Every day, a Kansan dies of suicide.
Every month, one or two people in Douglas County die by suicide.
Every 16 minutes, someone in the U.S. dies by suicide.
Every 17 minutes, someone is left to make sense of it.
National Survivors of Suicide Day is Saturday, Nov. 21, and the public is invited to watch a 90-minute American Foundation for Suicide Prevention broadcast and then participate in a local discussion.
The event will be from 11:45 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. Nov. 21 at Trinity Lutheran Church, 1245 N.H. in the fellowship hall.
Hosts are the Stephen Ministry of Trinity Lutheran Church and the “Healing After Suicide” support group of Headquarters Counseling Center in Lawrence.
The event aims to help survivors connect with others who have survived the tragedy of suicide loss, and express and understand the powerful emotions they experience.
The event is free, but participants are encouraged to make reservations by Wednesday, Nov. 18, and can do so by e-mailing Marcia Esptein, director of Headquarters Couseling Center, at me@hqcc.lawrence.ks.us.
Comments
George_Braziller 4 years, 5 months ago
I was interested in attending until I read that a church was the location of the event as well as one of the hosts.
Leslie Swearingen 4 years, 5 months ago
Everyone is going to die and everyone is going to leave behind someone who will grieve for them. Some see suicide as self murder, and no different than any other kind of murder. Others see it as a choice. How about train engineers who hit cars that are stuck on tracks? How do first responders deal with the carnage they encounter at car accidents, or in fires? When people go into certain occupations they should be aware of what they might encounter. Do we have more sympathy for the dead who could not endure living any more, or those who after the fact want to know why? Where were they before?
Sulla 4 years, 5 months ago
Anyone should have the liberty to forfeit their own earthly existence if they choose, but letting others do it for them, eg. trains, Police Officer, is beyond cowardly.
Multidisciplinary 4 years, 5 months ago
Palo Alto has had a string http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_13195853
Karrey Britt 4 years, 5 months ago
Did I say that: Thanks for the link.
Benjamin Roberts 4 years, 5 months ago
Here is a link to some interesting statistics: http://www.sprc.org/stateinformation/PDF/statedatasheets/ks_datasheet.pdf
frankfussman 4 years, 5 months ago
The story about the German soccer player who killed himself by jumping in front of a speeding train reminded me of an article in the San Jose (Cal.) Mercury-News about events like that in California. It spoke of people killing themselves as "suicide by train." And the gist of the article was about the engineers of those trains who were traumatized by these events, who ever after were afraid whenever they saw something suspicious near the tracks. It is the survivors who suffer.
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