Walk Brings Suicide Out Of Darkness

BENTONVILLE -- Christina Clark and her family were surprised when her mother committed suicide on Oct. 2, 2008.

"(She) always had a smile on her face," Clark recalled. "She was always there for everybody, always upbeat. I did not know she was depressed. Nobody knew."

At A Glance

Suicide Awareness

NWA Out of the Darkness Community Walk has raised $9,108 for the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention as of Aug. 23. For more information about the event or to donate, visit http://bit.ly/1BOvR…. Christina Clark’s page can be viewed at http://bit.ly/1t2kf….

Donations will be collected through Dec. 31.

For more information about suicide, risk factors and warning signs, and how to help those who may be suicidal, visit www.afsp.org.

Source: American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

At A Glance

Crisis Center

The Arkansas Crisis Center is located in Springdale and serves 75 counties in Arkansas.

In 2013, the center received 7,369 calls to its Crisis Line. Of those, 242 were in Benton County and 393 were in Washington County.

The center has received 5,475 calls to its Crisis Line from Jan. 1 to Aug. 22. Of those, 283 were in Benton County and 433 were in Washington County.

The center’s Crisis Line is open 24 hours, seven days a week. The number is 1-888-274-7472.

People can also reach out through an online chat, which is available from 6 to 11 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday. More information is available at www.arcrisis.org.

Source: Arkansas Crisis Center

Clark's parents were living in California at the time. Her father went to live with Clark and her husband in Arizona after her mother's death.

Five months later, her dad died committed suicide. He had suffered with depression his whole life, Clark said.

Before he died, he told Clark her mother told a primary care physician she was depressed four months before she died.

"He blew her off and told her she wasn't depressed," Clark said.

The loss of both parents to suicide sent Clark into a depression that she continues to struggle with today. She said she also suffers from insomnia and anxiety, issues she didn't deal with previously.

"I have changed dramatically," Clark said. "My personality, I'm not the outgoing, fun person, I don't feel like that I used to be."

Clark said she doesn't want anyone to go through what she went through. To help make that happen, Clark is participating in the Northwest Arkansas Out of the Darkness Community Walk that will take place at Orchard's Park in Bentonville on Sept. 13.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention hosts campus walks, community walks and night walks through out the country to raise money and awareness for suicide prevention and mental illness.

There were 39,518 reported suicide deaths in the United States in 2011, according to the foundation's website. That made suicide the 10th leading cause of death for Americans. Someone committed suicide every 13.3 minutes that year, according to the website.

Ninety percent of those who committed suicide were suffering from a mental illness at the time, according to the foundation.

Arkansas' suicide rate is the 17th highest in the country, according to Melissa Jackson, program director at the Arkansas Crisis Center in Springdale.

The center serves 75 counties in Arkansas.

An average of 368 suicides are reported in Arkansas each year, she said.

"There's at least one a day," she said.

Those numbers may be low, as it's often not reported when someone commits suicide, but looks like an accident, Jackson said.

"We think that happens a lot," she said.

"My hope is to let people know that there is help out there, and we need to seek it," Clark said of the walk's purpose.

Suicide is not something openly discussed because of the stigma that surrounds it, said Marcey Ball, chairwoman for the walk. People don't understand that depression is real, that mental illness is real, she said.

She lost her son to suicide five years ago when he was 14.

"I don't want another mom to feel the way I do," she said. "To feel that loss and the grief. A piece of your heart is missing ... We want more people to talk about it because there is help, there is hope, and we want to break that stigma."

The walk will be 1-3 miles long, depending on how many are in attendance, Ball said. The event will take place from 9 to 11 a.m.

There will be live music and a raffle. Mental health professionals will also provide information and offer support. A suicide survivor will offer messages and donate the proceeds back to the walk, Ball said.

Most of the participants will be survivors of suicide, but the event is for anyone who wants to raise awareness about suicide and mental health. People are welcome to come learn more about it, as well, Ball said.

Death by suicide is different than other causes of death because it leaves family and friends with unanswered questions, Clark said.

"You always have the questions of why -- why did they do it? What if I had done this? Or could I have done that? Why didn't I see the signs? That's something we struggle with," she said.

It's not like someone dying in a car crash, Clark said.

"At least you know why," she said. "I don't know why, and that's the thing I live with."

Many times people who have not been directly affected by suicide aren't sure how to respond to those who have, Clark said.

"I've been told to get over it," she said. "You don't get over it. You learn to live through it, which I'm in the process of learning. It's very tough."

Suicide and mental illness are complicated diseases, said Dean Priest, medical director at Springwoods Behavioral Health in Fayetteville.

It can stem from genetics if a person has a strong family history of deep clinical depression, or a life crisis such as a job loss or divorce, he said. Treatment requires a broad-based approach that often includes medication and therapy.

Clark has done both. The first psychologist she saw after her mother's death was insensitive, telling Clark she needed to put her mother's urn in the closet, she said. Clark then sought out a primary care doctor who tried to find an effective medication for her, but she suffered negative side effects that changed her personality.

On the year anniversary of her mother's death, Clark was in such despair she tried to take her own life.

"I was in that tunnel," she said. "I just couldn't take it anymore. I just thought what a perfect day to do it on. But I'm still here."

People who are suicidal often have tunnel vision, which prevents them from seeing or thinking about anything worth living for, Clark said.

Hopelessness is tunnel vision, Priest said.

"If you're hopeless you're not looking right or left," he said.

Clark eventually found a hospice group in Arizona who were helpful and supportive.

When she moved to Northwest Arkansas in 2010 she found a psychologist who had a family member who committed suicide. Clark's been seeing her for four years.

It's important to find the right medication and the right therapist, said Jared Sparks, Ozark Guidance Center clinical director.

Sometimes the first medication prescribed doesn't work so another has to be tested, he said. The same goes with finding a therapist. The relationship between the client and therapist is the foundation for the client's ability to improve, he said.

The client-therapist relationship should be a partnership where the two collaborate on an effective treatment plan, Sparks said.

Clark also found an informal support group in Northwest Arkansas. She's found when she shares her story, more people are willing to share their's if they've had a loved one die by suicide, she said.

Being able to hear other people talk about their experience with suicide lets survivors know they're not alone and provides a sense of connection, Priest said. That can help break through the tunnel vision some experience, he said.

"With all the help I'm getting, I still have days where I don't want to go on, but I push forward through those bad days," Clark said. "I have a plan set in motion of what I need to do if I start feeling really down. It's tough for me to reach out for help. It's really tough for me to do that, but I've learned that I have to because I want to live."

Registration for the walk is free and can be done online or the day of the event.

NW News on 08/25/2014

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