AFSP Spring 2006 Newsletter

lifesavers
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the quarterly newsletter of the
VOLUME 18 | NUMBER 1 | SPRING 2006
AFSP Awards
$2 Million for
New Research
The AFSP Research Grants Committee
recently approved $1.8 million for new
research to identify suicide risk factors
among particular population groups,
develop new treatments for those at
risk and better understand the genetic,
neuroanatomical and neurobiological
underpinnings of suicidal behavior.
Three additional grants are expected to
be approved in July, bringing the RGC's
total grant commitment to $2 million
for fiscal year 2007.
At the April 2006 meeting of
the Foundation's Research Grants
Committee, 25 new grant projects were
recommended for funding in the year
beginning July 1. These new grant commitments represent the largest amount
ever recommended by the RGC in a
single cycle — an almost 50 percent
increase from the previous year.
The printing of this edition of the Lifesavers newsletter is
made possible by the generosity of Solvay Pharmaceuticals
E D I T O R ’ S N O T E Permission to reproduce articles in whole or part must
be obtained in writing from the editor.
O N L I N E For the most up-to-date information on the programs,
projects and activities of the American Foundation for Suicide
Prevention, as well as affiliate contact information, suicide facts
and survivor support, please visit our website www.afsp.org.
S U R V I V O R S U P P O R T G R O U P S We are continually adding new
support groups for survivors to our directory on the web. If you have
recently formed a group, or know of a new one in your area, please
give us a call or email us at [email protected].
continued page 10
2006 Lifesavers Dinner Honors
CNN's Randi Kaye and Drs. Aaron Beck,
Jane Pearson and Madelyn Gould
Record Funds Raised for Research
and Education at 18th Annual Gala
Featuring Joan Rivers, ‘Guiding
Light’s’ Michelle Ray Smith and
Entertainer Jennifer Holliday
NEW YORK CITY, May 3 — A message of
hope filled the Hall of Ocean Life at the
American Museum of Natural History, as
the Foundation’s 18th Annual Lifesavers
Dinner raised a record $735,000 for suicide
prevention research and education.
The dinner was chaired by Dr. Harold H.
Shlevin, global senior vice president, RESQS
organization, Solvay Pharmaceuticals Inc.
“Guiding Light” star Michelle Ray Smith
served as the evening’s emcee, and two-time
Grammy and Tony Award winner Jennifer
Holliday closed the evening with an emotional,
gut-wrenching performance. Through a taped
continued page 8
S C I E N T I F I C
OVERNIGHT WALKS
SAN FRANCISCO
J U LY 2 2 - 2 3 , 2 0 0 6
CHICAGO
AUGUST 12-13, 2006
R E G I S T E R T O D AY
CALL 888-NIGHT-05
or TheOvernight.org
COMMUNITY WALKS
R E G I S T E R T O D AY AT
OutOfTheDarkness.org
See page 12 for details
120 Wall Street, 22nd Fl., New York, NY 10005
TEL 212 363-3500
FAX 212 363-6237
ONLINE www.afsp.org
CNN’s Randi Kaye (right) receives the AFSP Survivor Award
from emcee Michelle Ray Smith
D I S C U S S I O N
Suicide Prevention Strategies:
A Systematic Review
J. John Mann, M.D.; Alan Apter, M.D.; Jose Bertolote, M.D.; Annette Beautrais, Ph.D.; Dianne Currier, Ph.D.; Ann
Haas, Ph.D.; Ulrich Hegerl, M.D.; Jouko Lonnqvist, M.D.; Kevin Malone, M.D.; Andrej Marusic, M.D., Ph.D.; Lars
Mehlum, M.D.; George Patton, M.D.; Michael Phillips, M.D.; Wolfgang Rutz, M.D.; Zoltan Rihmer, M.D., Ph.D.,
D.Sc.; Armin Schmidtke, M.D., Ph.D.; David Shaffer, M.D.; Morton Silverman, M.D.; Yoshitomo Takahashi, M.D.;
Airi Varnik, M.D.; Danuta Wasserman, M.D.; Paul Yip, Ph.D.; Herbert Hendin, M.D.
This article represents the culmination of years of prevention research. It is highly quoted and referred to.
Suicide is a significant public health issue. In 2002, an estimated 877,000 lives were lost worldwide
through suicide, representing 1.5 percent of the global burden of disease or more than 20 million
disability-adjusted life-years (years of healthy life lost through premature death or disability).1
continued page 2
in america, a person dies by
suicide every 18 minutes.
(AFSP) was founded in 1987 by concerned scientists, business and
community leaders, and survivors of suicide in an effort to support the
research and education needed to prevent suicide. AFSP is the only
national not-for-profit organization exclusively dedicated to funding
research, developing prevention initiatives and offering educational
programs and conferences for survivors, mental health professionals,
physicians and the public.
T H E A M E R I C A N F O U N D AT I O N F O R S U I C I D E P R E V E N T I O N
american foundation for
s u i c i d e p r e v e n t i o n is d e d i c a t e d to
preventing suicide through research
a n d e d u c a t i o n.
SCIENTIFIC from page 1
The highest annual rates are in Eastern
Europe, where 10 countries report more than
27 suicides per 100,000 persons. Latin
American and Muslim countries report the
lowest rates, fewer than 6.5 per 100,000.2 In
the United States, in 2002, suicide accounted
for 31,655 deaths, a rate of 11.0 per 100,000
per year,3 and general population surveys document a suicide attempt rate of 0.6 percent
and a suicide ideation rate of 3.3 percent,4 representing a huge human tragedy and an estimated $11.8 billion in lost income.5
Suicidal behavior has multiple causes that
are broadly divided into proximal stressors or
triggers and predisposition.6 Psychiatric illness is a major contributing factor, and more
than 90 percent of suicides have a Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,
Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) psychiatric illness,7–13
with some exceptions, such as in China.14
Mood disorders, principally major depressive
disorder and bipolar disorder, are associated
with about 60 percent of suicides.7,8,10,15,16 Other
contributory factors include availability of
lethal means, alcohol and drug abuse, access
to psychiatric treatment, attitudes to suicide,
help-seeking behavior, physical illness, marital
status, age and sex.6 To address these causes,
suicide prevention involves a multifaceted
approach with particular attention to mental
health. The FIGURE illustrates the multiple
factors involved in suicidal behavior6 and indicates where specific preventive interventions
are being directed. Suicide prevention is possible because up to 83 percent of suicides
have had contact with a primary care physi-
lifesavers
the quarterly newsletter of
AFSP
American Foundation
for Suicide Prevention
Lance Teegarden, Editor
Robert T. Gebbia,
Executive Director
120 Wall Street, 22nd Fl.
New York, NY 10005, www.afsp.org
2
cian within a year of
their death and up to
66 percent within a
month.17,18 Thus, a key
prevention strategy is
improved screening of
depressed patients by
primary care physicians
and better treatment of
major depression. This
review considers what
is known about this and
other prevention strategies to permit integration into a comprehensive prevention strategy.
Suicide experts from
15 countries met in
Salzburg, Austria, in
August 2004 to review
efficacy of suicide prevention interventions. The five-day workshop
identified five major areas of prevention: education and awareness programs for the general public and professionals; screening methods for high-risk persons; treatment of
psychiatric disorders; restricting access to
lethal means; and media reporting of suicide.
STUDY SELECTION
Studies were included if they reported on
either the primary outcomes of interest,
namely completed and attempted suicide and
suicidal ideation; or, where applicable, intermediate outcomes, including help-seeking
behavior, identification of at-risk individuals,
entry into treatment and antidepressant prescription rates.
We included three major types of studies
for which the research question was clearly
defined as assessment of efficacy or effectiveness of prevention programs in terms of the
above primary or secondary outcomes; (1)
systematic reviews and meta-analyses (n=10)
for which the search strategy was comprehensive and the methodological quality of primary studies was critically appraised; (2) quantitative studies, either randomized controlled
trials (n=18), or cohort studies (n=24); and
(3) ecological or population based studies
(n=41). Randomized controlled trials provide
the most compelling evidence of efficacy
while findings of naturalistic studies are large-
ly correlational, indicating that their outcomes need further testing.
DATA SYNTHESIS
Heterogeneity in study methodology and populations limited formal metaanalysis, thus we
present a narrative synthesis of the results for
the key domains of suicide prevention interventions. [The manuscript includes details of
each of these.]
CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE
DIRECTIONS
National suicide prevention strategies have
been proposed despite knowledge deficits
about the effectiveness of some common key
components. The relative impact of different
strategies on national suicide rates is important for planning but difficult to estimate.
TABLE 3 summarizes estimates of impact of
different interventions on national suicide
rates showing that the most promising interventions are physician education, means
restriction, and gatekeeper education. Many
universal or targeted educational interventions
are multifaceted, and it is not known which
components produce the desired outcome, or
there may be longer-term trends in suicide
rates that are not captured by the studies.
Physician Education. This increases the
number of diagnosed and treated depressed
patients with accompanying reductions in suiLIFESAVERS
cide although booster programs appear necessary. Videoconferencing and other teleconferencing consulting methods are possibilities
where expert help is not available locally.
However, the effect on suicide rates must be
measured, as well as effects on intermediate
outcomes, such as primary care physiciandiagnosed cases of major depression and
antidepressant prescription rates.
Pharmacotherapy. Randomized controlled
trials are needed to prove that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors decrease suicide
rates. Their efficacy is established for major
depression, the main risk factor for suicide.
Education programs targeting primary care
physicians should include instruction on use
of antidepressants. The relationship between
antidepressant use and emergent suicidal
ideation and behavior in depressed children
and adolescents needs further study. Because
most depressed youth who attempt suicide
are untreated, it is important not to prematurely discourage the use of effective antidepressants such as fluoxetine.
Gatekeeper Education. Where the roles of
gatekeepers are formalized and pathways to
treatment are readily available, such as in the
military, educating gatekeepers helps reduce
suicidal behavior. Demonstration projects for
other gatekeepers with intermediate outcome
measures, such as referral rates and psychiatric treatment rates, should be conducted.
Means Restriction. Restricting access to
lethal methods decreases suicides by those
methods. Priority should be given to the most
commonly used methods in each country.
The possibility of substitution of methods
requires ongoing monitoring, as does compliance with restrictions such as firearm access.
Screening. Although screening programs
have reported some success in identifying
individuals with known risk factors for suicide, particularly among high school and
college student populations, further consideration needs to be given to determining the
cost effectiveness of screening general populations vs. identified at-risk populations for
reducing suicide rates, the predictive validity
and reliability of specific screening instruments, and the appropriateness of standard
suicide screening instruments across different cultures.
Psychotherapy. Psychotherapy alone or in
combination with some antidepressants can
SPRING 2006
be an effective treatment for depression, for
suicidal ideation, for suicide attempts in borderline personality disorder and for preventing new attempts after a suicide attempt.
More needs to be known about the combinations of psychotherapeutic and pharmacologic interventions for short-and long-term outcomes for suicidal patients.
Chain of Care. After a suicide attempt, better structured collaboration between hospitals
and teams providing follow-up care may
improve compliance with treatment and
decrease new attempts, but essential elements of postsuicide attempt interventions
are yet to be identified.
Media. Strategies for influencing how the
media reports suicide need to be implemented and evaluated. Suicide prevention interventions should be multimodal, evidence based,
guided by specific testable hypotheses and
implemented among populations of sufficient
size to yield generalizable and reliable results.
Programs must include outcome measures.
Finally, because most studies have been conducted in developed nations, many issues facing underresourced developing nations have
not been addressed and require future studies
specifically focused on suicide prevention.
REFERENCES
1. World Health Organization. World Health Report
2003: Shaping the Future. Geneva, Switzerland: World
Health Organization; 2003. Available at:
http://www.who.int/whr/2003/en/whr03_en.pdf.
Accessed January 2005.
2. World Health Organization. Country reports and
charts Web page. Available at: http://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicide/country_reports/en/index
.html. Accessed January 2005.
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
National Center for Health Statistics: self–inflicted
injury/suicide Web page. Available at:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/suicide.htm. Accessed
January 2005.
4. Kessler RC, Berglund P, Borges G, Nock M, Wang
PS. Trends in suicide ideation, plans, gestures, and
attempts in the United States, 1990–1992 to
2001–2003. JAMA. 2005;293:2487–2495.
5. Goldsmith SK, Pellmar TC, Kleinman AM, Bunney
WE. Reducing Suicide: A National Imperative.
Washington, DC: National Academies Press; 2002.
6. Mann JJ. A current perspective of suicide and
attempted suicide. Ann Intern Med. 2002;136:302–311.
7. Barraclough B, Bunch J, Nelson B, Sainsbury P.
One hundred cases of suicide: clinical aspects. Br J
Psychiatry. 1974;125:355–373.
8. Dorpat TL, Ripley HS. A study of suicide in the
Seattle area. Compr Psychiatry. 1960;1:349–359.
9. Rich CL, Fowler RC, Fogarty LA, Young D. San
Diego suicide study, III: relationships between diagnoses and stressors. Arch Gen Psychiatry.
1988;45:589–592.
10. Robins E, Murphy GE, Wilkinson RH Jr, Gassner
S, Kayes J. Some clinical considerations in the prevention of suicide based on a study of 134 successful suicides. Am J Public Health. 1959;49:888–899.
11. Shaffer D, Gould MS, Fisher P, et al. Psychiatric
diagnosis in child and adolescent suicide. Arch Gen
Psychiatry. 1996;53:339–348.
12. Drake RE, Bartels SJ, Torrey WC. Suicide in schizophrenia: clinical approaches. In: Williams R, Dalby JT,
eds. Depression in Schizophrenics. New York, NY:
Plenum Press; 1989:171–186.
13. Brent DA, Johnson BA, Perper J, et al. Personality
disorder, personality traits, impulsive violence and completed suicide in adolescents. J Am Acad Child Adolesc
Psychiatry. 1994;33:1080–1086.
14. Phillips MR, Yang G, Zhang Y, Wang L, Ji H, Zhou
M. Risk factors for suicide in China: a national case-control psychological autopsy study. Lancet.
2002;360:1728–1736.
15. Isometsä E, Henriksson M, Marttunen M, et al.
Mental disorders in young and middle aged men who
commit suicide. BMJ. 1995;310:1366–1367.
16. Bertolote JM, Fleischmann A, De Leo D,
Wasserman D. Suicide and mental disorders: do we
know enough? Br J Psychiatry. 2003;183:382–383.
17. Luoma JB, Martin CE, Pearson JL. Contact with
mental health and primary care providers before suicide:
a review of the evidence. Am J Psychiatry.
2002;159:909–916.
18. Andersen UA, Andersen M, Rosholm JU, Gram
LF. Contacts to the health care system prior to suicide:
a comprehensive analysis using registers for general
and psychiatric hospital admissions, contacts to general practitioners and practicing specialists and drug prescriptions. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2000;102:126–134.
This is an abridged version of an article that
originally appeared in the Journal of the
American Medical Association, Oct. 26,
2005, 294; 2064–2074. Reprinted by permission
of the American Medical Association. Copyright
© 2005, American Medical Association. All
rights reserved.
For the full text of this article, please visit the
AFSP website.
3
SURVIVOR STORY
Life is About Gifts
by Rick Kirchhoff
Life is about gifts given to us and gifts that
we give to others. All we have to give to others is ourselves. This has been a recurring
thought during the past few months. The
thought emanates from my participation
in a weekly L.O.S.S. Support Group (Loving
Outreach to Survivors of Suicide) sponsored
by Catholic Charities of the Chicago
Archdiocese. A gift for survivors!
It is 13 months since I lost one of those
special gifts, my youngest son, Ryan. He was
a self-reliant, creative young man, whose first
sentence, “Rynie do self!” established his
independence. The loss of Ryan tremendously impacts my life and the lives of everyone in
my family. And now, the new “normal” for
my life is a work in progress. This, too, is
one of those gifts.
Jan. 1, 2005, begins like the beginning of
any other day and any other year. Within a
few days, Ryan announces that he is petitioning for early graduation from high school and
his acceptance to our local junior college.
I recall a few interesting days when he takes
his high school finals and attends his college
classes, all in the same morning. Aside from
what I might consider an unusually quick
transition, everything seems to be on track
for Ryan. He works part time for a well
known national electronics firm, he applies
to DePaul University in Chicago for the fall
semester and he attends our community college. He intends to enter pre-med and calculates that his completion of undergraduate
studies in two-and-a-half years, providing he
begins immediately and enrolls for summer
sessions. His apartment is an inheritance
from his sister, and his roommates are three
of his close friends. He even speaks of specializing in anesthesiology. “Rynie do self!”
On March 3, we celebrate his 18th birthday.
Later in the evening many of his friends
arrive at our house. His girlfriend, Brittany,
4
along with several others, brings a delicious and unusually shaped homemade
birthday cake. This gesture catches
Ryan by surprise and produces a great
big smile and several hours of conversation. And the cake is enough for a week!
On Wednesday evening, April 6, at
about 9:30 p.m., my wife, Penny,
receives a phone call from a police
office requesting to speak with Ryan.
She indicates that Ryan is not at home,
and asks his reason for seeking Ryan.
The officer indicates that he forgot to
return Ryan’s driver’s license, and he
has the license at the station. The ringing phone awakens me in the bedroom. I mention to Penny that maybe
he got a ticket and there is nothing we
can do until we speak with him. I go
back to bed.
Ryan Kirchhoff
Ryan returns around 10:30 p.m. to his
with Ryan and to coach a high school basemother’s questions and a relay of the offiball game. As I drive up the driveway, I notice
cer’s message. Ryan shares with her that he
that the “vintage” car, handed down through
quit his job. He indicates everyone in his
four teenagers, is missing. Two weeks earlier,
department is suspect, because something is
Ryan and I purchased a “new” used car to
missing. Ryan leaves to get his license. He
replace this vehicle that survived the driving
returns and goes straight to his room. Ryan
skills of our four children. My thoughts recall
is 18 and under the law, parents lose their
Ryan’s announcement that he has a purchasright to know what happens to their children.
er for our “antique.” So I think no further
This “right” supports the actions of Ryan’s
about it.
employer and the local police in not disclosAt 2:55 p.m. the door chime announces a
ing significant information to us. The police
visitor. My change into uniform is complete,
insist that it is Ryan’s responsibility to share
except for shoes. When I walk through the
with us information concerning his arrest.
living room, I observe a white SUV in the driThe next morning I am preparing to leave
veway with a small round emblem on the
for the office at 6:30 a.m., when Penny
door panel. As I approach our front door, my
shares her conversation with Ryan. I sense
eyes catch a glimpse of an “M” (municipal)
that something has happened. I check on
plate on the front bumper. I open the door
Ryan and he is asleep. I choose not to wake
and a deputy coroner introduces himself.
him and to speak with him that afternoon
“Are you Mr. Kirchhoff?”
after his classes. (Weeks later I discover that
“Yes.”
Ryan attends his morning classes at the
“Do you have a son named Ryan?”
junior college.) I leave work early to speak
LIFESAVERS
“Yes.”
“I am sorry there has been an accident,
Ryan was in an automobile accident and he
did not survive.”
There is a momentary chill on my neck
and a rush of numbness through my body.
He explains that Ryan’s car collided with a
tree at a high rate of speed and flipped into a
ditch. He asks if I would be able to identify
him. In shock and disbelief, I feel that I can
help him and avoid obligating another. A
fleeting thought of my Vietnam experiences
cross my mind. I assure myself that I’ve
done this before. I’ve dealt with the identification process several times during my 23
years as an Army aviator. But little did I realize that identifying my own son would much
harsher and more upsetting.
The deputy coroner’s presence begins as
the notification of a single car accident with a
fatality. An initial police concern focuses on
the lack of license plates on the car. Then
phone rings. It is one of Ryan’s very close
friends. He asks if Ryan is available. I share
with him that Ryan had been in an accident
and is no longer with us. “Oh, come on, Mr.
Kirchhoff, you’re kidding, where’s Ryan?” he
says. I repeat myself and the shock for both
of us sinks in. He tells me that Ryan left a
book with some notes in his mail box. “What
book, what did the notes say?” I respond.
With my questions, I see the deputy coroner
motion and ask that the book and notes be
brought over. Very quickly the scene at my
home changes from a single car accident
to the investigation of a suicide. Within
minutes, our driveway becomes a parking
lot of sheriffs’ vehicles.
My next task is notifying my wife at school,
my oldest daughter who works at home and
my son who attends college. Lastly, I phone
my youngest daughter, after I know she
arrives home from work.
As evening arrives, our immediate family
gathers. Understandably, our oldest son indicates that he cannot make the drive at night.
So we gather with our close friends and a
steady stream of Ryan’s friends and their parents. Later in the evening we visit a group of
Ryan’s friends at a nearby home.
On Friday we begin with preliminary
phone arrangements. All day friends and relatives congregate at our home to share in
hugs, tears and wonderful stories. There
SPRING 2006
presence is a special gift that helps us focus
our thoughts.
Saturday begins with preparation for the
wake and funeral. We make all our decisions
by a committee consisting of my wife, our
two daughters, our son and me. This is a
well functioning committee that makes significant decisions with minimal discussion.
However, when the topic of memorials arises, our youngest daughter mentions AFSP.
She is walking in the Out of the Darkness
Overnight in memory of her close high
school friend Brandy Howell. She tells us
that AFSP is the American Foundation for
and suicide and to help others so that other
families will not encounter such pain. A significant part of my healing and advocacy
evolved from our participation in the 2005
Out of the Darkness Overnight, a 20-mile
walk from sunset to sunrise along the
Chicago Lakefront. A week following Ryan’s
funeral, we established a team of five walkers, and three weeks later there were 55 walkers, each committed to raising $1000. Fortyseven of the 55 walkers were between the
ages of 14 and 19. Working as a team was a
gift for me and it allowed everyone to meet
their fundraising goal.
He was a self-reliant, creative young man, whose
first sentence, “Rynie do self!” established his
independence.
Suicide Prevention and that we can request
that memorials be sent to the Foundation.
At that moment, we took a stand and took
a giant step in moving from the shadows
into the light. We did not realize that this
gift would be the beginning of our healing
process.
The days of planning open my eyes and
settle my anger with the posturing of the
police and Ryan’s corporate employer. As
family and friends converged to support us
and to help us prepare our final goodbyes for
Ryan, I am aware that my anger hurts me,
my loved ones and those around me, but
that inner peace and love overcome the overwhelming emotions of my loss. I learn from
others how the gifts of Ryan’s love, compassion and solace radiate from those whom he
touched in his 18 years.
At the wake, I am very sensitive to the
heaviness of the pain that radiates from
everyone in attendance. I share that, “Ryan
will always be with you. When you look into
the mirror, you will see a little of Ryan in
yourself.” Looking into the hollow tear-filled
eyes of Ryan’s many friends, their parents,
our friends and people we meet for the first
time, I am aware of the affect that a suicide
death has on a community.
As a family, this experience of compassion
helps us focus our efforts on helping to eliminate the stigma associated with depression
The roller coaster of highs and lows is less
extreme with time, because I allow myself to
feel what I feel, to trust my own timetable for
healing and to connect with other people.
However, with time, I notice a change with
some of my friends. A few of my long-time
friends are repelled to even think that my son
died by suicide. I think for a moment, REPEL
spelled backwards is LEPER. Some have
asked, “Why would he commit suicide?” to
which I can only answer, “Suicide in not a
choice. Suicide occurs when an individual’s
resources to control pain no longer controls
the pain.” Yet, my new friends share a gift of
understanding and compassion. They are
not afraid to talk about depression or suicide, or to check on me. Many of them are
survivors of a loss. The single gift, a coping
skill that helps me the most is my faith. I
begin and end each day with meditation. I
work to create those quiet mental moments
during the day to hear God speaking to me.
I am thankful for the gift of each new day,
and the ability to share my gifts with others.
Rick lives in Crystal Lake, Ill.
The 2006 Out of the Darkness Overnight walks
will take place in San Francisco on July 22–23
and in Chicago on Aug. 12–13. For more
information go to TheOvernight.org.
5
AFSP Develops
Standardized
Presentation on
Suicide Prevention
In an effort to remove variations and
inconsistencies from presentations
regarding depression and suicide, and
to give AFSP representatives the latest
information, the Foundation has developed a PowerPoint presentation, complete with talking points, to better educate
the general public and professionals
about AFSP and suicide prevention.
Titled “Suicide Prevention: Saving
Lives One Community at a Time,” the
slide set contains facts sheets, statistics and risk factors for depression and
suicide, dispels popular myths on the
subject, and highlights the
Foundation's important suicide prevention research and education programs — aimed at reducing the 30,000
deaths by suicide every year. It also
provides practical advice to individuals
who are faced with someone in their
life who may be contemplating suicide.
The presentation is available for
download from the AFSP website at
www.afsp.org/presentation.
Information in this presentation came in part
from the following organizations: American
Association of Suicidology, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, Suicide Prevention
Action Network USA and the Washington
Youth Suicide Prevention Program. AFSP
would also like to thank Linda Flatt from
AFSP-Nevada and all its affiliated chapters
for their participation.
6
Leadership Conference Unifies the Foundation
and its Chapters
AFSP Approves Implementation
of a Major Gifts Campaign
The AFSP executive committee recently
approved the implementation of a major gifts
campaign with a goal of raising significant
funds from individuals willing to be philanthropic leaders in the fight to prevent suicide.
In May, a feasibility study was completed
regarding the possibility of a major gifts campaign that would support AFSP's research,
education, advocacy and survivor support
programs, as well as help build a more
expansive nationwide network of affiliates
able to deliver educational programs and
engage in advocacy and awareness activities
in their communities.
The study was conducted by the
Community Counselling Service of New York,
which held over 40 strategic interviews as
part of their inquiry, and an initial report was
reviewed by AFSP's Major Gifts Planning
Committee for review. The committee was
chaired by AFSP executive committee member Tom Bentley and included AFSP Board
Chair David Dodd, President Dr. Dwight
Evans, board member Robert Nau, AFSPGreater Philadelphia Chair Andrew Rogoff
and AFSP-New England Chair Nancy Farrell.
The report included a case statement for
support, findings and recommendations,
and a fundraising plan. CCS was assisted
throughout its feasibility study by AFSP
Executive Director Robert Gebbia, Medical
Director Paula Clayton and Development
Director William Grard.
Findings from this study will ultimately
help AFSP to better evaluate perceptions and
attitudes about the Foundation; inform participants about AFSP's proposed plans; test
the proposed financial objective; identify
potential leaders and major donors; test the
willingness of participants to lead, to serve,
to open new doors and to provide financial
support; and identify potential issues and
obstacles that could stand in the way of a
successful major gifts campaign.
AFSP Film Project to
Raise Awareness about
Physician Depression
and Suicide
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals has awarded
the Foundation a grant in the amount of
$200,000 to produce a one-hour broadcast
that will look to heighten the awareness of
physician depression and suicide. The project will also include the production of a
short training film on the subject for use
in medical schools across the country.
Production on both films is expected to
begin this summer.
“This is part of a larger AFSP effort to
reduce the number of physician suicides and
to help physicians recognize depression in
themselves as well as their patients,” AFSP
Medical Director Paula Clayton said.
Studies in the last 40 years have confirmed that physicians die by suicide more
PHILADELPHIA, PA. — On March 31–April 2,
AFSP met with over 60 representatives from
its affiliated chapters for a first-ever chapter
leadership conference.
The three-day meeting looked to strengthen communication between AFSP and its 22
affiliates and provide chapter leaders and several chapters in formation with a forum for
information sharing, skills development and
networking. The meeting also engaged chapter leaders in a strategic discussion about the
AFSP and its future growth, and kept them
up-to-date on the Foundation's research and
education programs, survivor initiatives and
fundraising events.
Through this conference, 10 key action
steps were agreed upon, all to be accomplished by the end of the year:
1. National to create or endorse an educational tool(s) (e.g., film, web-based pro-
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
gram, materials, etc.) on teen depression and suicide for use in schools and
other intuitional or community-based
settings.
National to expand the National
Program Review Committee and establish the review process.
National to ask the Affiliate Leadership
Council to establish three advisory subcommittees (Research, Education and
Postvention) that could offer input on
interests and needs from the chapter
perspective.
National to finalize and distribute slide
sets on AFSP, suicide prevention
research and the new educational presentation.
National to develop an implementation
plan for the new Survivor Outreach
Program.
National and chapters to establish new
vehicles (Internet, list serve, regular
conference call sessions) that will
improve communication between
National and chapters, as well as
between chapters.
7. Chapters to provide National the
names of individuals they suggest be
interviewed as part of the major gift
strategic interview process.
8. Chapters to help promote The
Overnight walks and take advantage
of the chapter incentive program.
9. Chapters agreed to the AFSP mission
and concept of one organization as
presented at the conference.
10. National to develop and offer chapters
a revised/updated charter agreement.
At the conclusion of the meeting, participants suggested making the chapter leadership conference an annual event.
New AFSP Program to Reach Out to the Recently Bereaved
frequently
than others
of their gender and age
in both the
general population and other professional occupations.
On the average, death by suicide is about 70
percent more likely among male physicians
in the United States than among other professionals, and 250 percent to 400 percent
higher among female physicians. Unlike
almost all other population groups in which
men die by suicide about four times more
frequently than women, among physicians
the suicide rate is very similar for both men
and women.
LIFESAVERS
The Foundation has announced plans for a
survivor outreach program. Through this program, trained volunteer survivors of suicide
loss from AFSP chapters will be available to
personally visit newly-bereaved survivors to
listen, to share their own experiences, to let
them know they're not alone and to offer hope
that surviving suicide loss is possible. They
will also provide information about resources
for healing, including local support groups,
referrals for mental health services, educational conferences and suggested reading material.
Visits will be made upon request and will
take place in a comfortable, quiet setting,
often followed by phone contact over a period
of weeks or months. The design of the AFSP
Survivor Outreach Program draws on other
successful programs currently being conducted throughout the United States, including
The Link's National Resource Center for
Suicide Prevention and Aftercare in Atlanta.
The first phase of the program will be
SPRING 2006
implemented by select AFSP chapters throughout the United States.
Additional chapters will become
involved in future phases.
Program volunteers will be
trained by Doreen Schultz
Marshall, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the counseling department of Argosy University in
Atlanta. A member of AFSP's
Survivor Council and support
group facilitator training corps, she
is the survivor of her fiancé's suicide, has conducted research and clinical work
in survivor issues and has worked as a consultant in suicide prevention and aftercare since
2000. She holds a Ph.D. in Counseling
Psychology from Georgia State University and
an M.A. in Counseling from the College of
New Jersey, and previously served as the associate director of the Link's NRC.
“We all remember how it felt in the begin-
ning,” AFSP Director of Survivor Initiatives
Joanne Harpel said, herself a survivor of her
younger brother's suicide in 1993. “Figuring
out where to start was just so overwhelming.
We hope the opportunity to sit down and talk
with someone who's been through it and
really understands will give survivors strength
and hope as they begin their own journey
of healing.”
7
DINNER from page 1
message, comedienne Joan Rivers thanked
everyone in attendance for their contributions
to the cause of suicide prevention.
A Michigan native, Smith joined the cast of
“Guiding Light” last year, playing the role of Ava
Peralta. She has extensive modeling and commercial experience, and has been seen nationally in commercials for Noxzema, Dentyne Ice,
Oil of Olay and Dannon. She is a survivor of her
father’s suicide and has volunteered her time to
the cause of suicide prevention.
Depression first entered Jennifer Holliday’s
life during those glory days of Dreamgirls, the
Tony Award-winning Broadway musical that
Dr. Aaron Beck (right) receives the Lifetime
Acheivement Award from AFSP President Dr. Dwight
Evans; (Bottom) Dr. Jane Pearson recieves the AFSP
Public Service Award from former U.S. Surgeon
General Dr. David Satcher
8
There were over 40 items up for bid as part of the 2006 Lifesavers Dinner Silent Auction;
(Right) Emcee Michelle Ray Smith
catapulted her to fame in 1981. The singer
was eventually diagnosed as manic depressive, and survived a suicide attempt. Through
treatment and therapy, Holliday eventually
gained control of her life, and has now dedicated herself to helping others who may
suffer from depression by speaking publicly
about her own struggles.
Smith and Holliday were joined by former
U.S. Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher and
an illustrious group of presenters, there to
honor researchers for investigations that
significantly contribute to knowledge about
suicide, public figures who have raised awareness and survivors of suicide for enduring
great personal loss to lead the cause of
suicide prevention.
Named one of “10 individuals who shaped
the face of American psychiatry” and one of
the five most influential psychotherapists of
all time, Dr. Aaron T. Beck received the AFSP
Lifetime Achievement Award for his 50 years
of pioneering research into suicide.
Beck is an emeritus professor in the
department of psychiatry at the University of
Pennsylvania, which he joined in 1954, and is
the director of the Center for the Treatment
and Prevention of Suicide. Since 1959 he has
directed funded research investigations of the
psychopathology of depression, suicide, anxiety disorders, panic disorders, alcoholism,
drug abuse and personality disorders, and of
cognitive therapy of these disorders. His work
was supported by a 10-year M.E.R.I.T. Award
from the National Institute of Mental Health
and grants from the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention for a study to determine the efficacy and effectiveness of a
short-term cognitive therapy intervention
for suicide attempters. His most recent work
Photos: Copyright 2006 Maryanne Russell Photography, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
has focused on reducing suicide attempts
among chronic suicide attempters and borderline personality disorder patients. He has
also directed an international working group
testing cognitive therapy of schizophrenia.
He has published over 450 articles and
authored or coauthored 17 books.
Beck has served on the editorial boards of
(Top) AFSP Board Chair David Dodd and President Dr.
Dwight Evans thank the attendees for supporting AFSP’s
suicide prevention mission; (Middle) Comedienne Joan
Rivers entertains the crowd through a videotaped
message; (Above) Entertainer Jennifer Holliday
LIFESAVERS
many journals and lectured throughout the
world. He has been a visiting professor at
Harvard, Yale and Columbia, and is a member of the Institute of Medicine. He has
received awards from numerous professional
organizations and is the only person to have
received research awards from both the
American Psychiatric Association and the
American Psychological Association. He is
also the recipient of the Heinz Award for
“The Human Condition” and the Sarnat
Award from the Institute of Medicine.
Dr. Jane Pearson was honored with this
year’s Public Service Award for her dedication
to suicide prevention research and for providing leadership within the public sector to help
address the problem of suicide in this country.
Pearson played a key role in the establishment of the Developing Centers on
Interventions for the Prevention of Suicide, a
federal initiative which recently produced a
network of three centers for suicide prevention and research. She has also collaborated
with AFSP and other not-for-profit organizations on important topics such as ethical
issues in suicide research, responsible reporting on suicide by the media and the need for
survivors of suicide research.
Pearson chairs the National Institute
of Mental Health’s Suicide Research
Consortium. She is the acting deputy director
for the Division of Services and Intervention
Research at NIMH, and is also the associate
director for preventive interventions in DSIR.
She serves as the National Institutes of
Health representative to the DHHS Federal
Steering Group on Suicide Prevention, and
has assisted in the development of the
Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent
Suicide and the National Strategy for Suicide
Prevention. Pearson is an adjunct associate
professor at Johns Hopkins University, a
Fellow of the American Psychological
Association and recipient of a U.S. Health
and Human Services Secretary’s Award for
her work in suicide prevention. She has
authored papers on the ethical and methodological challenges of suicide research.
The 2006 Research Award was presented
to Dr. Madelyn S. Gould for her outstanding
contributions to our understanding of suicide
and its prevention.
Gould is a professor in child psychiatry and
public health (epidemiology) at Columbia
SPRING 2005
University, College of Physicians
and Surgeons, and a research scientist at the New York State
Psychiatric Institute. Her longstanding research interests include
the epidemiology of youth suicide,
as well as the evaluation of youth
suicide prevention interventions.
Gould has received numerous federally funded grants from the
National Institutes of Health and
the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention for studies examining risk factors for teenage suicide,
various aspects of cluster suicides,
the impact of the media on suicide, the effect of a peer’s suicide
on fellow students, suicide
postvention programs in schools,
the effect of youth suicide screening programs, the utility of telephone crisis services for teenagers,
and has received grants funded
from the Substance Abuse Mental
The American Museum of Natural History was a new venue for the
Lifesavers Dinner
Health Services Administration to
evaluate crisis hotline outcomes
in November 2002 while she was a news
for adults. She received a W.T. Grant Faculty
anchor for WCCO-TV in Minneapolis.
Scholar’s Award to examine psychosocial risk
Desperate for information about depresfactors for teenage suicide and a recent
sion after losing her father, whom she would
Standard Research Grant from AFSP to study
later describe as “a friend and a mentor,”
the impact of adolescent bullying on depression and suicidality among young adults.
continued page 13
Gould authored the chapter on youth suicide prevention as part of the
Dr. Madelyn Gould receives the AFSP Research Award from dinner
Surgeon General’s National
chair Dr. Harold Shlevin, Solvay Pharmaceuticals
Suicide Prevention Strategy and
has served as a leadership consultant for the Surgeon General’s
Leadership Working Group. She
contributed to the CDC’s recommendations to optimize media
reporting of suicide, and was a
member of an international workgroup, sponsored by AFSP and the
Annenberg Public Policy Center,
which updated these media recommendations in 2001. She has
received the Shneidman Award for
research from the American
Association of Suicidology and the
New York State Office of Mental
Health Research Award.
CNN anchor and correspondent
Randi Kaye lost her father, Gilbert,
9
GRANTS from page 1
The committee‘s recommendation was
approved by the AFSP board of directors at
its meeting on May 3.
A record 120 research grant applications
were received in December 2005. After a several-month review process, 25 applications were
chosen: seven are Distinguished Investigator
Grants, five are Standard Research Grants,
10 are Young Investigator Grants, one is a
Postdoctoral Research Fellowship and two are
Pilot Grants.
Among the 25 recommended projects are
five new investigations that will focus on
aspects of suicide among youth. Madelyn
Gould, Ph.D., M.P.H., of Columbia University
is recommended for a Standard Research
Grant to conduct a study of the impact of adolescent bullying on depression and suicidality
among young adults. This project will parallel
one already underway with support from the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in
which suburban New York high school students who reported experiences with bullying
in school-based screenings in 2002–2004 are
being followed up to observe long-term effects.
Dr. Gould's CDC study is focusing on youth
with bullying experiences who were already
showing suicidal behavior at the time of the
screening. Her AFSP project will look specifically at a subset of students who reported bullying but no immediate adverse effects. Both
these groups will be compared to a sample
of students who reported neither bullying nor
suicidal behavior in the screening.
Young Investigator Adam Kaplan, Ph.D.,
and his mentor Mark Olfson, M.D., also from
Columbia University, will conduct an outcome
evaluation of a high school-based mental
health screening and referral program.
Although such screening programs are fairly
widely used, little systematic information is
currently available about their effectiveness in
preventing adolescent suicide. Dr. Kaplan's
study will follow up 364 students from Erie,
Pa., who were randomly assigned to participate in a screening and referral program during their freshman year, and 288 “control”
freshmen who did not participate. These students, who will be entering their junior year in
September 2006, will be reassessed for mental
health functioning, including suicidal ideation
and behavior. Mental health treatment history
10
will also be assessed to see if those students
who were referred to treatment as freshmen
followed through with these recommendations, and if so, whether treatment resulted in
reductions in depression and suicidality.
Two investigators are using previously collected data from large adolescent surveys to
identify risk factors associated with self-reported suicidal ideation and behavior. Young
Investigator Jennifer Epstein, Ph.D., (Cornell
University) and her mentor, Anthony Spirito,
M.D., (Brown University) will use data from the
CDC's national Youth Risk Behavior Survey collected in 1991 and again in 2003 to identify the
relationship between adolescent risk behaviors
and suicidality, and how this relationship has
changed over the 12-year period. Special attention in their analysis will be paid to a sub-sample of adolescents who reported multiple suicide attempts in the YRBS. Standard Research
Grant recipient Guilherme Borges, D.Sc., of
the Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatria Ramón de
la Fuente Muniz in Mexico will undertake an
analysis of interview data collected in 2005
from over 3,000 Mexican adolescents. Dr.
Borges' primary focus will be on identifying the
prevalence of suicidal ideation, planning and
attempts among Mexican youth, and relating
these outcomes to demographic characteristics, clinical diagnoses, mental health service
utilization and parental psychiatric history. This
will be the first major epidemiological analysis
of youth suicide in Mexico, and is expected to
yield important information that will guide subsequent development of prevention programs
in that country.
Distinguished Investigator Ghanshyam
Pandey, M.D., of the University of Illinois at
Chicago will use his AFSP grant to continue his
ground-breaking postmortem studies of adolescents who have died by suicide. His
research will focus specifically on abnormali-
ties in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)
function, which prior adult studies have implicated to play a role in suicide. Indicators of
HPA axis dysregulation will be identified in
brain samples of 20 youth aged 13–19 who
died by suicide, and compared with data from
brain samples of 20 age and gender-matched
youth without psychiatric illness who died
from accidents or natural causes. The study
aims to enable early detection of adolescent
suicide risk and the development of appropriate medications that target abnormal components of the HPA axis system.
Three of the newly recommended grantees
will be investigating the relationship between
physical illnesses or conditions and suicide.
Young Investigator Eunice Chen, Ph.D., and
her mentor Emil Coccaro, M.D., Ph.D., of the
University of Chicago will investigate psychosocial factors related to suicidal ideation
and behavior among morbidly obese individuals who are seeking weight-loss surgery. Since
suicidality commonly leads such individuals to
be rejected as candidates for such surgery, the
investigators will also apply their findings in
developing a pre-surgery treatment for these
clients. Holly Prigerson, Ph.D., of Dana Farber
Cancer Institute and Harvard University is recommended for a Pilot Grant to begin to
explore risk and protective factors related to
suicidal ideation among advanced cancer
patients. Her study will analyze interview data
collected from such patients as part of the
NIH-funded Coping with Cancer study, and will
focus in particular on differentiating three related but separate constructs: suicidal ideation,
decreased wish for life and increased wish for
death. She will also seek to identify potentially
modifiable factors related to each construct,
such as use of mental health services and
pain management. Young Investigator
Matthew Miller, M.D., and his mentor David
LIFESAVERS
Hemenway, Ph.D., of Harvard University are
focusing on the relationship between physical
illness and suicidality among the elderly. Their
research will examine a large data base of New
Jersey Medicare recipients aged 65 and over
who received pharmaceutical assistance during the years 1994–2004. Individuals who died
by suicide will be identified though state mortality records and compared to age, gender
and race-matched control patients who died
from other causes on the basis of physical
diagnoses, particularly chronic diseases, psychiatric diagnoses and prescribed medications.
The primary goal is to determine whether
elderly individuals who die by suicide differ
from others with similar medical conditions in
their patterns of prescription drug use, especially analgesics and other pain medications.
Three new grantees are investigating
aspects of suicidality in patients with bipolar
disorder. Distinguished Investigator Mark
Underwood, Ph.D., of Columbia University is
undertaking a simultaneous examination of
two different neurotransmitter systems in the
brain of bipolar patients who have died by suicide to test the hypothesis that suicide is associated with an imbalance between serotonergic
and noradrenergic systems. He will be comparing sections of the brainstems of bipolar
suicide victims with those from suicide victims
with no form of mood disorder, as well as persons without psychiatric disorder who have
died by other causes. His goal is to contribute
to the development of improved medications
for bipolar patients that will target imbalances
in serotonin and norepinepherine in the brain.
Philip Szeszko, Ph.D., of the North Shore
Long Island Jewish Health System is recommended for a Standard Research Grant that
will use a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
technique known as diffusion tensor imaging
to identify abnormalities in the inferior frontal
lobe of the brain believed to be associated with
suicidality in bipolar patients. Abnormalities
in this brain area have been implicated in
increased impulsivity, which may be responsible for the high suicide risk among bipolar
patients. Since MRI techniques are non-invasive and widely available, results from this
study have the potential to be translated into
clinical practice to identify high-risk individuals
before the onset of suicidal behavior. Another
Standard Research grantee, Lauren B.
Marangell, M.D., of Baylor University will conSPRING 2006
duct further analyses of a large database on
the treatment results for over 4,000 patients
with bipolar disorder, which she assembled
through a previous NIMH-funded study. In her
AFSP research, she will be focusing in particular on assessing the impact of lithium and lithium discontinuation on suicidality in bipolar
patients. The results are expected to provide
an invaluable guide to clinicians who work with
this patient population.
Four additional studies will be seeking to
better understand and improve treatment for
other populations with high risk of suicide.
Young Investigator Marianne Gorlyn, Ph.D.,
and her mentor John Keilp. Ph.D., of Columbia
University will expand work begun with support of an AFSP Pilot Grant to examine the
impact of newer-generation antidepressant
medications among individuals who have
made serious suicide attempts. These
researchers will be seeking in particular to
identify the specific improvements in cognitive
functioning that are associated with a positive
response to antidepressants, which will
enhance understanding of how these medications protect against continued suicidality.
Standard Researcher Amy Wenzel, Ph.D., of
the University of Pennsylvania will also focus
on the treatment of suicide attempters, investigating the impact of cognitive therapy on
reducing impulsivity and other cognitivebehavioral patterns associated with suicidality.
Her study proposes to use a series of laboratory-based computer tasks to measure these
variables, which she anticipates will provide a
more systematic method of defining treatment
outcomes than the commonly used method of
patient self-reports.
Distinguished Investigator Yeates Conwell,
M.D., of the University of Rochester will develop and test an innovative depression treatment program for older adults who are being
cared for by an aging services network. The
treatment will be based on the depression care
management protocol developed by the
MacArthur Initiative on Depression in Primary
Care, designed to enhance the ability of primary care physicians to recognize and manage
depression, and will be modified for use by
aging services care managers. Following development and training, the protocol will be tested with 25 new depressed clients of an upstate
New York aging services network.
Another innovative intervention will be
developed and evaluated by Distinguished
Investigator Nadine Kaslow, Ph.D., of Emory
University, focusing on African-Americans
who are survivors of suicide loss. This is the first
intervention for survivors that seeks to reduce
psychological distress and enhance functioning
by treating the family as a whole, and the first
specifically designed for African-Americans. The
intervention aims to involve a minimum of three
family members in 10 one-hour sessions early in
the bereavement process.
In another project focusing on African
Americans, Dr. Kaslow and Young Investigator
Rebekah Bradley, Ph.D., also from Emory
University, will be investigating the impact of
traumatic experiences such as an assault or
witnessing a shooting on subsequent suicidal
ideation and behavior in low income primary
care patients. The finding from this research
will be integrated with the investigators' parallel study of genetic risk markers for trauma in
the same population.
Two additional recommended grant projects
will investigate risk factors for suicide among
other groups with particular vulnerabilities.
Young Investigator Lynne Fullerton-Gleason,
Ph.D., and her mentor Cameron Crandall,
M.D., from the University of New Mexico will
link a database on patients who were hospitalized in New Mexico for suicidal behavior with
state mortality records in order to identify characteristics of patients died by suicide following
hospital discharge, as well as characteristics of
those who remain alive. The goal of this
research is to help clinicians identify patients
who are most in need of intensive post-hospital services, and to better understand factors
that appear to protect against subsequent suicidality. Pilot Grant recipient Nigel McKenzie,
Ph.D., M.R.C.Psych., of University College
London will investigate the extent to which imitation plays a role in suicide among psychiatric
patients who come into contact with one
another in the course of outpatient mental
health treatment. His study will use a large
Danish case registry containing records of
patients who have received mental health services as well as those who have died by suicide. Clustering of suicides among mentally ill
outpatient has been suggested in previous
studies, and confirmation of the role of imitation will suggest prevention strategies that can
be implemented in treatment centers.
continued page 17
11
Online Registration Available for the
2006 Out of the Darkness Community Walks
2006
Community Walks
Over Sixty-Five Community Walks Set to Begin in August
Register at OutOfTheDarkness.org
08/19
SYRACUSE, NY
10/14
HARRISBURG, PA
08/26
GRAND JUNCTION, CO
10/14
INDIANAPOLIS, IN
09/10
PORTLAND, ME
10/15
C I N C I N N AT I , O H
09/13
BILLINGS, MT
10/15
PALM BEACH, FL
09/16
LANSING, MI
10/21
H A M P T O N R O A D S , VA
09/17
ANN ARBOR, MI
10/21
MEMPHIS, TN
09/17
B E N T O N C O U N T Y, I N
10/21
PROVIDENCE, RI
09/17
C A P I TA L R E G I O N , N Y
10/22
ALLENTOWN, PA
09/17
DENVER, CO
10/22
COLUMBIA, SC
09/17
LONG ISLAND, NY
10/22
FAIRFIELD COUNTY/
For more information contact Anne Bodnar, national
walk/affiliate manager, at 1-888-333-AFSP Ext. 23,
or email [email protected].
09/17
OMAHA, NE
09/17
S TAT E C O L L E G E , P A
10/28
DOVER, DE
09/23
AMES, IA
10/28
HARTFORD, CT
If you would like to start a local walk in your community
call Mike Lamma, national affiliate director, at
1-888-333-AFSP Ext. 16, or email [email protected].
09/23
DENVER, PA
10/28
JACKSONVILLE, FL
09/23
H O U LT O N , M E
10/29
AT L A N TA , G A
09/24
CANTON, OH
10/29
SAN DIEGO, CA
09/30
AMARILLO, TX
11/04
LOUISVILLE, KY
09/30
ASHLAND, KY
11/04
S O U T H J E R S E Y, N J
09/30
PORTSMOUTH, NH
11/12
LOS ANGELES, CA
10/01
D E T R O I T, M I
11/29
S A R A S O TA , F L
10/01
NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ
TBA
AUSTIN, TX
10/01
PHILADELPHIA, PA
TBA
CHICAGO, IL
10/01
SPRINGFIELD, MA
TBA
C O L L E G E S TAT I O N , T X
10/01
WASHINGTON, DC
TBA
GREENVILLE, SC
10/07
BURLINGTON, VT
TBA
HOUSTON, TX
10/07
GRAND RAPIDS, MI
TBA
K A N S A S C I T Y, M O
10/07
ROCHESTER, NY
TBA
LAS VEGAS, NV
10/08
FARGO, ND
TBA
MADISON, WI
10/08
PITTSBURGH, PA
TBA
NEW YORK, NY
10/14
B A LT I M O R E , M D
TBA
PORTLAND, OR
10/14
B AT T L E C R E E K , M I
TBA
SAN FRANCISCO, CA
10/14
BOSTON/BRIGHTON, MA
TBA
S E AT T L E , W A
10/14
COLUMBUS, OH
TBA
WESTCHESTER, NY
10/14
FREDONIA, NY
In early June, the official website of the 2006 Out of the
Darkness Community Walks was launched, allowing participant registration for AFSP walk events throughout the
country. The website, OutOfTheDarkness.org, contains upto-the-minute information on all of the walks, offers a host
of sponsorship and donation opportunities, and gives
each registered participant their own donation page, so
they can monitor their fundraising activities while spreading the word about the walk in their community.
To date, 66 Out of the Darkness Community Walks
will take place this summer and fall in 33 states and the
District of Columbia. The first walk is scheduled to take
place in Syracuse, N.Y., on August 19, with other walks
scheduled through November.
Last year, over 10,000 walkers participated in the Out
of the Darkness Community Walks, raising $1 million in
sponsorships and walker-generated donations, net of
expenses, for AFSP’s research, education, survivor and
12
awareness programs — both to prevent suicide and to
assist those affected by suicide.
The purpose of the Out of the Darkness Community
Walks is to raise money for AFSP's vital research and
education programs to prevent suicide and save lives,
increase national awareness about depression and
suicide, and assist survivors of suicide loss.
Go to OutOfTheDarkness.org and register now for a
community walk in your area.
LIFESAVERS
SPRING 2006
DINNER from page 9
W E S T P O R T, C T
she found SAVE (Suicide Awareness Voices
of Education), a national not-for-profit
suicide prevention agency based in
Minneapolis. She currently serves on the
board of directors of SAVE, and in 2004
was the host of the sixth annual SAVE golf
tournament called Randi Kaye’s Links for
Life. Through the loss of her father, Kaye
has looked to make a difference by educating her community and other communities
about depression and saving lives. For her
efforts she was honored with this year’s
Survivor Award.
Despite her personal loss, Kaye’s professional life continued to ascend when she
joined CNN in December 2004. Since then,
she has covered breaking news in addition to
providing in-depth reports for “Anderson
Cooper 360°” and “Paula Zahn Now,” reporting live from areas devastated by Hurricane
Katrina and giving viewers a unique look at
the storm’s fury and aftermath in both New
Orleans and Biloxi, Miss.
Her television career began at ABC in
New York City where she worked at both
“Nightline” and “World News Tonight.”
While at ABC, Kaye covered President Bill
Clinton’s campaign in Little Rock, Ark. She
eventually moved to Arkansas to work at
ABC affiliate KATV where she covered the
Whitewater investigation.
Kaye also worked at ABC affiliate
WFFA-TV in Dallas where she reported
and anchored for “Good Morning Texas.”
At FOX affiliate KMSP-TV in Minneapolis,
she hosted the nationally syndicated
“Everyday Living,” and at UPN affiliate
WWOR in New York City, Kaye was an
anchor/reporter. Kaye’s most memorable
interviews include Hillary Clinton and
Arnold Schwarzenegger, while one of her
greatest reporting memories is flying with
the Blue Angels at 700 mph in an F-18.
The annual Lifesavers Dinner is attended
by over 600 people from the world of politics, science, media, entertainment and
business and is dedicated to raising greater
public awareness about suicide. The event
also provides significant financial support
for the Foundation’s research and education
programs.
13
C H A P T E R
U P D AT E S
Affiliate News from Around the Country
AFSP-SPEAK/Baltimore
County.
■ The Temple Pillar
■ AFSP-SPEAK/Baltimore would like to
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14
welcome two new board members:
Beth Restivo is a personal trainer and
Jodi Jacobson Ph.D., L.C.S.W.-C., is an
assistant professor of the Family Studies
Department at Towson University.
The chapter had a very busy new year,
from speaking engagements to planning
Maryland’s AFSP-SPEAK Out of the
Darkness Community Walk, which will
be held on October 14.
Lee Tolzman and Diana Lynn Carpenetti did
a presentation on youth suicide prevention
for parents and students at Beth Israel
Synagogue. Lee Tolzman was also interviewed on ESPN Radio, addressing suicide
and the work the chapter is doing to prevent youth suicide.
Cheryl Lewis Orr and Lisa Hurka Covington
attended the annual legislative briefing and
reception for Craig Williams, who is the
governor’s deputy chief of staff in
Maryland. They also attended the AFSPGreater Philadelphia conference held for
chapters and came home with valuable
information to share with the board.
Lee Tolzman and Lisa Hurka Covington
attended “Girls Night Out” for female
students, family members and teachers
at Perry Hall High School and set up an
information table Deep Creek Elementary
School in Baltimore County. They also gave
a presentation on youth suicide prevention
to the Maryland Society for Clinical Social
Workers, which was well attended.
Lisa Hurka Covington attended the
Intervention Skills Training/Assist program
and found it to be beneficial. She was also
interviewed for an article in Baltimore’s
Child magazine, which addressed youth
suicide and the Internet.
James Cooper spoke before a large group
of teachers addressing youth suicide at
Edgewood Middle School in Harford
Concert was put on by
David Green — who
lost his best friend to
suicide — and his wife
Bea to benefit the
chapter and World
Vision. “Hold On” by
Nicole Nordemane
was sung by Bea,
which gave hope to
those in crises as well
as for survivors. The
AFSP-FLSE (l.-r.): Chapter founder Joan Fine, Outstanding Volunteer of the Year
Award recipient and incoming board chair Bonnie Harding, and chapter founder
husband and wife
and board treasurer Norman Fine, at the chapter’s fourth annual awards lunvocalist gave a very
cheon, which raised over $13,000
moving performance.
members Shirlee Laakso and Shana Nies
■ Two of the chapter’s associate board memwere the dynamic emcees.
bers have new books: Bev Cobain and cowriter Jean Larch’s new book Dying to Be
■ Norman and Joan Fine, Dr. Manuel Garcia
Free, and Linda Goldman’s book, Children
and Cynthia Ottaway served as panelists for
Also Grieve, are in bookstores now.
over 1,500 middle and high school students at the Drug Free Youth In Town’s
■ Congratulations to Chapter President Lisa
summit in Miami-Dade on December 6–7.
Hurka Covington on winning Maryland’s
DFYIT is a nationally-known, communityTop 100 Women’s award for her dedication
based, substance abuse prevention organiand passion for youth suicide prevention.
zation that focuses on recognizing students who choose to live a healthy,
AFSP-Florida Southeast
drug-free lifestyle.
■ One-hundred forty-eight participants
■ Dr. Thomas Joiner, author, researcher and
attended AFSP-FLSE’s fourth annual
Bright-Burton professor of psychology at
awards luncheon on March 11 at the Boca
Florida State University in Tallahassee, has
Raton Bridge Hotel. The theme of the lunsigned on to be the chapter’s keynote
cheon was appropriately, “A View from the
speaker at their eighth annual National
Bridge.” Over $13,000 was raised through
Survivors of Suicide Day conference on
the raffle and silent auction. Approximately
November 18, to be held at the North
60 items were raffled or auctioned; all
Broward Medical Center’s conference cendonated by area merchants, hotels, perter in Deerfield Beach.
forming arts centers, restaurants and hair
salons. Singer/dancer/songwriter Susan
AFSP-Greater Philadelphia
Ashley provided the entertainment. Special
honorees were Chapter President Dr.
■ Aaron T. Beck Award Dinner Spotlights Key
Manuel R. Garcia, as Outstanding
AFSP Supporters Friends and allies of the
Professional, Bonnie E. Harding as
GPAFSP gathered on April 6 at the Hyatt
Outstanding Volunteer, and Cynthia W.
Regency to honor those who have made
Ottaway as Outstanding Patron. Board
significant contributions to AFSP’s
LIFESAVERS
progress over the past year. The dinner
reminded everyone that people committed
to a cause can effect real change in the
world. The guest of honor, Teresa Heinz
Kerry, received the Aaron T. Beck Award for
Excellence in the Field of Suicide Prevention
for funding cutting edge suicide prevention
initiatives for adolescents and family support and educational programs in
Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania State Senator
Shirley M. Kitchen received the Public
Service Award for her ongoing support of
“Youth with Voices,” an adolescent suicide
prevention program targeting north and
northwest Philadelphia residents. The Keith
Thomas Perrymore Memorial Fund was
recognized for the exemplary spirit of refusing to consign their bother, son and friend’s
memory to a sorrowful footnote. The KTP
Fund raises thousands of dollars yearly to
support AFSP and combat suicide.
The dinner and silent auction raised close
to $45,000 for the region and also recognized Dr. Aaron T. Beck for his career legacy
as the father of cognitive therapy. Cognitive
therapy attempts to make patients aware of
dysfunctional thoughts and replace them
with more healthful ideas.
AFSP-Western Massachusetts
■ Chapter Awarded Survivor Conference
Series Grant AFSP-WMA has been awarded
$3,700 to be used for the FY07 survivor
conference series. The series will include
the Springfield site for National Survivor of
Suicide Day on Nov. 18, 2006 and the New
England regional spring survivor and education conference held in Central
Massachusetts.
AFSP-Nevada
■ The Nevada Office of Suicide Prevention
officially opened in December 2005 when
Misty Allen, former secretary of AFSP-NV,
was selected as suicide prevention coordinator. She is based in Carson City, Nev.
■ In February 2006, Chair Linda Flatt became
the new suicide prevention trainer and networking facilitator in the Nevada Office of
Suicide Prevention. She will concentrate her
efforts in Las Vegas/Southern Nevada and
assist the coordinator statewide. Misty and
SPRING 2006
Linda will oversee
the development,
implementation
and evaluation of a
collaborative strategy for suicide prevention for the
state of Nevada.
■ Nevada continues
to advance the suicide prevention
movement with a
SAMHSA (Garrett
Lee Smith
Memorial Act)
GPAFSP (l.-r.): Award honorees Teresa Heinz Kerry, Paul Perrymore and Pennsylvania
grant focusing on
State Senator Shirley Kitchen at the chapter’s Aaron T. Beck Award Dinner, which
raised over $45,000
youth suicide prevention. The Office
were available to meet fans and sign autoof Suicide Prevention recently welcomed
graphs. One lucky raffle winner also got to
Youth Suicide Prevention Program
take home an autographed hockey stick.
Coordinator Jodi Tyson to their ranks.
The halftime “chuck-a-puck” 50/50 raffle
was a big hit with kids of all ages. Helen
AFSP-New England
Desmond’s puck landed closest to center
■ Boston Bruins Alumni vs. AFSP All-Stars
AFSP-NE held the first Bruins Alumni
Hockey Benefit at the New England Sports
Center in Marlborough, Mass., on March
25. Retired members of the Boston Bruins
played a two-period game against the AFSP
All-Stars, raising over $13,000 and bringing
families from across Eastern Massachusetts
to the game to learn about AFSP’s programs. The Alumni won 8-2, but the AFSP
All-Stars have vowed to return and beat
them next year. Special thanks to the AllStars: Rob Desmond (captain and event
organizer), Charlie O’Leary, Tim O’Leary,
Eric Schnairsohn, Ryan Blair, Pete De Jong,
AFSP-NE: Dr. Elizabeth Childs, commissioner of the
Jim Vurpillatee, Ben Reese, Dave Copola,
Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, presents
Brad Sprogis, Steve Higgins, Dan
the 2006 Massachusetts Coalition for Suicide
Tratenberg, Doug Cameron and Steve
Prevention Leadership Award to Nancy Farrell at the
chapter’s seventh annual State House Day
Brandt. The chapter’s sponsors included
Oldies 103.3 FM, EAS Appraisals, The
Desmond Family, Cosgrove Eisenberg &
Kiley PC, Mortgage Options, Mirabella
Electrical Corp., Merry Maids, Sprogis &
Neale, The Brian Higgins Foundation,
Suzanne Tratenberg, Richard T. Losordo
Electrical Services Inc., Regina Villa
Associates, The Phinney Family, The Cosby
Family, The Higgins Family, The O’Leary
AFSP-NE: The AFSP All-Stars and members of the
Family, Michael Santangelo, Henry
Boston Bruins Alumni team at the chapter’s first Bruins
Whitcomb and New York Life. The Alumni
Alumni Hockey Benefit, which raised $13,000
15
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ice to win the raffle. Helen donated back
her winnings!
Massachusetts State House Day On
February 6, the New England and Western
Massachusetts chapters participated in the
seventh annual State House Day, organized
by the Massachusetts Coalition for Suicide
Prevention. Representatives from the
offices of 40 state legislators joined more
than 200 supporters as awards were presented to several community leaders for
their efforts in suicide prevention.
Department of Mental Health
Commissioner Dr. Elizabeth Childs presented AFSP-NE Chair Nancy Farrell with
the MCSP Leadership Award for her continued suicide prevention efforts.
15th Anniversary Founders Award
Reception and Benefit Auction This year
AFSP-NE celebrates 15 years of awareness,
prevention, research and outreach in their
communities. The 15th Anniversary
Founders Award Reception and Benefit
Auction will be held Thursday, June 22, at
the Charles Hotel, Harvard Square, in
Cambridge, Mass. State Senator Robert
Antonioni will receive the AFSP Leadership
Award and The McMahon Family will be
presented with the AFSP Survivor Award.
Massachusetts State Conference Nearly
520 people attended the fifth annual
Massachusetts State Suicide Prevention
Conference. AFSP once again participated
in the planning of conference and was
acknowledged as a supporter. AFSP representatives presenting at the conference
included Joanne Harpel (AFSP National),
Efi Kokaliari (AFSP-WMA), Jack Jordan
(AFSP-NE) and AFSP New England
Regional Director Kimberly Gleason.
Special thanks to Diana Lewis (AFSPWMA) for staffing the AFSP information
table.
Massachusetts Coalition for Suicide
Prevention Award The MCSP was presented with a special recognition award at a ceremony in the Great Hall of the
Massachusetts State House on May 5.
Accepting on behalf of the coalition were
co-chairs Kimberly Gleason of AFSP and
Roberta Hurtig of the Samaritans.
College Film Distribution Grant Awarded
The chapter has received a grant from the
MCSP Awareness Committee to purchase
AFSP-NW: A May training offered by the chapter’s education committee resulted in new volunteers to make presentations on suicide prevention (top row, l.-r.): Jay Johnston, Matthew Sturgeon, Dick White, Bill Buck; (middle row) Debra
Ulinger, Marcy Anhaltzer, Jenny Dodd; (bottom) Louise Giordano, Nancy Ward, Nancy Johnson, Stephanie Ritzert
and distribute free-of-charge copies of the
film, a presenter’s guide and handouts to
50 universities and colleges in
Massachusetts. Some colleges have
already received their film at the state conference and will be implementing the film
in the next few months.
AFSP-New Jersey
■ At a recent board meeting, four new mem-
bers were elected representing different
areas in the state: George Gordon,
Maryanne Krenz, Bonnie Lyons and Jo
Vennewald. In addition to being survivors,
they bring expertise to the AFSP-NJ board.
■ In May, Peggy Farrell gave the annual program at Mercer County Community College
to the graduating class in the Funeral
Service Program.
■ On May 4 and May 11, the chapter again
collaborated with the University of
Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in
their annual suicide prevention program
titled “Causes, Management and
Prevention of Youth Suicide.” Presenting at
both sessions were AFSP Scientific Council
member Dr. David Shaffer and Scientific
Advisory Council member Dr. Madelyn
Gould. Over 600 educators, mental health
clinicians, psychologists, counselors,
school nurses, law enforcement personnel,
pediatricians, parents and clergy attended
the sessions.
■ At the May 11 conference, Peggy Farrell was
presented with the first Youth Suicide
Prevention Excellence Award by the
University of Medicine and Dentistry of
New Jersey Behavioral Healthcare,
Traumatic Loss Coalitions for Youth.
■ The ninth annual BeneCard Golf Outing
will be held at the Jasna Polna Golf Club in
Princeton in September. For details call
BeneCard at (609) 219-0400.
■ The chapter’s National Suicide of Suicide
Day conference will once again be held at
Brookdale Community College in Lincroft.
■ The New Jersey State Legislature has
passed a bill that requires the State Board
of Education to include two hours of
instruction in suicide prevention as part of
professional development for public school
teaching staff members and to revise the
Core Curriculum Content Standards to pro-
vide for suicide prevention in elementary
school, middle school and high school
pupils. Barbara Barisonek and Peggy
Farrell are members of the New Jersey
Youth Suicide Prevention Advisory
Council. The council played a major role
in the execution and passage of this bill.
■ Capitol Copy Service of Trenton celebrated their 25th anniversary. The chapter
was designated as one of the four nonprofit organizations that have done
much for the community. As part of the
event they asked invitees and clients to
support the chapter with their donations.
AFSP-Northwest
■ Education Committee Report 5/6/06
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Spring has been a busy time for AFSPNW’s Education Team:
A training for new speakers was held
May 10 at the Dougy Center, after which
eight volunteers signed up to make presentations on prevention for schools
and civic groups.
New brochures were printed up to
give out to teens, including a Spanish
version.
Mailings were sent out, which consisted
of advertising kits, presentations and
speaker training.
Dick White, Jay Johnston and Linda
Skibinski made presentations at local
high schools.
Board member Charlotte Hershan has
arranged a “Healing the Wounded
Spirit” camp on the Warm Springs
Reservation at the end of June that will
be attended by 300–400 Indian teens
from all over the Northwest. With a ratio
of 1:4 adults, the teens will focus on
developing positive prevention strategies in four areas to take back to their
home communities after the four-day
camp: violence, alcohol, self-harm and
suicide. Attending from Portland will be
Joan Schweizer Hoff, Donna Noonan,
Marcy Anhaltzer, Kelly Chatwood,
Marilyn Grover and Linda Skibinski.
AFSP-NJ: Chair Peggy Farrell was presented with the
first Youth Suicide Prevention Excellence Award by the
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
LIFESAVERS
SPRING 2006
GRANTS from page 11
With three other grant projects focusing on
populations outside the United States, AFSP's
research program is extending its impact
abroad. Young Investigator Lucas Giner, M.D.,
of the University of Seville, Spain, and his mentor Maria A. Oquendo, M.D., of Columbia
University will conduct an in-depth psychological autopsy study of the estimated 85 residents
of the Seville province who die by suicide in the
one-year period from July 2006 to July 2007.
This will be the first study to describe the
prevalence of mental illness among Spaniards
who die by suicide and will be used to inform
suicide prevention programs in that country.
Distinguished Investigator Alan Apter, M.D.,
of Schneider Children's Medical Center of
Israel will conduct genotyping and linkage
analyses on genetic samples obtained from 355
members of a large endogamous Israeli Arab
family with high rates of depression and suicide. In a separate five-year study, Dr. Apter
and his colleagues have conducted in-depth
psychiatric and psychological interviews with
these family members and have also obtained
DNA samples from each member. Findings
from the proposed genetic analyses will be
linked to individual and familial patterns of
mental disorders and suicidality, providing
unprecedented insight into the genetic basis
of suicidal behavior.
Distinguished Investigator Gustavo Turecki,
M.D., Ph.D., of McGill University in Montreal
will investigate how individuals' genetic predispositions interact with environmental stressors,
particularly abusive life events, to produce suicidal behavior. This research will involve genetic
analysis of DNA collected from a unique homogeneous cohort of French Canadians currently
living in Quebec who are direct descendants
of a limited number of French ancestors. The
3,000 individuals in this cohort have been
extensively studied since 1986 when they
entered kindergarten, with specific attention
to recording suicidal behavior up until the present time when the cohort has entered the
mid-20s. Linking genetic findings to already
available information on life trajectories, history of abuse and psychiatric profiles will provide
important new information about the complex
underpinnings of suicidal behavior.
Dr. Turecki will also be serving as the mentor to Timothy Klempan, Ph.D., who is rec-
ommended for a Postdoctoral Research
Fellowship at McGill University. In their proposed research project, the investigators will
conduct a postmortem study of 39 subjects,
equally divided among depressed suicide victims, non-depressed suicide victims and nonpsychiatric control subjects who died from
causes other than suicide, to identify genes
whose expression is significantly altered in the
brains of suicide completers. The study will
use the latest generation of microarray techniques, which measure the level of gene products expressed in brain tissue.
Three additional basic science studies
are recommended for funding. Young
Investigator Loubna Erraji-Benchekroun,
Ph.D., and her mentor Mark Underwood,
Ph.D., of Columbia University will seek to
identify serotonin-related gene expression
alterations associated with suicide and
depression in the dorsal raphe nucleus of the
brains of individuals who have died by suicide, with and without mood disorders. This
research will focus on a 200 genes related to
serotonin function and will aim to provide
new insights into therapeutic targets for suicide prevention. Another Young Investigator
Beata Karolewicz, Ph.D., and her mentor
Rajkowska Grazyna, Ph.D., of the University
of Mississippi will compare postmortem tissue from the prefrontal cortex of the brain for
four groups of subjects: suicide victims with
major depression, suicide victims with schizophrenia, non-suicides with schizophrenia
and psychiatrically healthy controls who died
from natural causes. They will be looking in
particular at the glutamate transporters for
signs of pathology in suicide victims, which
may lead to the development of novel therapeutic approaches to prevent suicide in
patients with mental disorders.
The project of Distinguished Investigator
Victoria Arango, Ph.D., of Columbia University
also aims to identify new therapies for suicide
prevention by examining the level of stress
hormone in the brain amygdale of depressed
suicide victims compared to normal controls.
This study is a follow-up to a previous AFSP
Pilot Grant that provided insight into the neurochemical maps of the human amygdale.
For more details on the newly funded research
grants, please visit the AFSP website.
17
New York State Legislature Reaches Agreement
on Timothy’s Law
New AFSP Directors Elected
AFSP has appointed three new directors to
its national board.
Passage of Bill Would End Discrimination in Insurance Coverage for Mental Health Needs
In June, AFSP and other advocates for mental
health parity legislation were successful in
their efforts to have the New York State
Assembly and Senate reach an agreement
to pass a bill — known as Timothy’s Law.
The passage of Timothy’s Law would provide
mental health parity for all New Yorkers in
insurance coverage for mental illnesses.
The agreement would require insurance companies to cover most mental illnesses and
would require coverage for a broad range of
mental illnesses and conditions specifically
related to children. The legislative agreement
is expected to be acted upon the next time the
Legislature reconvenes.
The bill is named for Timothy O’Clair, a
12-year-old from Schenectady, N.Y., who died
The Agreement Includes the Following Provisions:
C O V E R A G E F O R T R E AT M E N T O F M E N TA L I L L N E S S E S
The agreement would require insurance companies to cover 30 inpatient days of treatment and 20 outpatient days of treatment for all mental illnesses.
The agreement would also require insurance companies to fully cover biologically
based mental illnesses, including the following: schizophrenia/psychotic disorders,
major depression, bipolar disorder, delusional disorders, panic disorder, obsessivecompulsive disorder, bulimia, anorexia and binge eating.
C O V E R A G E F O R C H I L D R E N W I T H M E N TA L I L L N E S S
In addition, the agreed upon bill would require insurance coverage for children under age
18 with attention deficit disorder, disruptive behavior disorders or pervasive development
disorders where there are serious suicidal symptoms or other life-threatening selfdestructive behavior; significant psychotic symptoms; behavior caused by emotional
disturbances that placed the child at risk of causing personal injury or significant
property damage; or behavior caused by emotional disturbances that placed the child
at substantial risk of removal from the household.
To address cost concerns raised by small businesses, the agreement directs the state
superintendent of insurance to develop a methodology that would hold businesses with
50 of fewer employees harmless from any increase in insurance premiums that result
from this measure.
The bill would also require the state Insurance Department and the Office of Mental
Health to conduct a two-year study to determine the effectiveness and impact of mental
health parity legislation in New York and other states. When enacted, the bill would take
effect Jan. 1, 2007, and sunset on Dec. 31, 2009, to provide for an opportunity to amend
the law based on the findings and recommendations of the study.
18
by suicide in 2001. The O’Clair family’s health
insurance for Timothy’s mental illnesses had
run out, and his parents gave up custody of
him so he could get treatment.
Timothy’s death led Tom O’Clair, his father,
to become a vocal leader for mental health
parity. He currently serves as co-chair of
Timothy’s Law Campaign and is president
of the new Capital Region chapter of AFSP.
“I find it very fitting and appropriate that on
the eve of what would have been his graduation from high school, the Legislature has
reached an agreement to pass legislation to
end discriminatory health insurance policies
that led to the suicide of my son,” O’Clair
said. “What a graduation present this is for
Timothy, and what a great day it is for New
Yorkers with mental health needs.”
Proponents of Timothy’s Law, including
representatives from AFSP chapters in Albany
and Long Island, have been a constant presence at the state Capitol the last four sessions.
“In 1979 when my brother, Eddie, took his
own life, we whispered about suicide and
mental illness. Because of the courage,
strength and stamina of Tom O’Clair, we have
raised this whisper to a shout in the state of
New York,” AFSP Upstate New York Area
Director Mary Jean Coleman said. “The final
passage of Timothy’s Law represents a day
when we no longer separate the body from
the mind in healthcare coverage.”
“This agreement illustrates just how much
of a difference our chapters can make when it
comes to legislative and public policy issues,”
AFSP Executive Director Robert Gebbia said.
“We owe a debt of gratitude to the members
of the Timothy’s Law Campaign, our chapter
leaders and AFSP members throughout the
state who contacted their legislators to advocate the passage of Timothy’s Law.”
A vote on this legislation has not been
scheduled, the agreement coming late as the
Legislature was adjourning. But the New York
State Assembly and Senate pledge passage
when the legislators return to Albany in
September. The legislation would then go to
the New York State governor for signature.
LIFESAVERS
Sheldon Drobny
Sheldon Drobny is the co-founder of AnShell
Media LLC, precursor of the Air America
Radio Network. He is also the founder and
chairman of Paradigm Group II, an investment firm specializing in
socially responsible businesses, with over
$200 million of
investments in
over 40 companies. Drobny, a
Certified Public
Accountant and
winner of the
Sheldon Drobny
Elijah Watts
Sells Award — given to the top 25 CPA candidates in the country — has practiced public accounting for over 30 years.
Prior to entering public accounting, he
had a number of years of taxation experience
with the Internal Revenue Service. Drobny
specializes in business and tax matters and
is admitted to practice before the U.S. Tax
Court as a non-attorney. Less than 200 nonattorneys have been admitted to practice
before the U.S. Tax Court since its inception
in 1942.
Drobny’s affiliation with AFSP and the
cause of suicide prevention came from a
growing interest in brain research into
depression. In addition to serving on the
AFSP board of directors, he will serve on
the Foundation’s audit and development
committees.
Steve Siple
Steve Siple lost his father to suicide in
2001. He served as founding chair of the
newly formed Cincinnati chapter of AFSP
from 2005 to early 2006 prior to his relocation to Birmingham, Ala. The Cincinnati
chapter held tremendously successful Out
Of the Darkness Community Walks in 2004
SPRING 2006
and 2005, grossing nearly $75,000. Siple is
an outspoken advocate of suicide awareness, having been interviewed by several
local media personalities, and is keenly
focused on engaging all “stakeholder”
groups in addressing the issue. He plans
on starting the first AFSP chapter in the
state of Alabama.
A senior vice president at Regions Bank,
he currently serves as a public finance
banker structuring tax-exempt financing for
state and local governments and not-forprofit organizations. Siple was formerly
employed at Comerica Bank and at Fifth
Third Bank in
Cincinnati,
within each
bank’s middle
market lending
group and First
Union (now
Wachovia) in
Charlotte,
N.C., within
its municipal
securities
Steve Siple
group.
His other leadership roles include being a
member of the Sycamore School District
Planning Commission and a mentor in
Miami University’s Business School
Leadership Program. In addition to serving
on the AFSP board of directors, he will serve
on the Foundation’s finance committee.
Gail Griffith
For most of her career, Gail Griffith has been
an advocate, designing and implementing
international humanitarian programs and
cause-related campaigns. Throughout the
1990s she worked for the campaign to ban
landmines, which won the Nobel Peace
Prize in 1997.
Following her adolescent son’s nearlethal suicide attempt in 2001, Gail
Griffith has devoted herself to advocacy
on behalf of young people with mental
illness, and to writing about teen depression. In May 2005 she published her first
book, Will’s Choice: A Suicidal Teen, a
Desperate Mother and a Chronicle of
Recovery, which garnered outstanding
reviews. After authoring an op-ed published in the Washington Post (“The Fear
of No Right Answer,” Nov. 9, 2003)
decrying the lack of adequate information
for families whose children suffer from
depression, she was sought-out by policymakers and invited to serve as the patient
representative to the 2004 Food and Drug
Administration’s scientific advisory committee charged with examining the risks
and benefits of antidepressant use for
pediatric patients.
In November 2005, she was invited
to participate in a National Institute of
Mental Health conference on “Assessing
Suicidality during Antidepressant
Treatment,” and
in March 2006
she served as a
public reviewer
evaluating the
merits of
research
proposals
designed to
study the suicidality in
depressed
Gail Griffith
adolescents.
Griffith is a frequent guest speaker
and has appeared on national television
and radio programs, including a segment on CNN’s “Paula Zahn Now,”
attesting to the benefits of millions of
teens who are treated effectively with
antidepressant medication. Ms. Griffith
is a member of the editorial board of
Preventing Suicide magazine, and is the
2006 recipient of the National Mental
Health Association’s Tipper Gore
“Remember the Children” Award. In
addition to serving on the AFSP board
of directors, she will serve on the
Foundation’s development committee.
For a full list of the AFSP board of directors,
councils and committees, please visit the
Foundation’s website.
19