On September 11th, an educational forum on suicide prevention will be held at the The Kempsville Center for Behavioral Health from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. The program will open with Virginia Beach Mayor William Sessoms, Jr calling for an end to suicide in the Hampton Roads community through education.
Keynote speaker will be Ms. Dottie Pacharis, nationally recognized author and advocate who became an outspoken suicide prevention activist after trying to help her bipolar son during his 13-year struggle with this illness. Her book, Mind on the Run, is the story of her son’s suicide that with proper treatment could have prevented. Her book describes the roadblocks she encountered as she frantically sought help within the mental health system.
A discussion panel will be led by Calvin Nunnelly, founder of the organization Know More Bullying. He is former manager of Suicide Prevention, Division of Injury and Violence Prevention, Virginia Department of Health. The panel will provide attendees with available community resources and answer questions. Other forum participants include Carolyn Wood, MS, of the Office of Consumer and Family Affairs, Virginia Beach Mental Health and Substance Abuse Division; Robert Jamison, MS, Guidance Director at Cox High School; Albie Viola, suicide survivor and an officer on the Virginia Beach Crisis Intervention Team.
According to the World Health Organization, more than 1 million people worldwide die by suicide each year and according to the CDC, 963 of these victims were in Virginia. Suicide is linked with depression, bipolar disorder and other mental illness disorders. The stigma placed on mental illness impedes treatment of individuals who are suicidal. Mental illness is treatable and suicide is preventable. This forum is to educate and dispell the myths that lead to shame and too often suicide.
The National Alliance for Mental Illness-Virginia Beach, local suicide prevention NGO, I Need A Lighthouse, and the Kempsville Center for Behavioral Health have partnered to bring this informational forum to the community.