Suicide

LOCAL WOMAN STATIONED IN JAPAN Airman Whitney Barnett, daughter of Kenneth and Martha Barnett of Winchester, in now stationed in Honshu, Japan. Her family has requested that her friends and family send news from back home. Her address is Barnett, Whitney; w/c 220 VAW 115, Unit 25428, Fpo-Ap 96601. Her e-mail address is Whitney.Barnett@ cvw5.Navy.mil. RETURNed HOME Mrs. H. Wayne (Betty Ratliff) Smith and son, Michael Butler, have returned to their homes here from Newport News, Va., where they were called due to the death of their cousin, Col. (Ret.

Most of us probably don't think of depression as a terminal illness like cancer or heart disease, but quite often it is. Sometimes a person's feelings of failure, loneliness or hopelessness are so strong that ending one's life may seem the only way out of a seemingly unbearable situation. But it isn't. Depression is a common mental illness, often biological in nature, that affects up to 12 percent of the population. One in five people will at some time experience a depressive mood that could result in suicide.

It's not an easy question to ask: "Are you thinking about killing yourself?" But it's one that could easily prevent a suicide, said Carolyn Burtner, an educator with the Clark County Health Department. She will lead three one-time classes in Winchester titled "Question, Persuade, Refer" beginning Monday morning. "It's not designed for people to become counselors or interfere in other's lives," Burtner said. "It's designed strictly for people to be able to recognize signs of people having suicidal thoughts.

A death investigation is under way after a man was found dead of a gunshot wound inside a white pickup truck on Main Street Tuesday night. Capt. Harvey Craycraft of the Winchester Police Department said the man, Michael L. Nickel, 46, was discovered about 8 p.m. in the municipal parking lot between Bridges & Lane Hardware and Harper's Pawn Shop. Some witnesses who were being questioned by police said they had been asked not to speak with anyone about the incident. About 9 p.m., two women showed up and one started screaming and told police the man was her fiance.

One day 23 years ago, someone celebrated the birth of Cho Seung-Hui. He cried and cooed and probably swelled his parents' chests with pride. They took him home, looking forward to raising and nurturing a son who might someday carry on the family name. Ironically, despite what appears to have been a relatively normal childhood, he has smeared that name. Somewhere along the way, Cho developed the potential to become twisted and angry and evil. We now know that some people saw it coming.

FRANKFORT - Mental health professionals, violence prevention groups, as well as suicide prevention groups, are searching for lessons to be learned, as speculation continues about possible mental health issues surrounding the recent shootings at Virginia Tech. The Kentucky Suicide Prevention Group is urging Kentuckians to play an active role in suicide and violence prevention. "Suicide prevention, by broader definition, is violence prevention," said Mary Bolin-Reece, a KSPG member, licensed psychologist, and director of the University of Kentucky's Counseling and Testing Center.

Dear Editor, National Suicide Prevention Week is Sept. 10-16. Kentuckians are three times more likely to die of suicide than homicide but the topic of suicide remains taboo. My 18-year-old cousin, Marcus, shot and killed himself two years ago in Barbourville. A loved one's death always hurts, but the pain of a suicide does not seem to let up. His death seemed so needless. And it was. At least 90 percent of those who commit suicide have an underlying mental health problem. Most of these mental health problems can be treated successfully thereby reducing greatly the chance of suicide.

Dear Editor, The bitter outcome of assisted suicide is a culture callous towards life. In his article "Assisted Suicide: A Moral Right,� Thomas Bowden makesseveral profoundly erroneous arguments. First, suicide is always a theft from the rich network of relationships in which each one of us exists. Though Bowden states that "each person exists as an end in himself,� we realize that we are not the authors and owners of our own lives. We are part of a web of relationships that cannot ethically be ignored.