Sometimes life can be overwhelming. But no one needs to go through it alone. There is help and there are resources available.
At times of great tragedy, thoughts and emotions can get so jumbled that the natural reaction is often to either shut down or lash out. In the wake of Weston’s most recent tragedy — the shockingly public suicide of a Weston woman — people throughout the community must fight those impulses and instead come together and support each other.
While none more so than the family, we are all grieving the loss and all feel a terrible sense of sadness and confusion and incredulity. In trying to make sense of the seemingly senseless, we would do better to do so with compassion rather than anger, and with understanding rather than blame.
The automatic response after a suicide is to ask, “Why?” In trying to cope with the latest in a line of recent self-inflicted deaths to affect the town, the question becomes more urgent, more painful, more unavoidable — and its answer more imperative. Why here? Why now?
There is a very real and justified fear in talking about suicide. There is a concern that paying too much attention can “glorify” it and lead to “copycat” attempts. But there is also a very real need not to sweep this under the rug and to talk about the bigger picture; there is a need to get accurate information to the public so that rumors and the pain they can cause are stopped in their tracks. Perhaps most importantly, however, there is a need to talk about ways to avoid anything like this happening in the future.
Rather than focusing on the “answer” to why Ms. Gionis took her own life the way she did — that answer died with Lisa — each of us must instead ask ourselves the harder, but ultimately answerable questions that lie within our own hearts: What can I do to help my child, my friend, my neighbor, my co-worker? Can I recognize the signs of depression, desperation, and despair? Will I take the time to learn what support systems are available to help those who need it? Do I have the courage to speak up when I notice someone may be suffering and talk to them about the options and resources that are available? Will I be able to ask for and accept help when my own situation seems helpless?
These are the questions we must confront head-on, for their answers are a matter of life and death.
—Kimberly Donnelly
editor@theWestonForum.com
