Suicide: No Stranger to D Dennison and PSD Wants to Help

We've been friends for 11 years on K99 and 18 years in the community including my days at our sister station Tri 102.5 so many of you probably already know the connection I have with suicide. In my opinion there are so many questions about suicide that are often answered incorrectly or not answered at all. And the Poudre School District offers ongoing classes/training on suicide. I got another notice today about an upcoming session and because its important to me I thought you might like to at least know about this service offered by the PSD.

In case you don't know, both of my grandfathers and my dad committed suicide. My grandfathers were within five years of my age today, my dad was 22. In hindsight there were signs that all three quietly displayed.

I don't know what direction the PSD takes when speaking on this issue, but I do know, in my case, that non of these men could have been stopped and that isn't the fault of the family or friends. I do know that the PSD has advanced tools to assist in recognizing behaviors and such, thing's that were not available when my family members made that choice.

ONE OF MY PERSONAL BELIEFS ABOUT SUICIDE:

I don't think suicide is selfish like others without any contact with suicide. I believe suicide, once  your mind is there doesn't have the capacity to think outside of itself. Now in definition one might argue that is selfishness at its highest. I disagree, once the mind is there, my interpretation is that it does not see anything around it, I believe to be selfish, you are aware of your surrounding's, the people in your life etc and do whatever pleases you regardless. I'm saying that for the most part, when the mind of someone contemplating suicide crosses that doorway it only see's its pain, is loneliness, its sorrow and emptiness. Again, I can hear you arguing the selfishness of this act over and over again even or especially after hearing my words. I get that, but for every person that has taken this journey and somehow didn't cross the doorway, they understand, they get it and I am so glad that they stayed with us.

The experts, unlike me, as I only have personal experience with suicide, I am not trained in the field. The PSD has but together a 90-minute suicide prevention training that teaches the three-step QPR (Question, Persuade and Refer) method. In an email to PSD student parents they say the training will cover warning signs, intervention skills, listening skills, how to talk to and assist those at risk of suicide, referral resources, suicide as a public health concern and myths and facts related to suicide. There is no charge for this 90-minute session, but you do have to register. Call 490-3264 to register or to get more information. The next session is slated for Tuesday the 18th of February with a deadline to register this Friday. Additional session have been scheduled for March 12th and April 29th.