Editorial: We need to be aware of suicide

Friday, Sept. 30, 2005 | 9:42 a.m.

A 22-year-old man who worked as a shift manager at a pizza restaurant, a troubled 12-year-old boy who had access to a shotgun in his family's home and a 16-year-old girl being held in the Clark County Detention Center all recently became tragic and high-profile statistics in Southern Nevada. Each of them committed suicide. While their stories became known through reporting by the Las Vegas Sun, hundreds of other Nevadans kill themselves each year in private circumstances. Because suicide largely remains a taboo subject, few people hear about those deaths and public perception of the tragedy remains low.

The mother of the 16-year-old girl who killed herself while in the county's custody is working hard to raise the perception. She believes that with more public awareness there will be more effort toward saving people with suicidal thoughts. It was only after her daughter's suicide that she herself became aware of the extent of the tragedy throughout Las Vegas and the state. "I had no idea, because it's never talked about," Lynette Kish told Las Vegas Sun reporter Molly Ball.

Nearly 400 people a year commit suicide in this state, which has consistently been ranked in the top five states nationwide in this category. After years of ranking Nevada No. 1, the Centers for Disease Control currently ranks Nevada as No. 4. The national average for states is 11 suicides for every 100,000 residents. Nevada is averaging 19.5 per 100,000.

Although state and local governments have suicide programs (the state's suicide hotline number is 1-877-885-4673) and nonprofit groups have programs, Kish is right in pointing out that suicide receives little general attention compared to its seriousness. Suicide Prevention Action Network, a national organization, has a local chapter. Its community organizer, Linda Flatt, says that most suicides are preventable -- if the people around potential victims understand the symptoms and know what to say.

Kish is helping the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention organize an awareness walk and fund-raiser set for Oct. 8 at UNLV. She is emerging from her personal tragedy as a leader committed to saving lives and saving others the grief she experienced. This is the kind of involvement communities need.