Helen “Ronnie” Raino, 79, beloved wife of the late Gilbert Raino, died February 16 in Bridgeport Hospital, surrounded by her loving family. She was a resident of Bridgeport for 72 years. She was born ...
Reid Johnson, 51, of Sandy Hook, formerly of Ridgefield, died February 7. Reid was born in Coral Gables, Fla., the son of Jo Ann (Cain) and Thomas Johnson.
He attended Ridgefield schools and was a gra...
Donald V. Tallman, 96, of Sandy Hook, formerly of Trumbull, died February 15 at his home. He was the beloved husband of Helene McCarthy Tallman. The Tallmans celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary ...
Carol Arlene Sandt Gee, 73, of Newtown died peacefully February 14 at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, after a brief illness. She was born July 4, 1941, in Forks Township, Penn., an...
Michael T. Meehan, 84, of Newtown died February 14 in Bridgeport Hospital. He was the beloved husband of Ann (McPherson) Meehan. He was born in Bridgeport, June 8, 1930, and was the son of the late An...
Deborah A. Mulock, 65, of Newtown died January 31 at River Glen Care Center, Southbury, after a long illness. She was born in Hartford, September 6, 1949, and was a daughter of the late Norma (Dizer) ...
Susan Schankman, 88, wife of the late Milton Schankman, longtime former resident of New York, died February 12 in Southbury. She was the only child born to Sylvia and Alex Maibaum, March 9, 1926, in N...
David William Ostergren, 73, a resident of Newtown for many years, died peacefully February 15, with his family by his side. Born June 28, 1941, in Middletown, he was the son of the late Mary (Bentham...
Michelle I applaud and support you for focusing on the issues that impact everyone in the town. The next priority has to be on CT's out of control electricity rates. Your opponent and his supporters are quick to blame the other side of the aisle and have given up on trying to accomplish anything. You need to be the voice at the Capitol that the town needs and has missed for so long.
After your short sighted decisions on bussing, something parents are still feeling the repercussions of, I would not want you making any decisions on traffic.
With all due respect Lynn, while no one's property should be damaged, it is demonstrably false to suggest this issue only happens to Democrat signs. If these comments allowed for photos I could show you some pretty abhorrent examples of what has been done to Republican candidate's signs for years in the past few elections (including local races.) Just today we had a supporter message the RTC that their signs were stolen.
Indeed suicide awareness is important as is asking young people these tough questions. That said, saying that "every suicide is preventable" is not only incorrect, it is overly simplistic at best and downright harmful at worst.
The Alliance of Hope for Suicide Loss Survivors - an online support resource with over 25,000 members worldwide writes frequently about the ramifications of such slogans. Many family members say that prevention messages leave them feeling guilty, upset and fearful of being judged – as if they “dropped the ball.". A few of the many sentiments on their webpage from bereaved family members include:
-“I believe suicide is preventable ONLY if someone shows a sign. …My daughter did not show any signs."
-“As a newly bereaved mother, I find the campaign offensive & repulsive. It places the responsibility on family members and those who are about to take their lives. We obviously would have done something if our loved ones expressed their intentions." -"Awareness yes. Preventable no. There was nothing to prevent what happened to my son. Nothing. And I am so sick of the saying it is preventable."
-"I lost my husband to suicide four months ago. It makes me feel cold and sick in the pit of my stomach when I read ‘suicide is preventable’ because I think: ‘It’s my fault, I let him down.'"
Suicide - especially youth suicide - is a complex problem with no easy answers. It’s possible to prevent sometimes — but not always.