Guest guest Posted July 17, 2005 Report Share Posted July 17, 2005 Dear Editor, Psychiatrists continue to throw around this word " stigma " . It appears to me the only " stigma " that really exists are all the bogus labels applied to kids based on zero physical or chemical testing. " Stigma " such as " Social anxiety disorder " , " Attention Deficit Disorder " , " mathematics disorder " are all voted on by psychiatrists and have no scientific basis. Homosexuality was a disorder just a few years ago but the psychiatrists changed that on a vote. Your reporter is as blind as a bat and does no research whatsoever on the dangers of programs such as TeenScreen that are praised in her article and were also praised in another article of hers on May 25, 2005. All she had to do was a google search and discover the massive controversy raging right now on TeenScreen. If your reporter looked at all she would discover that TeenScreen swoops down on communities who have just suffered a suicide, playing on their sympathies and promises that TeenScreen will lead them to suicide prevention. What a joke. TeenScreen will only lead to further suicides because of the number of the kids that wind up on psychotropic drugs thanks to TeenScreen. Newspapers LOVE controversy, therefore it only raises questions such as, is Ms. s a psychiatrist herself drumming up business or has she been paid off by the PR Firm TeenScreen hired - Rabin Strategic Partners in NYC? Sincerely, Ken Kramer http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050715/NEWS02/5071503\ 57/-1/spider The stigma of suicide By CARA MATTHEWS THE JOURNAL NEWS July 15, 2005 She remembered the special afternoon vividly - the escape into a sun room at a chilly barbecue last year, the eye contact and smiles between mother and daughter when they were spotted by a camera-wielding host. When the friend recently dropped off the framed snapshot to Joan White, her irreplaceable loss came flooding back. " I cried so hard Saturday night. I said, 'My God, you're going to hurt yourself,' " the West Nyack woman said as she rubbed a muscle she had strained from sobbing. On Nov. 22, after telling her dad she was returning movies, 36-year-old White jumped off the Tappan Zee Bridge and died in her 200-foot fall. 's final decision, reached after 12 years of crippling mental illness, placed her among legions of New Yorkers who decide each year that death is the best option. What has been called a silent epidemic is the leading cause of violent death in the state and nationwide. There were 1,292 completed suicides in New York three years ago, which exceeded the number of homicide victims by 32 percent, according to " Saving Lives in New York: Suicide Prevention and Public Health. " Joan White said it's upsetting her daughter was in such pain. Bipolar and obsessive-compulsive disorders robbed her of the life she wanted. In the end, - a scholar who had to cut short her doctoral work in n literature - was on six medications and suffered from side effects. Difficulty finding work had lowered her self-esteem. White said she would like to see more support groups and help for people who are at risk of taking their own lives because of mental illness. " It's nothing to be ashamed about. That's No. 1, " she said. Suicide is a major public-health challenge that hasn't gotten the national priority and attention it merits, state Mental Health Commissioner Sharon Carpinello said. " Saving Lives, " which the Office of Mental Health released in May, underscores New York's commitment to treating suicide as a societal problem that can be prevented, rather than an ambiguous and " largely unpredictable end-state of a severe psychological disorder. " " Silence and suicide go hand-in-hand. It's time to stand up and destigmatize the idea of mental illness and reach out, " Carpinello said. The profile of a typical suicide victim in the state is a middle-aged white man living in a rural upstate community and who has access to a gun. One in 25 people who take their own lives in the nation is a New Yorker. The suicide rate in the state peaked in 1994, then declined until stabilizing in 1999 at 6.7 deaths per 100,000 people, the recently released report stated. " Saving Lives " came a year after the agency launched its SPEAK - Suicide Prevention Education Awareness Kits - campaign. More than 18,000 packets have been distributed so far. Carpinello singled out some successful early intervention programs. Locally, Columbia University's TeenScreen offers voluntary mental-health checkups at 350 sites. None are in the tri-county region. Recent research has shown that talking about the topic with kids does not cause more suicides, as many had believed. On a national level, legislation named for Garrett Lee , who took his own life, provided $82 million for youth suicide prevention, she said. He was the son of Sen. Gordon , R-Ore. President Bush's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health reported in 2003 that just managing mental illness no longer was enough; recovery is possible. A National Strategy for Suicide Prevention came out in 2001. Rhona Seligman, 47, of Irvington, whose husband, Marc, killed himself by jumping off the Tappan Zee this month, said anyone who has a friend or family member who's even a little depressed should take it very seriously. Marc Seligman had visited a psychotherapist a few times before his death, she said, but there apparently was no indication he was suicidal. The 45-year-old chiropractor had a lot of stress and frustration in his career. His brother killed himself at age 17, so it's possible genetics or other factors were at play, she said. " He was young and vibrant and had a great, outgoing personality. Over the years, things just wore him down, I guess. Life, " she said. Her husband was a great dad and assured their 9-year-old daughter in a note that what he did was not her fault, she said. The process of accepting mental illness as a valid ailment is not unlike the evolution of AIDS, said Tom O'Clair of Schenectady, whose son, , took his own life in March 2001. That disease no longer is shrouded in mystery and, as a result, there is less fear of those who are afflicted with it. " Mental illness is one of the ones that's taking the longest to get that stigma removed or eliminated, " O'Clair said. Gail Brajevich of Lake Carmel said a teenage relative has tried more than once to take his own life. She might have lost him if she hadn't been open about his bipolar disorder and asked others to look out for him. She often stays up nights to make sure he doesn't harm himself, she said. " It takes a whole community to raise a child like him, " said Brajevich, 56, who has received help from Putnam Family Support and Advocacy and other groups. Brajevich said the teen has been in treatment since first grade. " It makes him ashamed. He doesn't like to discuss it or talk about it, " she said. The late Ed Gallagher of New Rochelle, who became a quadriplegic after purposely rolling off the edge of the Kensico Dam in 1985 in a suicide attempt, turned his personal experience into a life of advocacy for suicide prevention. He tried to kill himself because he had been ashamed he was gay. But Gallagher, who was 48 when he died of a heart condition in May, spoke to kids, professionals and civic groups; wrote three books; and ran www.alivetothrive.org. The Web site gives information about prevention, emotional and sexual health and other issues. Tarricone said she and Gallagher met at the Burke Rehabilitation Hospital in White Plains, where she was recovering from a hiking accident. Gallagher, who was recovering from his fall off the dam, was charismatic and skilled at drawing people out, and it was therapeutic for him to counsel others, said Tarricone, who used to co-present with him. " He had a great time doing it. Eddie enjoyed life. He loved public speaking. He loved giving back, " said Tarricone, a paraplegic who works for Westchester Independent Living Center. Tadler Winchell of Mahopac reluctantly joined those who have lost loved ones to suicide when her 16-year-old niece took her life Dec. 16, 2001. Her suicide note said she wanted to end the pain, said Winchell, who is married with three girls, ages 5, 8 and 16, and a son, 13. Winchell, 47, said she realized then just how many people in her past had killed themselves or tried to. She unconsciously started evaluating family, friends and strangers and did bed-checks of her kids for months, she said. The stigma of suicide hit when a family member asked what cover story they would use to explain her niece's death. People should be as comfortable discussing mental illness as they are broken legs, she said. " I just think that we have to find a way to break through so that everyone is comfortable to talk about it. That's why I do what I do, " said Winchell, an accountant. Soon after, she learned of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and its " Out of the Darkness " walks. The first year she did it was 2002, along with her sister - her niece's mother - and sister-in-law. " You went from where you're isolating yourself from going out ... to being somewhere you felt completely at home, " she said. Winchell will be among some 2,150 people who will do the 20-mile, sundown-to-sunrise walk in Chicago this weekend. The Manhattan-based foundation was established in 1987 to promote research on suicide. Its mission has grown, said Gebbia, executive director. The group has been working, particularly in the past 18 months, to form local affiliates to provide education and promote awareness of suicide. One target area is the northern suburbs. This is the second year the group is sponsoring a community walk in New Rochelle. It is planned for Oct. 2. " I think we're just starting to see a real change. It's an enormous problem. It affects so many people. There are more than 1 million attempts each year in this country, " Gebbia said. , executive director of the Samaritans Suicide Prevention Center, said losing her brother to suicide 25 years ago drives her work. Her group takes between 8,000 and 10,000 calls a year in the Albany region. " We have such hope for the future. Twenty-five years ago, there was such shame and stigma and silence, " said , a New York State Suicide Prevention Council member and contributor to " Saving Lives. " Joan White, who works at a local college, continues writing daily " letters " to , who was a companion as well as a daughter. 's two Siamese cats, who used to crowd around when the two drank afternoon tea, roam the quiet home. White believes her family did everything they could to help , the youngest of three girls, but she didn't want to go on living as she was. When the medicines worked, she was OK. Side effects included sleep disturbances, psychotic episodes and trembling. She had dealt with mental illness for years before graduate school, but she had her first major depression there. After that, her inner light never rekindled, her mom said. She emphasized the importance of doctors and families closely monitoring patients on medications. After leaving graduate school, taught as an adjunct professor at two colleges in Rockland for several years. She found it stressful and considered veterinary medicine or library science, but permanent employment remained elusive. At one point, she volunteered at a health center but lost the job to an aide, Joan White said. White keeps an unwashed sweat shirt of 's and is compiling dozens of her daughter's poems and stories into a volume. The two used to harmonize " Blue Skies. " Now, every beautiful day reminds her of . " Sometimes, I look outside and I say, 'My God, you're all around today,' " Joan White said. ++++ " Reporter " Cara s clmatthe@... , Letters to the editor here: letters@... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 17, 2005 Report Share Posted July 17, 2005 Dear Editor, Psychiatrists continue to throw around this word " stigma " . It appears to me the only " stigma " that really exists are all the bogus labels applied to kids based on zero physical or chemical testing. " Stigma " such as " Social anxiety disorder " , " Attention Deficit Disorder " , " mathematics disorder " are all voted on by psychiatrists and have no scientific basis. Homosexuality was a disorder just a few years ago but the psychiatrists changed that on a vote. Your reporter is as blind as a bat and does no research whatsoever on the dangers of programs such as TeenScreen that are praised in her article and were also praised in another article of hers on May 25, 2005. All she had to do was a google search and discover the massive controversy raging right now on TeenScreen. If your reporter looked at all she would discover that TeenScreen swoops down on communities who have just suffered a suicide, playing on their sympathies and promises that TeenScreen will lead them to suicide prevention. What a joke. TeenScreen will only lead to further suicides because of the number of the kids that wind up on psychotropic drugs thanks to TeenScreen. Newspapers LOVE controversy, therefore it only raises questions such as, is Ms. s a psychiatrist herself drumming up business or has she been paid off by the PR Firm TeenScreen hired - Rabin Strategic Partners in NYC? Sincerely, Ken Kramer http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050715/NEWS02/5071503\ 57/-1/spider The stigma of suicide By CARA MATTHEWS THE JOURNAL NEWS July 15, 2005 She remembered the special afternoon vividly - the escape into a sun room at a chilly barbecue last year, the eye contact and smiles between mother and daughter when they were spotted by a camera-wielding host. When the friend recently dropped off the framed snapshot to Joan White, her irreplaceable loss came flooding back. " I cried so hard Saturday night. I said, 'My God, you're going to hurt yourself,' " the West Nyack woman said as she rubbed a muscle she had strained from sobbing. On Nov. 22, after telling her dad she was returning movies, 36-year-old White jumped off the Tappan Zee Bridge and died in her 200-foot fall. 's final decision, reached after 12 years of crippling mental illness, placed her among legions of New Yorkers who decide each year that death is the best option. What has been called a silent epidemic is the leading cause of violent death in the state and nationwide. There were 1,292 completed suicides in New York three years ago, which exceeded the number of homicide victims by 32 percent, according to " Saving Lives in New York: Suicide Prevention and Public Health. " Joan White said it's upsetting her daughter was in such pain. Bipolar and obsessive-compulsive disorders robbed her of the life she wanted. In the end, - a scholar who had to cut short her doctoral work in n literature - was on six medications and suffered from side effects. Difficulty finding work had lowered her self-esteem. White said she would like to see more support groups and help for people who are at risk of taking their own lives because of mental illness. " It's nothing to be ashamed about. That's No. 1, " she said. Suicide is a major public-health challenge that hasn't gotten the national priority and attention it merits, state Mental Health Commissioner Sharon Carpinello said. " Saving Lives, " which the Office of Mental Health released in May, underscores New York's commitment to treating suicide as a societal problem that can be prevented, rather than an ambiguous and " largely unpredictable end-state of a severe psychological disorder. " " Silence and suicide go hand-in-hand. It's time to stand up and destigmatize the idea of mental illness and reach out, " Carpinello said. The profile of a typical suicide victim in the state is a middle-aged white man living in a rural upstate community and who has access to a gun. One in 25 people who take their own lives in the nation is a New Yorker. The suicide rate in the state peaked in 1994, then declined until stabilizing in 1999 at 6.7 deaths per 100,000 people, the recently released report stated. " Saving Lives " came a year after the agency launched its SPEAK - Suicide Prevention Education Awareness Kits - campaign. More than 18,000 packets have been distributed so far. Carpinello singled out some successful early intervention programs. Locally, Columbia University's TeenScreen offers voluntary mental-health checkups at 350 sites. None are in the tri-county region. Recent research has shown that talking about the topic with kids does not cause more suicides, as many had believed. On a national level, legislation named for Garrett Lee , who took his own life, provided $82 million for youth suicide prevention, she said. He was the son of Sen. Gordon , R-Ore. President Bush's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health reported in 2003 that just managing mental illness no longer was enough; recovery is possible. A National Strategy for Suicide Prevention came out in 2001. Rhona Seligman, 47, of Irvington, whose husband, Marc, killed himself by jumping off the Tappan Zee this month, said anyone who has a friend or family member who's even a little depressed should take it very seriously. Marc Seligman had visited a psychotherapist a few times before his death, she said, but there apparently was no indication he was suicidal. The 45-year-old chiropractor had a lot of stress and frustration in his career. His brother killed himself at age 17, so it's possible genetics or other factors were at play, she said. " He was young and vibrant and had a great, outgoing personality. Over the years, things just wore him down, I guess. Life, " she said. Her husband was a great dad and assured their 9-year-old daughter in a note that what he did was not her fault, she said. The process of accepting mental illness as a valid ailment is not unlike the evolution of AIDS, said Tom O'Clair of Schenectady, whose son, , took his own life in March 2001. That disease no longer is shrouded in mystery and, as a result, there is less fear of those who are afflicted with it. " Mental illness is one of the ones that's taking the longest to get that stigma removed or eliminated, " O'Clair said. Gail Brajevich of Lake Carmel said a teenage relative has tried more than once to take his own life. She might have lost him if she hadn't been open about his bipolar disorder and asked others to look out for him. She often stays up nights to make sure he doesn't harm himself, she said. " It takes a whole community to raise a child like him, " said Brajevich, 56, who has received help from Putnam Family Support and Advocacy and other groups. Brajevich said the teen has been in treatment since first grade. " It makes him ashamed. He doesn't like to discuss it or talk about it, " she said. The late Ed Gallagher of New Rochelle, who became a quadriplegic after purposely rolling off the edge of the Kensico Dam in 1985 in a suicide attempt, turned his personal experience into a life of advocacy for suicide prevention. He tried to kill himself because he had been ashamed he was gay. But Gallagher, who was 48 when he died of a heart condition in May, spoke to kids, professionals and civic groups; wrote three books; and ran www.alivetothrive.org. The Web site gives information about prevention, emotional and sexual health and other issues. Tarricone said she and Gallagher met at the Burke Rehabilitation Hospital in White Plains, where she was recovering from a hiking accident. Gallagher, who was recovering from his fall off the dam, was charismatic and skilled at drawing people out, and it was therapeutic for him to counsel others, said Tarricone, who used to co-present with him. " He had a great time doing it. Eddie enjoyed life. He loved public speaking. He loved giving back, " said Tarricone, a paraplegic who works for Westchester Independent Living Center. Tadler Winchell of Mahopac reluctantly joined those who have lost loved ones to suicide when her 16-year-old niece took her life Dec. 16, 2001. Her suicide note said she wanted to end the pain, said Winchell, who is married with three girls, ages 5, 8 and 16, and a son, 13. Winchell, 47, said she realized then just how many people in her past had killed themselves or tried to. She unconsciously started evaluating family, friends and strangers and did bed-checks of her kids for months, she said. The stigma of suicide hit when a family member asked what cover story they would use to explain her niece's death. People should be as comfortable discussing mental illness as they are broken legs, she said. " I just think that we have to find a way to break through so that everyone is comfortable to talk about it. That's why I do what I do, " said Winchell, an accountant. Soon after, she learned of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and its " Out of the Darkness " walks. The first year she did it was 2002, along with her sister - her niece's mother - and sister-in-law. " You went from where you're isolating yourself from going out ... to being somewhere you felt completely at home, " she said. Winchell will be among some 2,150 people who will do the 20-mile, sundown-to-sunrise walk in Chicago this weekend. The Manhattan-based foundation was established in 1987 to promote research on suicide. Its mission has grown, said Gebbia, executive director. The group has been working, particularly in the past 18 months, to form local affiliates to provide education and promote awareness of suicide. One target area is the northern suburbs. This is the second year the group is sponsoring a community walk in New Rochelle. It is planned for Oct. 2. " I think we're just starting to see a real change. It's an enormous problem. It affects so many people. There are more than 1 million attempts each year in this country, " Gebbia said. , executive director of the Samaritans Suicide Prevention Center, said losing her brother to suicide 25 years ago drives her work. Her group takes between 8,000 and 10,000 calls a year in the Albany region. " We have such hope for the future. Twenty-five years ago, there was such shame and stigma and silence, " said , a New York State Suicide Prevention Council member and contributor to " Saving Lives. " Joan White, who works at a local college, continues writing daily " letters " to , who was a companion as well as a daughter. 's two Siamese cats, who used to crowd around when the two drank afternoon tea, roam the quiet home. White believes her family did everything they could to help , the youngest of three girls, but she didn't want to go on living as she was. When the medicines worked, she was OK. Side effects included sleep disturbances, psychotic episodes and trembling. She had dealt with mental illness for years before graduate school, but she had her first major depression there. After that, her inner light never rekindled, her mom said. She emphasized the importance of doctors and families closely monitoring patients on medications. After leaving graduate school, taught as an adjunct professor at two colleges in Rockland for several years. She found it stressful and considered veterinary medicine or library science, but permanent employment remained elusive. At one point, she volunteered at a health center but lost the job to an aide, Joan White said. White keeps an unwashed sweat shirt of 's and is compiling dozens of her daughter's poems and stories into a volume. The two used to harmonize " Blue Skies. " Now, every beautiful day reminds her of . " Sometimes, I look outside and I say, 'My God, you're all around today,' " Joan White said. ++++ " Reporter " Cara s clmatthe@... , Letters to the editor here: letters@... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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