Coming up tonight and Tuesday on KAKE News at 10, reporter Annette Lawless talks to suicide survivors about an effort to prevent a growing problem in Kansas.
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As the world mourns the loss of comedic genius Robin Williams, for one Kansas man the news hits close to home.
“That was not a sudden thing that came on, and he was also suffering from depression and 90 percent of suicides are caused by an untreated mental illness,” said Rick Burr.
Burr is a board member for the Greater Kansas Chapter of American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
His son, Mike, took his own life in May 2012.
“He just loved life,” Burr said. “Loved people, but the depression that he suffered, could never get it under control and finally he stopped taking his medication and died by suicide.”
Mike was just 20 at the time, and didn’t really know what to do with his life, Burr said. “I told him that was OK,” he said. Mike was a budding musician, though, full of life. Yet, his mental health likely became too much, he said.
A GROWING PROBLEM IN KANSAS
Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in the state.
According to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, 505 Kansans died by suicide in 2012. The year before, that number was 384.
“In 2013, we had 83 suicides in Sedgwick County. Statewide, we only had 53 homicides,” Burr said.
CHALLENGE WITH ENDING SUICIDE
Burr admits that suicide will not go away, but he believes that by opening up the conversation, it will help reduce the stigma.
People are afraid that if they talk about it, they’ll encourage others to do it, he said. Yet, he believes that conversation could save a life by showing others that you care.
HELPING WICHITA STATE STUDENTS
The AFSP is partnering with Wichita State to start a new screening program. Essentially, students and staff would take an anonymous online survey. The information would help people find out if they’re at-risk for mental illness and suicide.
“What we’re doing, we’re setting up this website to push traffic over to the testing and counseling center over at Wichita State, so we can have people come in and talk to someone and perhaps get some help,” Burr said.
WICHITA OUT OF DARKNESS WALK
To help raise awareness and funds for AFSP’s vision of a world without suicide, Burr would like to invite the community to participate in the Wichita Out of Darkness Walk. The event begins at noon on Sept. 20 at the Riverwalk in Downtown Wichita. The goal is to raise at least $17,000.
“It’s a huge issue, and so you’ve got to have some goal in mind when you get things started like this, and our goal is let’s not have one more,” he said.