Suicide Awareness

The annual Out of the Darkness Community Walk in Tempe will raise funds for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. PLUS: A professor at the University of Arizona studies LGBT youth suicide.

By Glenn Gullickson

Out of the Darkness

Suicide prevention group plans fundraising walk in Tempe

Up to 1,000 walkers are expected to participate in the fourth annual Out of the Darkness Community Walk in Tempe that brings attention to suicide prevention.

Organized by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the three-mile walk will be Dec. 3, starting and ending at Kiwanis Park.

Heather Fahey, coordinator of the local event, said she's noticed more participation in the organization's events since last year, when the news media put the spotlight on suicides by LGBT youth.

Among the groups walking in the Tempe event will be a team from the 1n10 youth services agency. Stacey Jay Cavaliere, 1n10 prevention coordinator, said he hopes that up to 30 people from his organization will participate when 1n10 organizes an official walking team for the event for the first time.

"We want to be involved to honor the ones we've lost," Cavaliere said.

Fahey said walkers range from high school students to retired folks.

Walkers are asked to raise $150, but no one is turned away from participating, Fahey said. She said the walk's goal is to raise $50,000, money that helps fund education, research, outreach and survivor support.

More than 33,000 people die by suicide each year in the U.S. and it's the second leading cause of death among college students, according to the foundation.

Fahey said that the foundation is working on programs for the LGBT community. The local chapter recently implemented a program at Arizona State University, she said.

Walk day will begin with registration, followed by a presentation that will include a balloon release and speakers sharing stories about loved ones they've lost. There will be a moment of silence before the walk begins.

Walkers will be given T-shirts, carnations and memory beads and they are encouraged to bring photos and write notes for a memory board.

The foundation organizes 200 community walks in U.S. cities. Walks were held in Tucson and Payson in October. The group also participated in Phoenix Pride.

Cavaliere, who coordinates the "Life in My Shoes" suicide prevention campaign, plans to raise funds for the 1n10 walking team with a "Life in My Paws" puppy pool party. The event will be from noon to 5 p.m. Nov. 27 at the Rock, 4129 N. Seventh Ave., Phoenix. -E

Vital Statistics
Out of the Darkness Community Walk
Sponsored by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
Dec. 3, registration at 9 a.m., presentation at 10 a.m., followed by walk
Kiwanis Park soccer fields
6111 S. All American Way, Tempe
www.outofthedarkness.org

UA professor studying causes for LGBT youth suicide

A professor at the University of Arizona in Tucson is leading a new study that will follow a group of LGBT youth to identify the causes for their high risk of suicide.

Stephen Russell said his study is recruiting up to 1,200 LGBT youth between the ages of 15 and 20 in three cities, including Tucson.

The study, funded by the National Institute for Mental Health, will check in with the youth every nine months for four years, Russell said. "Remarkably, there are very few studies that follow kids over time," he said.

Russell said he has been studying LGBT youth suicide for about 10 years. As director of the Frances McClelland Institute for Children, Youth and Families at UA, he teaches family studies and human development and specializes in the health and well being of LGBT youth.

One of Russell's previous studies was funded by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and he praised that group for putting a focus on LGBT youth suicide.

Russell noted that the adolescent years are especially important since it's the time that youth are changing and learning how gender works.

"It's really important that we understand the teen years," Russell said. "It's when you learn what you're supposed to be like ... and how to treat each other when you don't fit the expectations."

Russell said he's become interested in what he called the "why questions" surrounding LGBT youth suicide, including "what is it about their lives that make this happen?" Research confirms that discrimination, harassment and homophobia make people vulerable, particularly young males, he said.

Russell said the media's "relentless reporting" about LGBT youth suicides in the past year helped put a spotlight on a longstanding problem.

"This has been happening all along and we have just never seen it," he said. "It's about time we finally have some serious conversation about it." -E