A4
OPINION
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, April 10, 2019
Help and hope Choose to continue the sentence
for Oregon’s I
suicide crisis
GUEST COMMENT
T
hat 825 Oregonians
died in a single
year by suicide is a
sobering assessment of our
collective ability to help
those who feel trapped in
their own despair.
That it’s such a hidden
statistic, however, is an
embarrassing refl ection of
our collective ignorance.
Hundreds more people
died by suicide in Ore-
gon in 2017 than by traffi c
crashes, fi rearms or infec-
tious disease. The sui-
cide rate in Oregon is well
above the national aver-
age, as it has been for the
past three decades. Yet this
undeniable public health
issue has lacked the pub-
lic attention and sustained
outcry that it desperately
needs.
Some of that stems
from the stigma that per-
sists around mental ill-
ness and suicide, shut-
ting off conversation or
even acknowledgment that
a suicide has occurred.
Some may stem from the
fear of encouraging “copy-
cat” behavior. Regard-
less of the motivation,
however, our families,
schools, communities and
media organizations have
too often chosen the easy
way out by simply keep-
ing silent. Meanwhile, the
suicide rate in Oregon and
the United States has con-
tinued to climb.
Clearly, silence hasn’t
worked. This week, news
organizations around
the state are collaborat-
ing to bring attention to
the problem of suicide,
report on populations at
highest risk and share
resources on how to pre-
vent it. While the “Break-
ing the Silence” project
won’t necessarily provide
answers, it aims to start
a statewide effort to con-
front it. Using responsi-
ble reporting practices that
examine, not sensational-
ize, suicide, these stories
can provide the common
understanding, motivation,
tools and questions that
can help the community
mobilize against this pub-
lic health threat.
The data show just how
widespread a problem this
is. Oregon’s suicide rate is
14th highest in the coun-
try, and suicide is the sec-
ond leading cause of death
for those ages 10 to 34,
according to the Oregon
Health Authority. One-
fi fth of those who kill
themselves are veterans.
More than half the deaths
are caused by fi rearms.
While those statistics
may seem daunting, they
can also provide possible
avenues where leaders can
make a difference.
Such data, in the aggre-
gate, can help build sup-
port for increased fund-
ing for veterans’ health
services or provide tan-
gible prevention options,
such as the 2017 law that
allows family members
and police offi cers to peti-
tion a court to take away
fi rearms from someone at
risk for suicide or causing
harm to others.
We also need to recog-
nize that Oregon’s youth
are struggling. Nearly 9
percent of eighth-graders
self-reported having tried
to kill themselves one or
more times in the previ-
ous year and nearly double
that percentage considered
it, according to Oregon
Health Authority data.
That children just enter-
ing their teen years would
even think of suicide as an
option should be its own
open-and-shut case for
more counseling, support
and training in schools.
And health offi cials can
lead by providing guid-
ance for families, schools,
health departments, phy-
sicians and nonprofi ts on
how to talk about suicide
both as a general pub-
lic health issue and on an
individual basis.
This is not an insur-
mountable problem.
Resources already exist
and show that crisis coun-
seling lines and other
outreach efforts make a
difference.
Even friends and fam-
ily members can take steps
to help a loved one who
is struggling by asking a
series of questions about
whether they have wished
they were dead, thought
about killing themselves
or made any plans toward
killing themselves. But it
requires the willingness to
have those uncomfortable
conversations in the fi rst
place.
The effects of suicide
reach far beyond the indi-
vidual. The injury is borne
by families, friends, com-
munities and the public at
large. It’s long past time to
start treating it that way.
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
Published every
Wednesday by
“Breaking the Silence” is a
statewide media collaboration
aimed at putting a spotlight
on the public health crisis of
death by suicide in Oregon
and offering our readers, lis-
teners and viewers resources
to help if they – or those they
know – are in crisis.
Learn more at
breakingthesilenceor.com.
used to consider the semicolon
the unwanted child of punc-
tuation. It is usually misused
or mistakenly typed on the key-
board if you forgot to hold shift
while pressing for
the colon button.
In writing, semi-
colons are used
when the author
could have used a
period but chooses
to connect clauses
Ericka
for a longer, more
Wells
interesting sen-
tence. But now,
the semicolon has become greater
than a simple punctuation mark.
The semicolon changed for
me when I saw a picture of it in
a friend’s room. I asked her what
it stood for, and she replied, “It’s
when an author could’ve chosen
to end their sentence, but chose
to continue instead.” I fell silent,
working out the reasoning behind
her words.
She then told me her story
starting with her middle school
friend. They would draw semi-
colons on their wrists with eye-
liner (so it wouldn’t smudge off)
as a reminder of hope for their
life’s hardships. She suffers from
ADHD which causes her to have
anxiety; she has also experienced
depression. I realized then that it
related to survival and hope. That
same day, I drew myself a pic-
ture of a semicolon and hung it
on my wall. Her story and the
simple drawing of that semico-
lon changed my entire view of the
unwanted child of punctuation; I
was left with a yearning to learn
more.
I discovered that there is a
movement called Project Semico-
lon. Amy Bleuel started this non-
profi t organization after she lost
her father to suicide. Since 2013,
this movement has helped over
5.2 million people. They follow
the quote my friend shared with
me: “A semicolon is used when
an author could’ve chosen to end
and survive another day.
The semicolon has taken on
many different meanings. For
some, it’s in remembrance of a
loved one; for others, it is a sym-
bol of hope, optimism, support,
and/or survival. It symbolizes
strength, where people can rise
from their ashes like a phoenix
and become stronger and beautiful
once again.
For me, I see hope and inspi-
ration to achieve my dreams
and goals. Every time I look at
the semicolon on my wall, I feel
inspired to keep pushing through
the day and have confi dence that
everything will work out in the
end. But more importantly, I know
that the semicolon is more than
punctuation.
Ericka Wells is a student at
Hermiston High School and an
aspiring author writing her own
book series.
GUEST COMMENT
Through profound grief, I chose life
By Sheila Hamilton
To the Blue Mountain Eagle
I
n the days after my late hus-
band’s suicide, when I struggled
to breathe properly or imagine
a path forward for myself and my
9-year-old daughter, I began post-
ing yellow sticky notes in places I
couldn’t avoid.
On my bathroom cabinet. While
brushing my teeth, bleary-eyed and
sobbing, I’d read my scribble:
“Look to the living, love them
and hold on” — clinical psycholo-
gist Kay Redfi eld Jamison.
I’d reach for coffee beans in
the morning, overwhelmed by a
to-do list that no one wants. Cas-
ket or cremation? Call the IRS.
Cancel his phone line. The note on
the canister reminded me to rise
above:
“What do you plan to do with
your one wild and precious life?”
— poet Mary Oliver.
Sitting down to fi nally write the
eulogy for the man with the elec-
tric blue eyes, the thinker who
excused himself at parties and set-
tled in a corner chair with a book.
“There is a solemn choice in
life. Life and death; light and dark-
ness; truth and lies are set before
us. At every instant, the cry comes
for us to choose one or the other
and the choice of one involves the
putting away of the other. And we
must choose. That is one of the
certainties of life.” — writer Stop-
ford A. Brooke.
Eventually, the sticky notes
dried up. The questions and sug-
gestions fell into the sink or on the
fl oor, gathering with the dust and
chaos suicide leaves for others. But
the choice inherent in those mes-
sages stuck with me. Life or death.
With suicide, media coverage
almost always focuses on sensa-
tional acts committed by a celeb-
rity, rock musician or movie
star. Meanwhile, for every com-
pleted suicide, there are 25 people
who attempt suicide and survive,
according to the Centers for Dis-
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ease Control and Prevention.
The vast majority of these sur-
vivors go on to accept help and
fi nd meaning. The media should
pay less attention to the details
of the suicide, and provide more
resources for help. Coverage
should include the wisdom of
people who have been severely
depressed or suicidal and recov-
ered. These are stories of trans-
formation, and they speak to a
renewed appreciation of being
alive.
My late husband loved his
work as a designer and builder. He
loved books so much they spilled
over bookcases and bedsides. He
made fi res on rainy Sunday morn-
ings and practiced wrapping our
infant daughter like a burrito,
his big hands going through the
motion again and again. As if with
this child, this living refl ection, he
was fi nally going to get something
right.
But he likely had been suffer-
ing from depression and anxiety
most of his life. Instead of ask-
ing for help, he pushed his dark
thoughts and suffering to a place
of shame and denial. He refused
to be seen as suffering from a
brain illness.
After two suicide attempts, he
was fi nally diagnosed with bipo-
lar disorder. I’m still not certain
that was the right diagnosis. A bet-
ter diagnosis is that he gave up on
living.
In the weeks before his sui-
cide, he was hospitalized in a win-
dowless room that looked a lot
like “One Flew Over the Cuck-
oo’s Nest.” Nurses worked behind
thick bulletproof glass. A doctor he
rarely saw prescribed as many as
13 drugs. Counselors advised him
to quit his job and forever change
his life to accommodate his men-
tal illness.
We sat each night on stiff
couches as other patients shuffl ed
around. When he asked for some-
thing to do, the nurses offered him
crayons. He described his ordeal
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their sentence, but chose not to.
The author is you, and the sen-
tence is your life.” Project Semi-
colon’s website holds valuable
articles and resources for anyone
experiencing depression, suicidal
thoughts, loneliness, and/or other
mental diseases, and seeks to help
with every struggle.
From this movement, tattoos
of semicolons have spread like
wildfi re. These tattoos come in
all different forms, from simple
to extravagant pieces of art; there
is no limit to the creativity. Many
tattoos I’ve seen are with words
like “cont;nue,” or “warr;or,” or
“surv;ve.” But the most impact-
ful tattoo I’ve seen is a heart-
beat that goes fl at, but at the end,
there is a semicolon, and the heart-
beat returns to normal. It shows
that they tried to end their (life)
sentence and start another one
(death), but they decided to fi ght
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like a person whose imagination
had been wiped clean. My hope
simply didn’t help.
“We’ll get through this,” I
offered, panic stricken. “One day
at a time.” I didn’t realize the mind
of suicidal ideation is a circular
track with no on or off ramps. His
hands moved listlessly. His eyes
were fl at.
Imagine if we’d met with
other people who suffer from sui-
cidal ideation, but who keep their
careers and their children. Imagine
if we’d been offered hope instead
of a dim view of the future. This
isn’t the obligation of the press,
but if we truly want to change
the growing suicide rate, our sto-
ries, our narrative of suicide must
change.
A couple of years ago, I spoke
at a high school in Washington
where there had been a cluster of
suicides.
The school’s position was no
memorials, no mention of the loss
of several classmates. But, when
I asked the students if they were
aware of the tragedies, every hand
went up. They didn’t need more
details of the deaths. They needed
more details about where to get
help. And how to live with anxiety
and depression.
Choosing life doesn’t mean liv-
ing without pain and suffering.
That’s all part of the deal. But my
husband’s choice to move away
from his pain toward the unknown
paradoxically changed me for the
better.
Through profound grief, I dis-
covered gratitude. Through vulner-
ability, I’ve found strength. Suffer-
ing isn’t brave, but it’s part of the
agreement we make in return for
being human. I climbed out of the
cave of grief and moved toward
love and what I can count on.
This breath. This moment. Life.
Hamilton is a Portland author
and past radio personality who
now hosts a weekly podcast at
BeyondWellWithSheila
Hamilton.com.
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