Apr 21, 2008

Touched by Suicide--Surviving Grief and Loss.


I will be blogging this week in connection to suicide and grief as a memorial to my nephew who took his life this last week. He was loved deeply and will be missed by all his family. I hope that these posts will raise awareness for others who have family members who are depressed and taking anti-depressants. It is my hope that you can find alternatives before you lose someone you love.

We never research or become aware of statistics often until it hits our lives. Suicide is devastating for all the family members, leaving in it's wake overwhelming guilt, unbearable grief, and questions that will never be answered.

I never realised that there is one person entering the ER every two minutes connected to depression and anti-depressants and a suicide attempt. I had never taken the time to research the fact that in 2004 the FDA posted a warning that the 12 SSI anti-depressants on the market have been found to deepen depression and cause suicidal thoughts.


I could have never imagined that 63,000 people enter the ER every year as a result of a suicide attempt related to anti-depressant side effects. These are all statistics that I found yesterday after trying to find answers to why a person who one month earlier had shared that someone who would take their own life would have to be out of their mind and completely selfish.


How is it that when the FDA has issued this strong warning and with the above alarming statistics found on DAWN. DAWN is a public health surveillance system that monitors drug-related ED visits in the United States. Data are collected from a nationally representative sample of short-stay, general, non-Federal hospitals that operate 24-hour EDs (emergency departments).


Share your story if you have lost someone you love. My heart reaches out to you in your loss and grief.

2 comments:

TsalagiSpirit said...

I hope others see your posts and are helped through difficult times.
It is kind of you to remember others in this time.
I write Christian poetry.
A co-worker's brother killed himself. The family was of course devastated. I said I would pray about it and talk to her later. I went home and asked God to help me find the words to comfort them.
As I sat down to write out my condolences this is what appeared in only minutes on the paper. I believe it is divinely inspired. I ask only when it is used the little paragraph that follows it on the web page giving the glory to He that sent it to me to write down be included.
It is being used in the funeral of another friends nephew soon. It has been used in Australia, New Zealand, USA and Great Britain that I know of.
I have been told it has helped people heal. I hope that is true.
You may locate it by typing in my name Cynthia J Mackenzie and He Gathers Broken Souls. The Visitors and Friends site will allow you to cut and paste.
Please copy it for others you believe it may help if you wish.
May God Bless you and your family in this time of pain.
Please tell his parents and others lef numb by this loss my thoughts and prayers are with them.

Cynthia J. Mackenzie

Anonymous said...

There are so many people who have negative thoughts and are plagued by negative thinking. These negative thoughts create fear, suicidal thoughts, anger, and agitation and there is seemingly no apparent reason for these thoughts to occur. Everyone who has this habit must try to learn how to stop it and must try to bring on a more positive way of thinking. http://www.xanax-effects.com/