By Megan Munson and Mary Brogan
Co-Associate Editor and Staff Writer

Hopeless. Antisocial. Angry. Anxious.

These are a few warning signs of someone who may want to take his or her own life, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). Depression, especially when experienced over a long period of time, could also lead to suicidal thoughts.

“We use the word ‘depressed’ kind of casually, but a true clinical depression means a shift in the brain chemistry,” said Licensed Professional Counselor Melinda Mogowski. “The neurotransmitter levels are actually different…For some people…if you stay sad, lonely, overwhelmed long enough, your brain chemistry actually changes. It’s almost like your brain forgets how to make the happy chemicals for itself or how to use that happy chemical it has. Over time, somebody who is sad, lonely, depressed…gets into a place, biologically, where no amount of good days is really enough to snap them out of it.”

Suicide knows no age limitations, Mogowski said.

“I’ve seen parents have concern about elementary school children and comments they were making. Then I’ve seen senior citizens who were also definitely at risk. And of course, their reasons are probably different. For everybody who’s considering suicide, there’s a profound sense of hopelessness, but it’s going to be different for a senior citizen than it is for a middle schooler,” Mogowski said. “The source of hopelessness, as a senior, it may be that they’re grieving the loss of friends and family and the loss of their mobility and their good health or their sharp mind, and they feel like that’s not going to get any better. Whereas with young teens, it’s oftentimes social-feeling hopeless about their future and their social connectedness and their place in the world.”

One student said she felt her depression getting worse last year, to the point where she considered ending her own life.

“I just got really depressed with schoolwork, my parents were fighting, and I was going down the wrong path by doing drugs,” sophomore Ryan Seal said. “I texted my mom in school telling her I felt wrong and didn’t know what it was but I couldn’t find happiness anymore. She took me to the doctor’s and they asked me if I had a plan to commit suicide, and I said yes. That day social services came and I was admitted into the hospital.”

Media Coordinator Susan McFarlane, whose undergraduate degree includes concentrations in psychology and sociology, said that if a person is facing a long, terminal, and painful illness, and if they do not believe in an afterlife, she can understand how that person could feel desperate enough to commit suicide.

Risk factors for suicide include manic-depressive bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders and a dependence on alcohol or illegal substances, according to the AFSP. Art teacher Jenna Saunders lost a family friend to suicide.

“He was haunted by (addiction). He tried to get help. He tried to fix it, and he (felt) oppressed,” Saunders said. “The truth of the matter is life is truly fragile.”

Senior Kelsey Griggs lost her cousin, Ryan Beasley, to suicide. He passed away on Dec. 27, 2013, at 21 years old. She remembers Beasley, a 2012 FFHS graduate, as a fun-loving guy.

“Ryan was like a little kid in a grown-up body. He loved to do everything that a little kid likes: go on a trampoline or run down the street and hanging out with friends. That was kind of everything about Ryan,” Griggs said. “When he did end up passing away, it kind of hurt me more than anyone else, I think, in our family, because we were the closest. We were more like brother and sister, not really cousins. It was kind of confusing.”

English teacher Hunter Will lived down the street from Beasley. Will said Beasley loved Kurt Cobain, his guitar and his friends. For Teacher Appreciation Week, Beasley used to leave soft shell crabs in a cooler on her front porch.

“I had just recently lent him my bicycle, because he was going to go around the Harbor. I said ‘Just take my bike.’ And I thought, ‘Oh, I’ll never see that again; he’ll just forget me.’ Nope, (the bike was) parked right there in my driveway the next morning,” Will said. “He was responsible and really cared about me. (Ryan) always stopped to say ‘Hello’ on the street.”

Catching the warning signs may help prevent suicide. Warning signs can include increased sleeping, isolation from others and mood swings.

“As time goes on they pull back more from friends and family,” Mogowski said. “They might increase drug or alcohol abuse. They might either write or do artwork that is increasingly dark and even mention not wanting to live anymore.”

Taylor Swankie, a 2011 FFHS graduate, is completing her junior year at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Swankie’s father committed suicide when she was in middle school. Now, she is the co-chair of an organization called Rethink Psychiatric Illness. Rethink focuses mainly on mental health education and awareness.

“I’ve started reaching out…and really kind of embraced myself into mental health issues. I think a part of the reason why I’ve become so interested in mental health would be largely because of my dad,” Swankie said. “I was 13 (when he passed away). It was really difficult to understand what was going on. Now that I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned about mental health in general. It’s kind of something that I’ve become passionate about, because, well, I don’t know if my dad’s passing was preventable or not, but I do think I could’ve been better prepared.”

So far, Rethink has taught 352 people how to support someone with a mental health issue. Members also discuss the health resources available for students on Chapel Hill’s campus. At FFHS, students are encouraged to speak with a school counselor or teacher if they are struggling with a personal issue.

“I want people to feel like they have somebody they can talk to. I am open to somebody saying ‘Hey, I could really use somebody to talk to right now.’ My door is always open,” said math teacher Jennifer Kinnisten. She has lost an uncle and friend to suicide. “I don’t think students realize that teachers have lived through the same experiences that (students) have or are going to experience…The experiences you’re having in your life, there’s someone in this building who has probably been right there with you.”

Swankie believes that mental health should be discussed more openly.

“In general, (suicide) is not something that’s talked about; mental health in general is not talked about. A lot of it is because of stigma,” Swankie said. “So our organization believes that by teaching students and community members about mental health and the stigma surrounding it we can promote the change of how they view mental health. We empower participants to challenge their own views so that they can identify ways to reduce ways they might have perpetuated stigma prior. We ask participants to consider how they can reduce stigma in their daily lives. That’s one of the biggest steps they can take. We’re encouraging people with mental illness to develop health-seeking behavior.”

Swankie added it is important to become supportive of those needing treatment for mental health issues. She noted that 70 to 90 percent of people who have mental illness do recover, with adequate support and treatment.

“That’s something we like to focus on – that number – because 90 percent of people who die by suicide have a mental illness or have experience with a mental disorder,” Swankie said. “So, obviously it shows that a lot of things are preventable.”

Mogowski encourages people to express their emotions to a trustworthy friend.

“If you are the person experiencing suicidal thoughts, please share that with someone you trust. If you are the friend of someone who is sharing that information, don’t keep it to yourself…There’s nothing worse than saying you’ll keep a secret about somebody who is trying to kill themselves. Because that really puts the friend at risk too,” Mogowski said. “If you’re the depressed person, if you’re the suicidal person, please tell somebody. And if you are told by somebody, tell a trusted adult immediately. Don’t wait.”

Send comments to munsonme0523@daretolearn.org