Saturday session focuses on suicide

By CANDACE CHASE/Daily Inter Lake

In August alone, five people took their own lives in Flathead County.

"For everyone who does that, there are four to six survivors left behind," said Joan Schmidt, program coordinator of the Flathead Suicide Prevention Coalition.

A teleconference on Saturday brings together national experts and a wide range of people who lost loved ones to suicide for a panel discussion and information sharing. The occasion is the 10th annual National Survivors of Suicide Day.

The day was established by a U.S. Senate resolution through the efforts of Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., who lost his father to suicide. Each year since its creation, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention has sponsored a forum for survivors to come together.

"I think it's really an emotionally healing event - to realize your grieving experience is normal," Schmidt said. "You might feel imbalanced but that's a normal reaction."

Scheduled for 10:30 a.m. in the Flathead City-County Health Building, the gathering begins with a half hour of local discussion and support with moderator Linda Fleming and Schmidt.

The broadcast begins at 11 a.m. with a psychiatrist, sociologist and psychologist participating on a panel composed of a sister, mother, son and husband of suicide victims. Many in the group turned their grief into action to help others.

Fleming, the local moderator, did the same by founding Surviving Our Loss After Suicide in the Flathead after losing her son Travis Moser in 1996. Moser, who had bipolar disorder, fit an all-too-familiar profile of Montanans who take their own lives.

According to Schmidt, more than 90 percent of those who commit suicide have a mental illness such as depression or bipolar disorder for which effective treatment exists. The meeting Saturday looks at the causes and warning signs of suicide along with the healing process for survivors.

"We feel this is an opportunity for prevention as well," Schmidt said. "Montana last year was number one in the nation for suicide. Our youth are number two."

She hopes the teleconference attracts health-care professionals along with survivors. Through the Flathead Suicide Prevention Coalition, she works to build awareness through education to confront stigma and to improve access to mental-health resources.

Experts have identified some potential reasons for Montana's high suicide risk, Schmidt said.

"All the Rocky Mountain states have a higher incidence of suicide," she said. "Part of it is an attitude, a Montana ethic, that we are supposed to take care of ourselves."

Studies also show access to firearms bears a statistically significant relationship to suicide due to the impulse factor.

In more rural areas of Montana, limited access to help adds to the risk of suicide. But Schmidt said the Flathead Valley has prevention resources such as the local crisis line (752-6262), Pathways, Surviving Our Loss After Suicide, Western Montana Mental Health and the hospital emergency rooms.

The Flathead Suicide Prevention Coalition lists these as some of the warning signs of suicide:

. Dramatic mood changes.

. Loss of interest in life, activities and relationships.

. Feelings of hopelessness and being overwhelmed.

. Impulsive behavior, engaging in risky activities.

. Hoarding pills, purchases of gun and ammunition.

. Threatening suicide or self harm.

. Giving away prized possessions.

. Increase in drug use or recent relapse.

. Inability to sleep or sleeping all the time.

Experts advise staying with a suicidal person and letting him or her know you care. Call family or friends for help if necessary.

"The first place you might take a suicidal person is the family physician," Schmidt said. "You could take a friend in crisis to the emergency room at either hospital."

If a suicide occurs, support groups help survivors understand that they should not take responsibility for someone else's choice. Schmidt said that many people suffer from feelings of stigma when loved ones kill themselves.

"In our culture, you don't even want to say suicide in the obituary," Schmidt said.

She said the Saturday gathering provides relief by having experts reinforce that people who take their own lives made that choice. Survivors also benefit by hearing that others experienced the same feelings of guilt and/or isolation in the midst of a tragedy.

The event takes place in the conference room of the Flathead City-County Health Department, 1035 First Avenue West. For additional information, contact Fleming at 756-7263 or Schmidt at 871-1008.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.