Suicide prevention topic of talk by state's first lady

ROGERS — Suicide seemed odd table conversation for a luncheon honoring the usually cheery first lady, Ginger Beebe, but it was, after all, the purpose of her visit - National Suicide Awareness and Prevention Day.

While the governor lectured hundreds of businessmen gathered at the nearby Church at Pinnacle Hills on Sept. 10, his wife talked in more subtle tones to a much smaller audience assembled at Bonefish Grill on behalf of the Springdale-based Arkansas Crisis Center. After a lunch of blackened chicken, salmon or scallops, guests heard some overwhelming statistics - someone in Washington or Benton counties dies from suicide each week, and for every suicide, there are more than two dozen attempts, said crisis center executive directorShelby Chandler.

Estimates are conservative and do not include people who never sought treatment related to their incidents, she said.

Can one really preventsuicide?

"Yes, more and more," Chandler said. Some 70 percent to 90 percent of suicide victims were mentally ill when they died, she said.

Beebe encouraged herlunch guests to engage others in dialogue about suicide.

"The more we talk, the more we can help our friends and our neighbors get the help they need," she said.