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Groups try to change views of mental health, suicide

Tribune Chronicle / R. Michael Semple Mary Kopiak of Warren displays photographs of her daughter, Valerie, who committed suicide 20 years ago, while visiting Valerie’s grave site last week at Crown Hill Burial Park in Vienna.

Mary Kopiak’s daughter, Valerie, was 19 when she committed suicide 20 years ago.

“Come March, it’ll be Valerie’s 40th,” Kopiak said.

As Kopiak’s friends are celebrating 40th birthday parties with their children, Kopiak will be holding a mass in memoriam.

Mary Kopiak described Valerie as a prankster who might have gone a long way in the world. When she took her life, Mary said Valerie was having relationship trouble and had dropped out of high school, but she was planning to get her GED and become an airline stewardess.

“Valerie was the life of the party,” Mary said, “and nobody seen this coming.”

Catherine Grizinski, associate executive director at the Help Network of Northeast Ohio, said people often think of mental health as being different than physical health, but that’s not the case. “Just like you wouldn’t leave anybody out on the street if they had a broken leg, you don’t leave anybody out on the street when they’re having a mental health issue,” said Grizinski.

The way suicide is talked about also is important, said Grizinski. “We want to make sure that we talk about suicide death, not that it was a ‘successful’ suicide. There are no successful suicides, they’re all tragic,” Grizinski said.

Mary Kopiak said when Valerie died in 1998, people often villainized Valerie. It was hard for people who hadn’t suffered a similar loss to understand her own pain, she said.

“As a parent I would get frustrated because people would say, ‘You’ve got two other kids.’ Well, Valerie is Valerie. It’s not the same,” she said.

After Valerie’s death, Mary discovered a suicide grief group for affected families. She now recommends those who have suffered a suicide loss attend a Help Network of Northeast Ohio grief group — SOS, or “Survivors of Suicide.”

The Help Network of Northeast Ohio provides mental health services including a crisis suicide network, recovery programs and mental health resources. According to its 2017-18 annual report, 160,063 calls were answered on the hotline, which services Trumbull, Mahoning, Columbiana and Ashtabula counties.

In the past, it was believed unnoticed mental illness was the cause of most suicide deaths, said Grizinski. “We try to make it simple, but it’s more complicated than that,” she said.

Research has shown a combination of factors — which can include mental illness, but also involve financial problems, substance abuse and difficult relationships — contribute to suicidal thoughts, Grizinski said.

Based on hospital records, for every suicide loss, there are 278 people who consider suicide but don’t attempt it, said Grizinski.

“The person may be suicidal for years, and it’s almost like a perfect storm,” she said.

According to statistics released by the Trumbull County Coroner’s Office, there were 28 deaths by suicide in 2018, of which 85 percent were male. The highest number of deaths, 50 percent, were Caucasian males between the ages of 35-64. These percentages stayed roughly the same in previous years in Trumbull County, as 40 suicide deaths took place in 2017 and 30 in 2016. The local percentages correlate with national trends, added Grizinski.

Identifying the reason why more Caucasian males complete suicide than other demographics is difficult, admits Grizinski, who said she believes it may be because men often have access to firearms — guns are the leading method of suicide.

The high rate of death by self-inflicted gunshot led the Trumbull County Suicide Prevention Coalition to make gun locks available to families and friends of those who may be at-risk. The locks are available at the Trumbull County Mental Health and Recovery Board and Coleman Professional Services.

“Usually if people are focused on dying by suicide, if one method doesn’t work they don’t try another,” said Grizinski, who cited research done regarding bridge barriers that prevent people from jumping. This makes gun locks a good preventive measure, she said.

The best way to prevent suicide is to know the warning signs, said Grizinski. These include increased substance abuse, anxiety, reckless behavior, talking or writing about death, and withdrawal from family and friends, among others, according to research compiled by the American Association of Suicidology.

However, these signs can vary, said Grizinski. “Because in mental health, there’s no script,” she said.

The Trumbull County Suicide Prevention Coalition meets at 3 p.m. the second Tuesday of the month at the Trumbull County Mental Health and Recovery Board.

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