May Donation - Survivors of Suicide Loss

I previously wrote about an acquaintance who committed suicide over the New Year's holiday. My friend, through whom I met the deceased, has been attending Survivors of Suicide Loss (SOSL) group meetings with the decedant's fiancée.



From this recent incident, my friend and I were surprised to learn that we are both survivors of suicide. My friend's father took his life when she was just 16. My grandmother took her life in 1998.

In honor of my friend's father and my grandmother, this month's $20 donation will go to SOSL.

THE TRUTHS ABOUT SUICIDE
In the United States a person dies by suicide every 16 minutes, claiming over 30,000 lives each year. From 1995 to 2006, suicide took the lives of 3,959 San Diegans.

Among 15 to 24 year olds, suicide is the third leading cause of death.

Among 5 to 14 year olds, suicide is the fifth leading cause of death.

The fastest growing group completing suicide is children between the ages of 10-14. This rate has doubled in the last two decades.

Firearms are used in more suicides than homicides. From 1995 to 2004, suicides outnumbered homicides by 2.35 to 1 in San Diego.

90% of all people who die by suicide have a diagnosable psychiatric disorder at the time of their death.

60% of all people who die by suicide suffer from major depression - the most treatable of psychiatric illnesses.

Studies indicate that the best way to prevent suicide is through the early recognition and treatment of depression and other psychiatric illnesses.

About SOSL
Survivors of Suicide Loss, Inc., is a nonprofit, nonsectarian, self-help support group system for those who have lost a relative or friend through suicide. The Survivors of Suicide Loss volunteers are dedicated to providing information and support to assist in the grieving and healing process.

It is a support group of people who help one another through the stages of grieving. The support group members share feelings of guilt, anger frustration, emptiness, loneliness and disillusionment. For some, it is hard to identify or even to understand their feelings. Through others' expression of what they are feeling, the members begin to have a better awareness of what is going on inside us.

My friend and the decedant's fiancée both attest that the SOSL meetings have been very helpful. Hopefully, by donating to the organization, I can help save a life by helping raise suicide awareness.