Suicide Prevention Week
September 7–13, 2014
September 7–13, 2014
In recognition of national Suicide Prevention Week, September 7–13, this abbreviated issue is dedicated to information about suicide prevention and resources for those in crisis and those who minister to them and their loved ones.
by The Rev. Bean Murray
The recent tragic high profile death of the beloved celebrity Robin Williams has had our whole nation thinking about the issue of suicide and what, if anything, our society can do about addressing the problem. My own son Chris died by suicide in 2001, and as a survivor, I know I feel each new suicide with a profound sorrow and a sense of regret for each life ended too soon.
Robin Williams’ death was particularly painful for me not only because I had delighted in his outlandish behavior and acting skill for decades, but because of a unique connection to Chris. Chris had bipolar disorder, and for people who have never witnessed someone’s mind in a manic state, I have often explained that Chris was behaving like Robin Williams on speed – thoughts and word connections and jokes and plays on words came cascading from Chris with incredible rapidity. Like Robin Williams, it was hard to keep up with his train of thought, but when you did catch up, you realized how brilliant and funny it was, and in Chris’ case how heart wrenching it was to witness a loved one in such a state. The MSNBC news commentator Chris Hayes described observing Williams’ behavior as “like watching a dancing flame.” As my son Chris said about himself, in the midst of an episode he was “Chris squared.”
Chris’ death was the impetus for my ministry in EMIN, but for a number of years I shied away from suicide prevention work. What did I have to offer there? After all, in spite of everything, I had been a total failure in saving my own child’s life.
My daughter Cara has turned her grief to a positive direction and has brought me along with her. She, her husband Heath, and other friends who have experienced the suicide of family and friends have formed a chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) in Nashville, Tennessee, and their annual “Out of the Darkness” walk will take place on September 13. This will be their fifth annual walk. Thus far, their chapter has raised over $100,000 for local prevention programs and support for the national foundation.
Cara’s ministry to me has been to draw me in by asking me to give the invocation before each walk begins. Again this year, I will pray, standing before hundreds of walkers whose pain I share, wearing my beads that symbolize that my child died from suicide, and once again, Heath, Cara, my husband Paul, and I will stand there with our arm’s around each other and shed tears as we release our balloons carrying symbolic messages to Chris. Then, the walk will begin in quiet respect for those who have died and with renewed hope that, in some small way, we can help to prevent future acts of suicide and that we can help keep others from ever knowing our pain.
“Out of the Darkness” walks take place all over the country and AFSP chapters work throughout the year to bring suicide into the light of research and understanding. You can find your local chapter and the walk closest to you at www.afsp.org.
You can also help by sharing the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number, 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
The Rev. Susan Gregg-Schroeder, coordinator of Mental Health Ministries (MHM), has added new information on spirituality/faith and suicide to the resource section of the MHM website (www.mentalhealthministries.net.) You will find a lot of practical materials that you can share with your congregations. Here are some of them:
If you have found a particularly helpful book, website, or article related to suicide and its aftermath, please share them with other “EMIN News” readers. Send your comments to news4emin@gmail.com and I will forward that information to the readers.
Pathways to Promise (www.pathways2promise.org) has posted new materials relating to suicide that you might find helpful. See the link on their page called “There is still time.”
I want to apologize for our website being so out of date. It seems to be a particularly popular target for hackers, tricksters, or someone wanting to cause mischief. It will be a couple of months before it will contain the good, current information I want it to have.
Help us share news about programs, books, innovations, and give us your feedback at news4emin@gmail.com
Thanks for all you do in your many ministries,
The Rev. Mary Janet “Bean” Murray,
EMIN coordinator