KAILUA-KONA — Suicide is a bigger problem in paradise than one might expect.
It is the leading cause of death by injury in Hawaii, occurring at a rate of nearly one victim every other day. And nowhere is the problem more prevalent than on the Big Island.
The West Hawaii Suicide Prevention Task Force, which is supported by the state Department of Health Injury Prevention and Control Service, organized a “Walk for Suicide Prevention” Saturday morning to honor the lives lost and the lives left behind.
The walk was scheduled as a part of both National Suicide Awareness Month and National Suicide Awareness Week.
The event wasn’t a fundraiser but simply an awareness effort, said Nancy Sallee, chair of the task force and a psychotherapist who has lost two patients to suicide.
“We can talk to people, which we do,” Sallee said. “That is the beauty of this whole thing, people stop us. Local residents, store owners and visitors will stop and want to talk — want to tell their story of who they have lost by suicide. It is pretty powerful.”
Suicide, often spurred by deep clinical depression, affects populations that span all ages, races and socio-economic statuses. Sallee said the youngest documented case on the island occurred only a few years ago, when a 5-year-old Hilo girl was found dead after hanging herself.
“It hits everybody, so there is no particular safe place to be and not be touched by suicide one way or another,” Sallee said.
This was the group’s fifth walk in as many years, but the members’ efforts aren’t limited to one awareness-raising stroll from the West Hawaii Today parking lot to Huggo’s and back every September.
Each month on a Sunday afternoon during Kokua Kailua, task force members pull on their T-shirts and take up their brightly colored signs, heading out on a march to make their cause as visible as possible.
The task force’s recent gathering at a vigil Friday at the Courtyard King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel to honor victims of suicide and their loved ones drew the attention of Kim Peters, who joined the walk Saturday morning for the first time.
“I had a good friend that I knew growing up commit suicide eight months ago,” Peters said. “That was the most recent (brush with suicide), the person closest to me. I have known other people, too, who have committed suicide.”
Like many survivors, Peters grapples with a sense of guilt, wishing she would have seen more, understood more, done more. Sallee said these emotions are almost universal for those who lose loved ones to suicide.
“I think I knew my friend was struggling, and a lot of people knew he had some mental illnesses, but we didn’t know what to do, so we didn’t really do anything about it,” Peters said. “This walk is just to help spread the word and bring awareness.”
Also joining the walk for the first time this year was a large group of residents associated with various veterans organizations including the VFW, the USO, the Big Island Veterans Treatment Court and the Auxiliary.
The numbers for veteran suicides are staggering, as between 20 and 22 American servicemen and women across the United States commit suicide every single day.
Gaylene Hopson — whose son, husband and father are all decorated veterans with years of service to their names — helped organize veteran participation.
“One veteran commits suicide every 65 minutes. That’s more than 8,000 every year,” Hopson said. “Whether it be not (getting) the right medication, not receiving the right care, post traumatic stress disorder, TBIs — it is just a staggering number. It’s egregious that veterans aren’t getting the care they deserve.”
Susan Kim, a representative of the governor’s office, came out to walk and to deliver support from the state’s highest governmental office. She read a statement on behalf of Gov. Ige before the event began.
“Increased visibility fights the stigma associated with mental illness and suicide, encouraging people at risk to seek life saving help,” Kim said. “Mahalo to the many who have gathered today to raise awareness on suicide prevention.”
Those struggling with depression or thoughts of suicide, as well as loved ones of people struggling, can find more information at PreventSuicideKona.com. They may also call the Crisis Line of Hawaii at 1-800-753-6879.
