Panel gives personal insights as part of Suicide Prevention Week
Students were shocked and inspired after Wednesday's suicide prevention panel members spoke on behalf of loved ones and discussed their personal struggles regarding suicide.
The panel, sponsored by Central Michigan University's chapter of Yellow Ribbon, was created as part of a week-long series of events surrounding suicide prevention.
Panelists included students, CMU counseling center representative Cory Cole and special guest Lucy Kebler, who discussed the loss of her son to suicide.
"My son Jeff was very strong-willed and didn't handle frustration well," Kebler said. "He became increasingly harder to contact, and when I did talk to him he seemed very irritable. I just attributed it to a busy schedule with work and school."
Jeff committed suicide in 2008.
Since her son's death, Kebler has made it her mission to educate herself, and others, about the signs of suicide and said that while her journey has been difficult, it has been well worth it.
"People ask me why I speak about this, why I would want to open this wound over and over again," she said. "I have an answer for those people — I love Jeff. People are dying (from suicide), and I want to help people live."
The panel discussion continued with Kansas City junior Nikita Secor, who has experienced issues surrounding suicide and depression first hand.
Secor said that at a young age, many traumatic events, including being a victim of harsh bullying, led her to begin self-mutilation that continued as she got older.
"I felt like whenever I tried to go to someone for help, I could be screaming at the top of my lungs but no one heard me," she said. "I felt like I was living in a fog and I was losing control of who I was."
Through her difficult journey, Secor has struggled with not only self-harm, but also attempted suicide.
"One night I took a stash of pills and I ended up in the hospital," Secor said. "I realized after returning home how scary it really was. I thought I could deal with how permanent it was, but I couldn't."
Seniors Emma Maxon, a Saint Louis native, and Waterford native Jeff Olson next gave a presentation focused on self-harm called "The Butterfly Project."
When someone has an urge to hurt themselves, this initiative encourages them to draw a butterfly on their arm instead. This way, each time they look down, the butterfly will act as a symbol of someone who cares about them and might discourage them from acting on their harmful urges.
Yellow Ribbon faculty adviser Dave Opalewski said the group's goal is to prevent an issue that can affect anyone.
"Suicide is preventable," Opalewski said. "We're here to prevent the number one cause of death of college freshman and the number two cause of death of (overall) college students."
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