Keep reaching out, even after Suicide Prevention Week has ended

  • Saturday, September 12, 2015 6:23pm
  • Opinion

The numbers are alarming — the suicide rate for Alaskans ages 15-24 was 46 per 100,000 people in 2010, well above the national average.

Today marks the end of Alaska’s Suicide Prevention Week, recently proclaimed by Gov. Bill Walker. Around the community, agencies and organizations took steps to mark the occasion, but with raising awareness of the issue comes the recognition that efforts to prevent suicide need to be made year-round.

It’s a sentiment shared by Laura Beeson and Leslie Fazio, counselors at Kenai Central High School who this week had students put together a “Wall of Hope,” filled with notes containing positive messages.

“I think we should do it every year, because if we’re going to have any kind of impact on this suicide rate, we need to start talking about it and engaging in prevention activities,” Fazio told the Clarion.

State data shows that Alaska’s suicide rate is nearly twice that of the national average and the leading cause of death in Alaska for people between the ages of 15 and 24. We’re willing to bet that means you know someone whose life has been altered by the sudden loss of a loved one — yet it’s a topic we as a community are reluctant to talk about, one many of us would rather avoid.

Jeff Parker, an emergency services clinician for Peninsula Community Health Services of Alaska, told the Clarion the best thing concerned family members and friends can do to contribute to the solution is to simply stick by the person they are worried about. Taking hints or assertions of suicidal thoughts seriously is key, he said.

“The interesting thing is that if there’s sort of a perfect storm of factors that kind of come together, they are going to attempt, oftentimes because they are at their wits’ end and they don’t know how else to solve the physical and emotional pain that they’re in,” Parker said. “When it comes to suicide and the outcome of a permanent death, you can never be overprotective.”

We agree with Parker, and hope that the outreach continues, at both the community and individual levels, long after this week has ended.

More in Opinion

Alaska Department of Education and Early Development Commissioner Deena Bishop and Gov. Mike Dunleavy discuss his veto of an education bill during a press conference March 15, 2024, at the Alaska State Capitol. (Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: Strong policy, proven results

Why policy and funding go hand in hand.

Former Gov. Frank Murkowski speaks on a range of subjects during an interview with the Juneau Empire in May 2019. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)
Opinion: The Jones Act — crass protectionism, but for whom?

Alaska is dependent on the few U.S.-built ships carrying supplies from Washington state to Alaska.

Cook Inlet can be seen at low tide from North Kenai Beach on June 15, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
Opinion: Solving the Cook Inlet gas crisis

While importing LNG is necessary in the short term, the Kenai Peninsula is in dire need of a stable long-term solution.

Sockeye salmon caught in a set gillnet are dragged up onto the beach at a test site for selective harvest setnet gear in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, July 25, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Capitol Corner: Creating opportunities with better fishery management

Sen. Jesse Bjorkman reports back from Juneau.

The ranked choice outcome for Alaska’s U.S. Senate race is shown during an Alaska Public Media broadcast on Nov. 24, 2022. (Alaska Division of Elections)
Opinion: Alaska should keep ranked choice voting, but let’s make it easier

RCV has given Alaskans a better way to express their preferences.

The Alaska State Capitol on March 1. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Opinion: Keep Alaska open for business

Our job as lawmakers is to ensure that laws passed at the ballot box work effectively on the ground.

Brooke Walters. (Courtesy photo)
Opinion: A student’s letter to the governor

Our education funding is falling short by exuberant amounts.

Rep. Justin Ruffridge, R-Soldotna, speaks in support of debating an omnibus education bill in the Alaska House Chambers on Monday, Feb. 19, 2024. in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Capitol Corner: Compromise, not games

Rep. Justin Ruffridge reports back from Juneau.

Image provided by the Office of Mayor Peter Micciche.
Opinion: Taxes, adequate education funding and putting something back into your pocket

Kenai Peninsula Borough taxpayers simply can’t make a dent in the education funding deficit by themselves, nor should they be asked to do so.

Most Read