I personally have very mixed feelings on suicide that I'll spare you all from, but this is still a very good piece. MOST OF US ARE reluctant to discuss suicide openly and to recognize it as a major cause of preventable death. That must change. We must become open and honest in order to remove the stigma that for too long has been associated with mental illness and suicide.
For me, suicide is a profoundly personal and painful issue - my family has suffered the loss of two loved ones to suicide. Three years ago, my brother Jeff took his own life and my niece, Siobhan, ended her life last June.
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Adults and seniors are at the greatest risk, but teens report higher rates of suicidal behavior than the national average, according to the state's 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. According to that report, 23,000 local youngsters attempt suicide each year.
This can change. The American Association of Suicidology estimates 90 percent of suicides can be prevented.
How? End the silence.
"Suicide takes more lives than homicide and HIV/AIDS combined, yet it is shrouded in secrecy and blame for the dead, the injured, and their loved ones," said my partner in advocacy, Ellen Connorton, founder of the Massachusetts Coalition for Suicide Prevention. "It has touched most of us yet we barely speak it, the media rarely cover it, and, until it touches our own lives, we avoid thinking about it."
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/04/15/suicide___the_silent_crisis/
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