By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
As a teenager in high school in 1989, April White tried to end her life. She still remembers the utter hopeless feeling that she had no reason to live.
“I had no hope. There was a day I did not want to live,” she said. “I did not see any value in myself.”
But a neighbor noticed something was wrong and called paramedics. White spent the next 12 days in a hospital.
Now, more than 30 years later, White spends her time trying to stop others from feeling the hopelessness that she once felt.
She joined the Wood County Suicide Prevention Coalition earlier this month in an effort to raise awareness of suicide and break down the barriers that block people from seeking help.
The meeting, held in the Veterans Building in Bowling Green City Park, brought people together who are survivors and supporters.
“We all know that the past few years have been difficult for so many,” said Aimee Coe, chair of the coalition and director of community programs at Wood County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services. “We have continued to see staggering high suicide rates across our nation and in our neighborhoods.”
Suicide is now the second leading cause of death in the U.S. for people ages 10-14 and 25-34. It is estimated that someone loses their life to suicide every 11 minutes in this country, Coe said. Globally, 800,000 people lose their life to suicide every year.
The grim statistics are mirrored in Wood County, which has seen an increase in suicide rates over the past decade. Between 2016 and 2020, the average number of suicides recorded in the county each year was 12.9.
“These statistics hit too close to home. They are our friends and neighbors and leave behind loved ones to pick up the pieces and wonder what could have been different,” Coe said.
The goal of the Wood County Suicide Prevention Coalition is to raise awareness of this public health crisis and provide resources and hope to those affected. Support groups are available for those touched by suicide in Wood County.
“We need to increase awareness of these resources, increase prevention to help save lives and help heal those affected,” Coe said.
But the coalition needs help to give people hope.
“We need your help to spread awareness and end the stigma associated with mental health and seeking help,” Coe said.
White talked about how her life turned around when people took notice of her difficulties and got help for her.
“We have to see the people and see their struggle, the isolation, irritability, acting out,” she said.
People then need to take the time to talk to the person struggling, and offer resources. Then a plan should be created, with efforts made to check back on the person, White said.
Bill Emahiser, director of public relations for Unison Health, talked about how little steps can make a big difference to people struggling with feelings of hopelessness.
He talked of a woman who shared her suicide story with him. For a long time, she had felt invisible, that no one cared about her. She saved up three months of medication and went to a store to buy alcohol.
“So she could take the pills and never wake up again,” Emahiser said.
On her way out of the store, her purse strap caught on something and the contents spilled onto the ground. Several people walked past as she struggled to gather her belongings.
But one man stopped and helped. Seeing that she was troubled, he told her that he would pray for her, Emahiser said.
Later, as the woman took the first handful of pills, she couldn’t shake the kind words of the stranger. She called 911, and credited the unknown man with saving her life, Emahiser said.
Little acts of kindness – a smile, handshake, holding of a door – can make a big difference, he said.
“We are trying to make a difference in people’s lives,” Emahiser said.
That is where the local suicide prevention organization comes in.
The Wood County Suicide Prevention Coalition is a community of citizens from diverse backgrounds who are united in the resolve to save lives. The organization pursues coordinated strategies to educate and increase awareness that suicide is a public health problem, not a private shame.
The coalition can be contacted at:
The organization is committed to increasing public understanding of depression, mental illness, and alcohol and drug abuse as treatable health conditions, not as signs of personal weakness.
“We are enemies of fear, ignorance and stigma, all of which prevent people from seeking and finding help in times of great personal distress,” the coalition material states.
To a depressed person, painful feelings often seem as if they’ll last forever. But a little time, and professional intervention, can make a dramatic difference. Hopelessness can lift and life can be good again.
COALITION GOALS
- Raise awareness of the problems of depression and suicide
- Convey that suicide is largely preventable and depression is treatable
- Decrease stigma as a barrier to seeking treatment
- Encourage treatment for depression and suicide risk
CRISIS SERVICES
- Wood County Crisis Line
(419) 502-HOPE (4673)
Offers help 24/7 - Children’s Resource Center (under 18 years old)
1 (888) 466-5437 or (419) 352-7588
Offers help 24/7
