Community Corner
Suicide. It's a National Epidemic
Last year, Newsweek noted that, "around the world, self-harm takes more lives than war, murder and natural disasters combined."
It was the blackest day Lauren had experienced in a long long time. She was on the brink of losing the job she’d hoped would turn everything around. As it was, she was holding on to her apartment by a thread. What would she do if the money stopped coming in? She’d burned every bridge, exhausted friends and alienated family. She felt paralyzed, unable to get out of bed. More and more, the idea of putting a permanent end to it all began to feel like a relief, like a way out of the spiral dragging her down.
Her name is Lauren. Yes, she’s real.
She’s thirty-eight years old, possibly like someone you know--a work colleague, an old friend or maybe a sister. Last year, clinicians at MHA Westchester spoke with hundreds of people in similar situations. We know the statistics and they are grim. There is a suicide in America every thirteen minutes. Recently, USA Today’s headline read: “40,000 suicides annually, yet America simply shrugs.”
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Well, we do not shrug.
Participants in MHA programs--as Lauren is--meet regularly with their counselors and stay in touch often enough to be aware of changes in mood or behavior. Alarmed by Lauren’s current state, her counselor’s concern intensified. She asked: “Are you thinking about suicide?” “Yes,” Lauren quietly admitted.
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Your tax deductible gift to MHA funds the programs that are there for people like Lauren.
All MHA staff receive extensive training in suicide prevention. What we know is that people who are thinking about suicide are generally ambivalent about it. For Lauren, a conversation exploring why she wanted to die led to a conversation about what she had to live for. In the end, she told her counselor, “You really get me.” and she agreed to meet with her psychiatrist, involve a compassionate family members and speak regularly on the phone with her counselor.
We speak with Lauren often. We bring up subjects that are difficult to talk about. We take what Lauren shares seriously and help her manage her thoughts about suicide.
Your end of year gift to MHA makes all the difference as we, a small, community-based nonprofit works to attend to every need and every emergency.
Please do all you can to help us to continue this life-saving work. Donate today at www.mhawestchester.org
