CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Local officials joined the Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network in hosting Clarksville’s Suicide Prevention Awareness event Monday, Sept. 10 at Valleybrook Park.
Photos by Lee Erwin/ClarksvilleNow.com
Speakers at the event included Misty Leitsch, Zero Suicide Director for the Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network; Eagle Scout David Keesler, who dedicated his project to create a suicide remembrance garden at Valleybrook Park; and Mayor McMillan, who proclaimed September as Suicide Prevention Month in Clarksville.
The event was held in conjunction with World Suicide Prevention Day.
The Clarksville event is part of an international observance to help communities learn about the problem of suicide and how it can be prevented. The brief ceremony will provide an opportunity to remember those lost to suicide; to encourage survivors of suicide attempts; and to support people who have triumphed over mental illness.
Suicide is the leading cause of violent deaths in America. In Tennessee, an estimated 950 men, women, and children die by suicide each year, more than from homicide, AIDS, or motor vehicle accidents. Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among youth and young adults ages 15-24 in Tennessee and in the United States overall.
In almost all cases, according to suicide prevention experts, suicide can be traced to unrecognized, untreated, or poorly treated mental illness. It can happen to people of either sex, any race or ethnicity, and any economic status.
Information about suicide prevention is available from TSPN at (615) 297-1077 or tspn@tspn.org.