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CONTACT:Adrienne [email protected]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SAVING LIVES IN DESPERATE TIMES
How to Help and Not Hurt the Ones We Love and Care For
NEW YORK CITY, June 30, 2010 These are, in deed, desperate times
with so many people
facing unemployment, layoffs, reductions in social services and
closings of hospital and emergency
rooms. Its no wonder that the number of people experiencing
depression is increasing as are the
rates of that most taboo of subjects, suicide.
Its a sin, suicide. Considered so ghastly, you cant be placed in
hallowed ground; so heinous that,
in ancient times, the suicide was buried at a crossroads, his
survivors stripped of their lands, all
their possessions and driven away as if they never existed.
And yet it is so common that more people take their own lives
each year than are murdered by
someone else. Twice as many people die from suicide than from
AIDS. It touches people of every
age, background, culture, social, religious and sexual
persuasion.
Its our grandmother who never got over the loss of her husband
of 49 years and just wanders her
silent apartment, lost and alone. Its our son, struggling with
the horrifying realization he is sexually
attracted to one of his male schoolmates. Our older sister,
sunshine and smiles on the surface, but
in her mid-30s, unmarried and terrified she is going to spend
the rest of her life alone. Our boss
whose recent financial setbacks and fear of losing his job have
been accompanied by an inability
to perform sexually. Our next-door neighbor, a police officer,
whose constant struggle with alcohol
is taking its toll especially late at night when he finds
himself preoccupied with cleaning his gun.Our nephew, who was
thought to be simply hyperactive but who, as he got older, is
unable to hide
the voices that tell him to do terrible things.
What to say and what to do when someone talks about suicide
scares even the most experienced
mental health professional, let alone the friend, family member
or colleague who overhears
someone talking at work.
But the Samaritans of New York, the people with the most
experience in the world responding to
those who are depressed, in crisis and suicidal has the answer.
Based on their work operating
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NYCs 24-hour confidential suicide prevention hotline which has
answered 1 million calls over the
last 20 year, Samaritans has created a free guide that every
person can use, lay or professional,
caregiver or friend. It connects people with the latest
information, the most effective methods of
responding to people in crisis, clinical research, scholarly
articles - Everything you need to know
to help a person in their time of crisis. Its free and
immediately accessible on the Internet.
Most people, no matter what their education, training or
experience, are uncomfortable talking
about suicide, especially if it is with someone they know or
care about, says Alan Ross, Executive
Director of the Samaritans of New York which created this
resource in response to the needs of the
NYC caregivers and health providers who are seeing increasing
numbers of people who are
depressed and in crisis.
Samaritans Free Internet Guide to Suicide Prevention Materials
and Resources provides
family members, friends, lay and professional health providers
in NYC with easy-to-access links to
the best available information on suicide statistics, warning
signs, risk factors, the keys to effective
responses to high-risk individuals (including children,
adolescents, adults, elderly, survivors, etc.),
current research and major organizations that provide additional
resources as well as references tothe latest clinical studies and
evidence-based programs, scholarly and practical articles of
interest.
Go to: www.samaritansnyc.org/prevention/resourcematerials
People in distress can be helped. People who are suicidal dont
want to die they just cannot cope
with the pain they are experiencing. The better we are at
recognizing what causes depression and
suicide, how to respond to someone in crisis and how to help,
the more likely we are to save a life
in these desperate times.
This project was made possible with funding from the New York
City Council, City CouncilSpeaker Christine Quinn and the New York
State Office of Mental Health.
About The Samaritans
The Samaritans of New York is the local branch of the
international humanitarian movement withcenters in 42 countries. A
non-religious, non-profit organization, Samaritans is devoted to
helping
people who are in crisis and feeling suicidal. Volunteer-run
programs practice a communications-based response called
"befriending," which emphasizes listening to what a person in
crisis isfeeling and thinking without expressing personal judgments
or opinions. The Samaritans 24-hoursuicide prevention hotline is
the city's only confidential hotline devoted to preventing suicide.
Itoperates seven days a week and is staffed by volunteers who go
through intensive training. Formore information, visit
www.samaritansnyc.org
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