is a difficult topic to discuss. That鈥檚 exactly why KUNC commentator Dr. Marc Ringel is talking about it.
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kunc/local-kunc-961151.mp3
In 35 years of family practice only two of my active patients committed suicide: a young man in his thirties who鈥檇 suffered brain damage in a motorcycle wreck and lost his health, job, family and self-respect; and a woman in her forties who had a severe personality disorder and endless complications, some real and some imagined, of a major surgery.
I鈥檝e dealt with many other patients who have contemplated doing themselves in but didn鈥檛. These have mostly been depressed people whom I asked directly, as I鈥檇 been trained to, if they鈥檇 thought about hurting themselves or someone else. If the answer was 鈥測es,鈥� I鈥檇 inquire if they had a concrete plan, access to weapons, and so on, in order to assess their degree of what we call 鈥渟uicidality.鈥� Then I鈥檇 make the appropriate referral to an inpatient psychiatric unit, to a mental health professional, or to a family member who could keep an eye on this distressed human while waiting for counseling and/or medication to kick in.
The two successful suicides (鈥渟uccessful鈥� is a strange word to pair with 鈥渟uicide,鈥� isn鈥檛 it?) caught me completely by surprise, because these chronically suffering individuals who chose the most final way to end their pain had given me no hint that something had changed to make them acutely suicidal. They say it often happens that way. Once the decision has been made to kill oneself, a person鈥檚 level of distress is, if anything, lower.
Anticipated or not, suicide is always a shock to the people left behind. We were all taken aback by the recent death at his own hand of our KUNC colleague and friend, Kyle Dyas.
I鈥檇 known Kyle, a consistently friendly guy, seemingly untroubled, since he started at the station in 1996. I never saw in him a hint of the sort of severe emotional distress or psychopathology that usually goes with suicide. Nor did the people who worked with him every day have a sense that anything was so wrong in his life that Kyle might end it so abruptly.
All of us who knew this sweet gentle man are still deeply sad and wholly puzzled by the way in which Kyle chose to leave this world. I doubt we鈥檒l ever make much sense of what feels like a terrible waste of a young life. (He was 42.) Nor do I believe that, in the absence of even a clue of how he must have been suffering, there is anything we might have done to avert Kyle鈥檚 tragic exit.
So there鈥檚 only one thing left for us to do, which is to look out for the living. Here鈥檚 a first step to take if you or someone you know is thinking about ending it all. Call the National Crisis Hotline. 800-273-TALK. They鈥檒l connect you with the Pueblo Suicide Prevention Office or, if you鈥檙e a vet, with the VA鈥檚 Veteran鈥檚 Crisis Line, where you鈥檒l talk to a trained and certified counselor.
It鈥檚 too late to help Kyle. We can only support and soothe each other and remind everybody we know of this one phone number, 800-273-TALK. The Pueblo Office alone handles over 10,000 calls a year that originate from all over the state. Chances are, unfortunately, that you really will need this number one of these days. That鈥檚 800-273-TALK. I鈥檓 sure Kyle, who was kind to everyone he met, would want me to tell you about it.
1-800-273-TALK (8255)