be pretty open about what suicide is at
an early age,” said Klein. “ That starts with
education, talking about what depression
is, what it feels like, what suicide is. I feel
like suicide is a word that I didn’t really
know or was very taboo until I was in
high school.”
, He added, “ It wasn’t really talked about.
G etting it out there, desensitizing it.
There are some people whose parents
might be struggling with depression, who
might have committed suicide, so it’s part
of their lives before we’re really talking
about it.”
What can you do to help someone who
is suffering from suicidal thoughts or
depression?'
“ Accessing your counseling services is
a good way to start,” said Klein. ‘’Here at
CCC we have people who come in who say
they have a friend who is experiencing
X , Y and Z, and what can I do? We have a
couple of good resources here that have
good information, some that show the
signs pf suicide or signs and symptoms
of depression with numbers to.call in an
emergency.”
Be supportive arid d o n ’ t be afraid
to speak up if you believe they could
potentially be in danger. Urge them to
see a professional, and do not leave the
person alone. If you do believe they truly
intend to harm themselves, or if they are
in the process of hurting themselves*
contact emergency services.
A sa society, we have made great strides
to improve how we handle mental illness.
The Unity Center for Behavioral Health
located in Portland, for exam ple, is a
•fantastic resource for people struggling
with mental health that need immediate,
professional services We are, however,
still a long way from where we need to
be. As long as people continue to feel
Uncomfortable seeking help for these
issues, or feel weak or lesser for having
the issues to begin with, we are failing
them.
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>f
f f g
■ m l I Lli
Men
are four times more k
likely to attempt
suicide than
SOURCE: NATIONAL INSTITUE OF MENTAL HEALTH
Clackamas Print MAY 31,2017 thedackamasprintcom 5