Sometimes you have to talk about things that you don’t want to.
Brian Barr, an expert on mental health and suicide prevention, will be giving a presentation at the SEFCU Corporate Headquarters at 700 Patroon Creek Blvd. off Washington Avenue in Albany, on Thursday, Sept. 17. He said that although suicide can be a touchy subject, talking about it is vital to preventing it.
It needs the light of day upon it. Not talking about it does a disservice to those at risk, Barr said.
Barr, who lives in Guilderland, is working in conjunction with Ed Frank, who advocates against alcohol abuse and drunk driving. Frank said alcohol and suicide can be intimately related.
`Depression can lead to suicide. It’s all-encompassing,` he said. `[We should] raise awareness of alcohol abuse.`
Frank said he reached out in the community to find an expert, and people kept recommending the same person: Barr.
Frank said the forum will be free and open to the public.
`There’s no sign up. Just show up,` he said.
Frank said if the event is successful, he will consider hosting more events at the Beacon of Hope Care Center in Altamont, where he regularly has DWI prevention exhibits.
Barr said suicide rates increased dramatically in the 1980’s during the crack epidemic, but have since leveled off at about 30,000 per year.
Barr said the results of the Youth Risk Behavior Suicide Survey, sponsored by the federal government, indicate a substantial number of young people are thinking about suicide, and the mindset that you should not talk about it for fear of planting the seed is erroneous, since people are already thinking about it.
While Barr worked as the director of a mental health clinic, suicide touched his life when his 18-year-old son Kevin took his own life. That event shaped his life’s work.
`When we lost Kevin, my involvement specifically in suicide evolved into what it’s become today,` he said.
Barr discussed the enormous power that a person has to terminate his or her own life, and he emphasized how understanding that power is vital to preventing suicide.
`It’s just a chilling, chilling thought,` he said.
Another hope Barr has is to address some common misconceptions about suicide, such as its a problem that only affects kids. He said of the 30,000 suicides each year, 5,500 are youths, while 25,500 were adults, and the highest demographic were adults 85 and older.
At one point, Barr sat on a town youth suicide committee, where he spoke with a member of the senior service committee who told him that older people are toward the end of their lives and people should not be focused on them. This was disturbing to Barr.
`Our seniors are at a wicked risk,` he said, adding he grew curious about why that’s the case.
`Ninety percent of suicide there’s an identifiable mental health issue,` Barr said.
He said he also wants to address the strange, counterintuitive nature of suicide. He said it is human nature to avoid death, but those who commit suicide willingly move toward it, and that is a phenomena that must be understood.
`We’re pretty tough characters. We have coping mechanisms,` he said. `What is it about this one group that we lose?`
He said the emotional pain that those who are suicidal are feeling can be so enormous sometimes that it’s almost incomprehensible.
For some, it’s a matter of convincing themselves that they are not wanted.
`If you dwell upon the thought that the world would be better off without me, then a signal of distress resounds, saying ‘I need help,’` Barr said.
Sometimes, though, those people do not seek help, and those are often the victims of suicide, he said.
It’s best to get to people while they are not depressed, Barr said. `We have to get to people when they are doing well.
Barr said the Samaritans of the Capital Region, a hotline that became available shortly after Kevin died, is something he advocates for, and he said that some people find it easier to talk to a stranger about suicide and depression.
Barr has published the book `One Bite at a Time: Attitude Control in Daily Living,` and has received the 2009 Social Work Award for Lifetime Achievement from the New York State Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. He has served as the Assistant Commissioner of Children and Family Service as well.
Frank and Barr issued a Suicide Prevention Education Awareness Kit, know as SPEAK, with information about the topic. It lists a number to call, 1-800-273-8255 as a resource for those feeling depressed and suicidal.“