Stress of crisis raises suicide prospects

Each day, ten of thousands of our fellow Connecticut residents face the challenge of living with mental illness. Across the United States, one in five adults experiences mental illness each year and one in six U.S. youth aged 6-17 experience a mental health disorder.

Untreated mental illness has terrible consequences, leading to substance abuse and addiction, harm to oneself and others, and that most tragic of outcomes, suicide. Indeed, suicide is the second leading cause of death among people aged 10-34. In Connecticut someone dies by suicide every 22 hours.

The struggle to find treatment, maintain balance, and lead a functioning life is never easy in the best of times. Suddenly the onset of the COVID-19 public health crisis makes that struggle far more difficult.

For those of us in good mental health, current stresses can seem overwhelming. Now imagine what the challenge must be like right now, with normal life as we know it gone, for someone already experiencing suicidal ideation. For someone with suicidal thoughts, this situation can be the tipping point. The supports of work, family and friends have in many cases been ripped away, due to COVID-19 isolation. The regular in-person gym sessions that helped provide balance are a thing of the past. The job that supplied some sense of structure and financial security is gone. For the young, the normal routines of classes and friends and socializing are now just a memory.

If life seemed to make no sense before, how could it seem any better now? The desire to end one's pain, the misguided belief that the end of one's life may actually help friends and family, can lead to “Why not now?” thinking, especially when the future has never seemed bleaker.

Now, particularly, all of us need to be aware of the warning signs of suicide in our friends and loved ones: expressions of hopelessness, depression, giving away prized possessions, talking of suicide, securing lethal means. This vigilance is made even more difficult because of the social distancing we are practicing. Technology can help us stay in touch. If in doubt, act. Question your loved one or friend, persuade them to seek help, and refer them to those who can offer the needed interventions.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.

We know we are going to lose members of our community to the disease that is the COVID-19 virus. Let us all do everything in our power not to lose more loved ones through despair and suicide.

Holly Cheeseman is the state representative for the 37th District of East Lyme and Salem. She is also the executive director of the Children’s Museum of Southeastern Connecticut, located in Niantic. Cheeseman works closely with Ann and Paul Dagle of East Lyme, whose son Brian committed suicide as a student in college. The couple started the Brian Dagle Foundation in his memory. Before COVID-19 interrupted the legislative session, Cheeseman was working with Ann Dagle on legislation addressing suicide and suicide prevention.