Help near for those looking at suicide

Alcohol, guns and gambling debts are all very easily obtained in Nevada.

Unfortunately, all three either sometimes lead to or are used in suicides, and our state has the nation’s fifth-highest suicide rate at 18.3 per 100,000. Isolation contributes to suicides, and loneliness isn’t uncommon in our vast remote areas. Sam Bauman wrote about this in his excellent column from July 7; you can read it online at bit.ly/1bVY9nf.

Debbie Posnien, the executive director of the Suicide Prevention Network in Douglas County, talked about the problem in her office Thursday. Why talk to someone in Douglas County about the suicide rate in Carson City?

Because Carson City has no such network. As far as Posnien knows, it never has. She speculated that our capital is one of the few nationwide to lack such a resource for its residents.

There no doubt are several reasons, and the difficulty in securing federal funding likely is one. Posnien described the difficulty in running her own office on a shoestring budget.

The Appeal will explore this issue in a story in late August or early September, the latter of which is national Suicide Prevention Month. Our story will run ahead of the Suicide Prevention Network’s seventh annual Walk in Memory Walk for Hope event, which begins with registration at 8 a.m. Sept. 14 on the Carson Valley Historical Museum lawn. You can register for the walk at nvsuicideprevention.org.

The network also meets from 6-7:30 p.m. the first and third Thursdays of each month at 1702 County Road, Suite A3 in Minden.

If you’ve felt suicidal or know someone who does, please call the network in Douglas County at 775-783-1510, 800-SUICIDE or 911. A staffer will talk you through your experience and offer a clear-headed perspective about why your life is very much worth living.

Although you might feel otherwise, you are never alone. Never.