At Keene suicide-awareness vigil, a call for mental-health services
Keene SentinelSep 11, 2018
"This is my son, Corey," the
He was quiet, soft-spoken and sweet -- and he never said a bad word about anyone, she added.
Corey, who was 32 when he died, had schizophrenia, his mother said. At some point in his 20s, the disease made him believe he was in danger, and that someone, the police or another unnamed entity, was trying to hurt him and his family.
At first, she said, the change was small. He began switching jobs because he believed people at work were trying to make him look bad. Lang said she didn't think much about this behavior.
"Never thought (it was) mental illness," she said. "A parent never thinks mental illness."
Lang discussed her family's experience at the ninth annual suicide-awareness vigil, organized by The Samaritans of
As Lang told the story to the small crowd, evening had settled on the square, and the rain intensified. A gust blew out the candle she was holding. She stared at it in silence, her words hanging in the wind, until another woman stepped forward and re-lit the flame.
"It's devastating. It's life-changing that you're never going to get (him) back," Lang said after the vigil. "I was saying to my husband and my psychologist, 'I feel like I'll never know what it's like to truly have happiness.' There's always going to be (the knowledge that) Corey's gone."
For Trafton, the vigil calls attention to a need in the community, one whose solution may seem simple, but can be difficult to achieve in practice. Mental illness is first and foremost a medical condition -- no different than brain injury or a broken limb, she said -- and it deserves concerted attention and recognition. Suicide is preventable if people feel comfortable enough to reach out for help and if there is an infrastructure in place to assist those who need it, she added.
In recent weeks, suicide, particularly among adolescents, has come into focus in the region with the deaths of two area teenagers, Trafton said. But the need has always been there, she added. The Samaritans' local hotline received 1,700 calls from people in crisis last year, she said in an interview in June. And the need for acute care beds in the community was further heightened by the closing of
The problem extends throughout the state and nation. In June, new data from the
But, Trafton said there are also reasons for some optimism. She's noticed the stigma around mental illness has abated somewhat. Whereas once, churches would refuse to bury those who'd died by suicide, she noted, most religious organizations now recognize it as stemming from mental illness. Schools within the county are raising awareness among their students, she said, and some -- including in the
After Lang finished her story,
"She was super loving and one of the most non-judgmental people that I've ever known, and that's how I try to honor her every day is by never passing judgment," Grenier said after the vigil.
But Sheena struggled with anxiety and depression ever since she was a teenager, Grenier said. There were good days and bad.
"I just would like to see (mental illness) normalized, like diabetes or anything else," she said.
Noting today's primary elections, Trafton said she hopes people will elect leaders who will address the need for mental health infrastructure in the state.
"It really does matter, and (those who have mental illness) often don't have a voice," she said. "... We can be their voice, and we can help them be strong, and we can maybe save some more lives."
The Samaritans offer a local crisis hotline, at 357-5505, and a toll-free state hotline, at 1-866-457-2910.
___
(c)2018 The Keene Sentinel (Keene, N.H.)
Visit The Keene Sentinel (Keene, N.H.) at www.sentinelsource.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.