From Darkness to Light: How Your Role in Suicide Prevention Could Save a Life
Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States and the second leading cause of death for college students in both America and Virginia. Years and years of studies have been done and the results show that there are multiple reasons as to why someone would make the choice of taking their own life. These reasons are sometimes as simple as a mental illness or something as complicated as a philosophical desire. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, depression is a serious medical illness and an important public health issue. Depression is characterized by persistent sadness and sometimes irritability (particularly in children) and is one of the leading causes of disease or injury worldwide for both men and women. Depression can cause suffering for depressed individuals and can also have negative effects on their families and the communities in which they live. The economic burden of depression, including workplace costs, direct costs and suicide-related costs, was estimated to be $210.5 billion in 2010.
According to Psychology Today, someone might take their own life because it is their philosophical desire to die. This means that the person believes that they control their own destiny and suicide is just to shorten their way to dying because regardless, it’s going to happen sometime in the future in another way, so why not now? Why not control your own destiny?
The New York Times Magazine conducted an interview with Sandy Bem, a Cornell psychology professor who found out that she had Alzheimer’s disease, but before it could take over her brain, she decided that the only way to beat the disease was to kill herself. With Alzheimer’s disease, she would write, it is “extraordinarily difficult for one’s body to die in tandem with the death of one’s self.”
Each year, 42,773 Americans die by suicide. According to WHO, approximately one million people commit suicide each year worldwide. That is about one death every 40 seconds, or 3,000 per day. The consequences that follow after someone’s suicide are typically negative, such as those that are left behind feel like it’s their fault; some go into depression, etc. The consequences that come with someone taking their life affect mainly friends and family. Some other consequences may include extreme guilt for not preventing the suicide, failure because a person they loved felt unloved and committed suicide, anger or resentment at the person who chose to take his or her own life, confusion, or distress over unresolved issues (many of which often exist in families where one person has a mental illness, which is common in people who die by suicide), says Healthy Place, America’s Mental Health Channel.
According to American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), men die by suicide three and a half times more often than women. White males accounted for seven of 10 suicides in 2014, and the rate of suicide is highest in middle-aged white men in particular. Why this segment of the population? Why does this unfortunate event happen more to one gender than the other? Researchers say the answer is complicated - but has a lot to do with culture, says BBC.
"It is striking that suicide rates are highest in white females and white males. That is a complicated social and cultural phenomenon," Pat Remington, a professor of population health sciences at the University of Wisconsin, told BBC. "It has to do with a mix of risk factors."
Statistics show that firearms account for almost 50% of all suicides. According to the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, there are three factors that are at the root of the effect guns have on suicide deaths. The reasons given were that first, the wide availability of firearms in the United States increases the likelihood that a suicide attempt will occur. Second is the high lethality of firearms, which means a suicidal person has less opportunity for survival and is less likely to be interrupted while attempting suicide. Finally, because most suicides are highly impulsive, the quick, easy, and destructive nature of firearm injury means those who decide to attempt suicide with a firearm in the midst of a crisis are less able to fully consider their decision and change their mind.
Very rarely does the result of suicide have a positive outcome. Ryan Newcomb and Leilani Tizon are good examples of how you can take a tragedy and turn it into a life-saving tool, not just for themselves, but for others as well.
Ryan Newcomb lost someone very close to him years ago. Newcomb is now the Regional Director of the Mid-Atlantic: D.C., Maryland, and Virginia at AFSP. Newcomb helps raise awareness and educates the public by hosting Out of the Darkness Suicide Prevention Walks, attending suicide prevention conferences, and organizing different events in different cities and on college campuses. His ultimate goal, and AFSP’s goal, is to lower suicide prevention rates by 20% by 2025. However, Newcomb and his team aren’t the only people trying to make a difference in the world.
Leilani Tizon is not your average 20-year-old college student. She would have never guessed in a million years that she would be where she is today. Tizon is an advocate and public speaker for suicide prevention, and has been for five and a half years. Tizon lost her brother when she was 11. Three years later, she shared her story with freshmen she was attending high school with at the time. Those freshmen she left an impression on were also the people she would be graduating with in just three years. From then on to the present, Tizon is still sharing her story and personal experiences with suicide and depression. One of Tizon’s biggest interviews was with WUSA9, where she went into detail about how she lost her brother, what happened leading up to the event, and what she is doing now since the loss of her brother.
Tizon lives with enormous guilt for not telling her parents about Christopher's unusual behavior weeks before his death. The two were in his car when Chris appeared to have a breakdown after a long phone call with his dad. "You could tell my brother was furious. He was crying. And he was shaking. He was tearing leather off the steering wheel under his fingernails," she said. "He threw his cell phone in the back and started hitting himself with his fists, started banging his head against the steering wheel, against the window,” she told WUSA9 in Prince William County.
WUSA9 goes on to explain that Tizon has transformed her regrets into action. She now speaks to other teenagers and tells them suicide is never the answer. "When you do feel down, simply take your right hand and place it over your heart and know that beating is called purpose. And that someone in this world needs you more than air," she said. "To know that you make someone out there smile every day or just seeing you around makes them smile, whether you know it or not, you do that to somebody and that's a reason to live.”
She now speaks at college campuses, does television and radio interviews, and recently started to apply to speak at Annual Suicide Prevention Conferences around the United States, where she would speaking at a PhD/MD level, speaking with professionals, teaching her own class in her very own room, and would be the youngest person at the event. She applied for the Chicago Suicide Prevention Conference in 2016, and was accepted, but due to a series of unfortunate events and personal reasons, she was unable to attend. Tizon has also applied for the Phoenix Suicide Prevention Conference that will be taking place in 2017 and is eagerly waiting to hear back to see if she was accepted or not.
Although she is juggling family, friends, a relationship, school, and speaking events, Tizon never fails to remind herself that where she is today and who she is, is because of her brother and what happened to her eight years and a half years ago. Her parents are massive supporters in her line of work. They have always supported her life choices and have always encouraged her to chase after her dreams to make them become a reality. What’s her current dream? Just like AFSP and Newcomb, she wants to lower the annual suicide rate by 20% by the year 2025, and to remove the stigma from the topic.
Not everyone is like Newcomb or Tizon, advocates for suicide prevention and professional speakers. There are a lot of people that have very little knowledge of the subject. It is a controversial topic and it makes some people uncomfortable talking about it. It's difficult to approach a topic that some people can't handle, refuse to handle, or don't know how to handle. However, Emory & Henry College students Matthew Hawkins and Mariah Aultmon had no problem sharing their thoughts on the subject.
Matthew Hawkins is a 22-year-old student at E&H. “Yeah, I’ve lost someone to suicide. Rodney Vardiman. He was a long-term friend and mentor to me. I think why people take their own life is that they can't handle the pressures of certain aspects in their lives and feel the desire to immediately remedy their problems by completely removing themselves from this world. Maybe they feel as if people will benefit from their absence or the idea of suicide will benefit them in some way. We just need to be spreading love.” Allowing individuals to feel secure in the idea that there are alternative solutions to dealing with whatever he/she might be dealing with besides inflicting self-harm.
Mariah Aultmon is a 22-year-old general music major attending E&H as well. Although she has never lost someone to suicide, she has seen someone attempt it. “I think maybe they feel like it's their last resort or maybe they're just numb from living with whatever is plaguing them. They're tired of having to cope with it and they're out of options,” she said. “Schools need to be teaching students healthier ways to interact with each other without emotionally damaging each other. Communities can look for the signs of potentially suicidal behavior.”
According to Medline Plus, Trusted Health Information for You, suicidal behavior may include bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, depression, drug or alcohol use, post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, stressful life issues, such as serious financial or relationship problems. The result of this is them taking their own life. Many who attempt suicide are seeking relief from feeling ashamed, guilty, or like a burden to others feeling like a victim, feelings of rejection, loss, or loneliness.
Just like any death, where there is death, there is grieving, which is followed by a coping process. There are multiple ways to cope and according to the Mayo Clinic, some of the best ways to cope are keeping in touch with family, grieving in your own way, being prepared for painful reminders, not rushing your healing process, expecting setbacks, and considering a support group for families affected by suicide. Moving on from something is sensitive and confusing, but it’s always good to surround yourself with positive energy, loving friends and family, and being sure to take care of yourself and your well-being.
It’s never too late to save a life. It doesn’t cost a dime or any time to be nice to someone. Many people say they want to see change in the world, but very little are doing anything about it. Encourage those to be the change they want to see this world go through. If you know anyone struggling with depression and/or thoughts of suicide, or if you yourself are struggling with depression and/or thoughts of suicide, be sure to get them or yourself immediate help, or have them call the Nation Suicide Prevention Hotline, call at 1-800-273-8255. There is always a hand willing to help, a shoulder to cry on, an ear to listen, and a light at the end of the tunnel.
According to Psychology Today, someone might take their own life because it is their philosophical desire to die. This means that the person believes that they control their own destiny and suicide is just to shorten their way to dying because regardless, it’s going to happen sometime in the future in another way, so why not now? Why not control your own destiny?
The New York Times Magazine conducted an interview with Sandy Bem, a Cornell psychology professor who found out that she had Alzheimer’s disease, but before it could take over her brain, she decided that the only way to beat the disease was to kill herself. With Alzheimer’s disease, she would write, it is “extraordinarily difficult for one’s body to die in tandem with the death of one’s self.”
Each year, 42,773 Americans die by suicide. According to WHO, approximately one million people commit suicide each year worldwide. That is about one death every 40 seconds, or 3,000 per day. The consequences that follow after someone’s suicide are typically negative, such as those that are left behind feel like it’s their fault; some go into depression, etc. The consequences that come with someone taking their life affect mainly friends and family. Some other consequences may include extreme guilt for not preventing the suicide, failure because a person they loved felt unloved and committed suicide, anger or resentment at the person who chose to take his or her own life, confusion, or distress over unresolved issues (many of which often exist in families where one person has a mental illness, which is common in people who die by suicide), says Healthy Place, America’s Mental Health Channel.
According to American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), men die by suicide three and a half times more often than women. White males accounted for seven of 10 suicides in 2014, and the rate of suicide is highest in middle-aged white men in particular. Why this segment of the population? Why does this unfortunate event happen more to one gender than the other? Researchers say the answer is complicated - but has a lot to do with culture, says BBC.
"It is striking that suicide rates are highest in white females and white males. That is a complicated social and cultural phenomenon," Pat Remington, a professor of population health sciences at the University of Wisconsin, told BBC. "It has to do with a mix of risk factors."
Statistics show that firearms account for almost 50% of all suicides. According to the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, there are three factors that are at the root of the effect guns have on suicide deaths. The reasons given were that first, the wide availability of firearms in the United States increases the likelihood that a suicide attempt will occur. Second is the high lethality of firearms, which means a suicidal person has less opportunity for survival and is less likely to be interrupted while attempting suicide. Finally, because most suicides are highly impulsive, the quick, easy, and destructive nature of firearm injury means those who decide to attempt suicide with a firearm in the midst of a crisis are less able to fully consider their decision and change their mind.
Very rarely does the result of suicide have a positive outcome. Ryan Newcomb and Leilani Tizon are good examples of how you can take a tragedy and turn it into a life-saving tool, not just for themselves, but for others as well.
Ryan Newcomb lost someone very close to him years ago. Newcomb is now the Regional Director of the Mid-Atlantic: D.C., Maryland, and Virginia at AFSP. Newcomb helps raise awareness and educates the public by hosting Out of the Darkness Suicide Prevention Walks, attending suicide prevention conferences, and organizing different events in different cities and on college campuses. His ultimate goal, and AFSP’s goal, is to lower suicide prevention rates by 20% by 2025. However, Newcomb and his team aren’t the only people trying to make a difference in the world.
Leilani Tizon is not your average 20-year-old college student. She would have never guessed in a million years that she would be where she is today. Tizon is an advocate and public speaker for suicide prevention, and has been for five and a half years. Tizon lost her brother when she was 11. Three years later, she shared her story with freshmen she was attending high school with at the time. Those freshmen she left an impression on were also the people she would be graduating with in just three years. From then on to the present, Tizon is still sharing her story and personal experiences with suicide and depression. One of Tizon’s biggest interviews was with WUSA9, where she went into detail about how she lost her brother, what happened leading up to the event, and what she is doing now since the loss of her brother.
Tizon lives with enormous guilt for not telling her parents about Christopher's unusual behavior weeks before his death. The two were in his car when Chris appeared to have a breakdown after a long phone call with his dad. "You could tell my brother was furious. He was crying. And he was shaking. He was tearing leather off the steering wheel under his fingernails," she said. "He threw his cell phone in the back and started hitting himself with his fists, started banging his head against the steering wheel, against the window,” she told WUSA9 in Prince William County.
WUSA9 goes on to explain that Tizon has transformed her regrets into action. She now speaks to other teenagers and tells them suicide is never the answer. "When you do feel down, simply take your right hand and place it over your heart and know that beating is called purpose. And that someone in this world needs you more than air," she said. "To know that you make someone out there smile every day or just seeing you around makes them smile, whether you know it or not, you do that to somebody and that's a reason to live.”
She now speaks at college campuses, does television and radio interviews, and recently started to apply to speak at Annual Suicide Prevention Conferences around the United States, where she would speaking at a PhD/MD level, speaking with professionals, teaching her own class in her very own room, and would be the youngest person at the event. She applied for the Chicago Suicide Prevention Conference in 2016, and was accepted, but due to a series of unfortunate events and personal reasons, she was unable to attend. Tizon has also applied for the Phoenix Suicide Prevention Conference that will be taking place in 2017 and is eagerly waiting to hear back to see if she was accepted or not.
Although she is juggling family, friends, a relationship, school, and speaking events, Tizon never fails to remind herself that where she is today and who she is, is because of her brother and what happened to her eight years and a half years ago. Her parents are massive supporters in her line of work. They have always supported her life choices and have always encouraged her to chase after her dreams to make them become a reality. What’s her current dream? Just like AFSP and Newcomb, she wants to lower the annual suicide rate by 20% by the year 2025, and to remove the stigma from the topic.
Not everyone is like Newcomb or Tizon, advocates for suicide prevention and professional speakers. There are a lot of people that have very little knowledge of the subject. It is a controversial topic and it makes some people uncomfortable talking about it. It's difficult to approach a topic that some people can't handle, refuse to handle, or don't know how to handle. However, Emory & Henry College students Matthew Hawkins and Mariah Aultmon had no problem sharing their thoughts on the subject.
Matthew Hawkins is a 22-year-old student at E&H. “Yeah, I’ve lost someone to suicide. Rodney Vardiman. He was a long-term friend and mentor to me. I think why people take their own life is that they can't handle the pressures of certain aspects in their lives and feel the desire to immediately remedy their problems by completely removing themselves from this world. Maybe they feel as if people will benefit from their absence or the idea of suicide will benefit them in some way. We just need to be spreading love.” Allowing individuals to feel secure in the idea that there are alternative solutions to dealing with whatever he/she might be dealing with besides inflicting self-harm.
Mariah Aultmon is a 22-year-old general music major attending E&H as well. Although she has never lost someone to suicide, she has seen someone attempt it. “I think maybe they feel like it's their last resort or maybe they're just numb from living with whatever is plaguing them. They're tired of having to cope with it and they're out of options,” she said. “Schools need to be teaching students healthier ways to interact with each other without emotionally damaging each other. Communities can look for the signs of potentially suicidal behavior.”
According to Medline Plus, Trusted Health Information for You, suicidal behavior may include bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, depression, drug or alcohol use, post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, stressful life issues, such as serious financial or relationship problems. The result of this is them taking their own life. Many who attempt suicide are seeking relief from feeling ashamed, guilty, or like a burden to others feeling like a victim, feelings of rejection, loss, or loneliness.
Just like any death, where there is death, there is grieving, which is followed by a coping process. There are multiple ways to cope and according to the Mayo Clinic, some of the best ways to cope are keeping in touch with family, grieving in your own way, being prepared for painful reminders, not rushing your healing process, expecting setbacks, and considering a support group for families affected by suicide. Moving on from something is sensitive and confusing, but it’s always good to surround yourself with positive energy, loving friends and family, and being sure to take care of yourself and your well-being.
It’s never too late to save a life. It doesn’t cost a dime or any time to be nice to someone. Many people say they want to see change in the world, but very little are doing anything about it. Encourage those to be the change they want to see this world go through. If you know anyone struggling with depression and/or thoughts of suicide, or if you yourself are struggling with depression and/or thoughts of suicide, be sure to get them or yourself immediate help, or have them call the Nation Suicide Prevention Hotline, call at 1-800-273-8255. There is always a hand willing to help, a shoulder to cry on, an ear to listen, and a light at the end of the tunnel.