A little more than a year ago, a Seymour woman lost her younger brother to suicide.
Now, she has formed an organization dedicated to suicide prevention with the belief that education on the issue can help lower suicide rates in Jackson County.
“My little brother, Robert ‘Nate’ Kinzie, committed suicide on Dec. 26, 2016, after dealing with a silent battle with depression,” Mariah Kinzie said. “He was only 21 years old. His friends painted the overpass for him.”
The overpass reads “Fly high Nate!” and is located on the west side of Seymour at Tipton Street and Community Drive.
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“I, as well as many others in my family, have also struggled with depression,” Mariah said. “After hearing about young people committing suicide at what seems to be every month anymore, I could not stand back and not say anything.”
Mariah, her mother and several of Nate’s friends walked in the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s walk last summer, but just walking was not enough for her, she said.
“My goal for the Jackson County suicide prevention organization, which is called Silent Pain, is to establish a group of educators, health professionals and family members who have lost loved ones,” Mariah said.
“I want to provide data to the Jackson County school corporations explaining the need for suicide education in schools and introduce Jackson County to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and their helpful resources,” she said.
From 2011 to 2015, 31 Jackson County residents committed suicide, according to the Indiana State Department of Health’s Suicide in Indiana Report. That means the county’s rate was 14.4 percent per 100,000 population.
Mariah, 26, wants to tackle this issue because she has experienced trouble with depression since her freshman year of college.
“Although I was able to seek help from an amazing counselor at Franklin College, I had to handle my feelings myself when I returned home,” she said. “I have gone to several counselors, some telling me I am fine with others just blowing off my thoughts as just overreactions.”
Since 2011, Mariah has attempted suicide five times and has been in two different hospitals to help her cope with her suicidal thoughts due to past trauma, she said.
“Most recently, I had to experience firsthand how it feels when someone commits suicide,” she said. “My 21-year-old brother, the man who never seemed to have a worry in the world, the man that could make a friend with anyone and everyone he met, and the man that had love for the world that others only dream of, was gone in just seconds.
“Dec. 26, 2016, my brother made the decision to end his life. I didn’t know he was feeling lost and lonely,” Mariah said. “I didn’t know he didn’t know where to turn after being given meds and pushed out the emergency room door.”
Mariah said she didn’t know Nate had tried to get help from others, only to have his feelings pushed off as anxiety and a boy just being upset.
“After learning he went to the hospital at least twice and was only prescribed medication and not given that opportunity to speak with a professional makes me sick to my stomach still today,” Mariah said.
“To have learned that my brother did everything he could think of, only to be turned away, and felt suicide was the only way out of his terrible feelings, is something that I will never forgive those he came in contact with,” she said.
Now, about a year and one week later, Mariah said she replays that day like it was yesterday.
Those who commit suicide don’t realize that someone has to find them, and she was that person, she said.
“I am strongly discouraged to speak about what happened, and people just want me to brush it under the rug, but I can’t do that. I will not do that,” Mariah said. “My brother was a man that touched more lives in his short time on Earth than I will only hope to touch in my life.”
Mariah is committed to helping people in the community who need a place to go where there are others who have gone through the pain.
That place would allow them to come and talk about what they are feeling and help others that are in similar situations, she said.
“Suicide in Jackson County among youths is at a steady high, and nobody wants to speak about it. I am going to be the person that talks about it,” Mariah said. “If I have to scream on the courthouse square to be heard, I will. If I have to write thousands of letters to get testing and education about mental illness and suicide in our schools, I will.
“I need more voices to stand up with me and fight to let those struggling know that they are here on this beautiful Earth living, and although life seems like it can’t get better, it will,” she said.
According to the 2015 data cited in the Indiana Youth Institute “Kids Count in Indiana 2017 Data Book,” Indiana had the highest rate in the country of teens who have considered suicide and the second-highest rate of those who attempted it. In 2015, the percentage of Indiana high school students (19.8) who seriously considered attempting suicide was higher than the nation (17.7).
Some suicides occur without any warning, but the majority of suicidal individuals show warning signs, like talking about a specific suicide plan, losing interest in things and activities and acting irritable, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
While each suicide or attempted suicide can be as unique as the person who experiences it, there are ways to address the wide range of social, emotional, environmental and health factors involved.
Suicide prevention efforts should involve different strategies, requiring a wide range of partners, and draw on a variety of tools and resources.
“I am a huge example of how your life gets better,” Mariah said. “Although, my brother lost his life, I am going to make sure everyone knows his name.”
The Silent Pain organization will have its first informational meeting from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Jan. 23 at the Jackson County Public Library, 303 W. Second St., Seymour.
For information, email [email protected].
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Suicide is a major preventable public health problem endemic throughout the United States. Individuals who die by suicide cross all economic, racial, age and social boundaries.
Death by suicide accounted for 44,193 lives lost in the United States in 2015, which equates to 121.1 suicides per day, a 15 percent increase since 2010.
From 2011 to 2015, 4,673 suicides were reported in Indiana, of which 962 occurred in 2015. Suicide was the 11th leading cause of death among Hoosiers during this time period.
The suicide rate in Indiana has increased nearly every year since 1999 with a total increase of 72 percent from 1999 to 2015. Though the rate has remained somewhat stable since 2012, the numbers continue to slowly increase.
From 2011 to 2015, suicide was the second-leading cause of death in the 15 to 34 age group, the third leading cause of death among those 10 to 14 years of age, fourth among those 35 to 54 years of age and eighth for the 55 to 64 age group.
Sources:
in.gov/isdh/files/Suicide_Report_2017_final_revised7.10.17.pdf
afsp.org/about-suicide/state-fact-sheets/#Indiana
s3.amazonaws.com/iyi-website/data-book/2017_Data-Book.pdf?mtime=20170227080137
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What: Organizational meeting of Silent Pain, a suicide prevention group
When: 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Jan. 23
Where: Jackson County Public Library, 303 W. Second St., Seymour
Information: Email [email protected]
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