Mental health experts, others cite clues on impending suicide

Jan. 10—Experts in the mental health field, as well as a local mother whose son killed himself, want family members and friends alert to the reasons, signs, and effects suicide has on others around them.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide was the leading cause of death in the U.S. in 2020, with 45,979 lives lost.

"In 2020, suicide was among the top nine leading causes of death for people ages 10-64. Suicide was the second-leading cause of death for people ages 10-14 and 25-34," the CDC stated.

Consulting and Counseling for Community Change owner Levi Keehler said suicide can be considered an extreme act of escape and is often rooted in a deep sense of hopelessness or inescapable dread.

For a moment, the nation paused when news broke that entertainer Stephen "tWitch" Boss killed himself at age 40 on Dec. 13. It seemed Boss had it all: the success, fame, fortune, family. Just three days before his death, he posted photos to his social media of him and his wife, Allison, and wrote that it was their wedding anniversary.

Keehler said one of the biggest misconceptions is that those who attempt or complete suicide are battling depression.

"While there is an overwhelming correlation, this can be misleading, because it does not take into consideration the impact of anxiety and other life stressors. In fact, it can be triggered by a myriad of things and is dependent upon the person's unique biological, sociological, psychological, and spiritual framework," Keehler said.

In the past year, 12.3 million people ages 18 or older had serious thoughts of suicide, according to the 2021 National Survey of Drug Use and Health. Over 3.5 million made plans and 1.7 million attempted to take their own lives.

"Among adolescents aged 12 to 17 in 2021, 12.7 percent had serious thoughts of suicide, 5.9 percent made a suicide plan, and 3.4 percent attempted suicide in the past year," Keehler said.

Studies from psychiatryonline.com show 60 percent of people completed suicide in their first attempt. Among the 40 percent of people who died as a result of their second or even third attempt, 80 percent died within a year of their initial attempt.

Angela Tinsley, of Remax Select, has spoken candidly about suicide awareness since her 28-year-old son, Ryan, took his life in May 2022. She encourages awareness about suicide and said she'll use her son's death as an opportunity to promote awareness.

"Depression is real and it's a black hole. I think all of us have dealt with depression in one way, shape, or form. None of us live in a bubble and none of us have perfect lives," Tinsley said.

She said there were signs something wasn't quite right, especially the last night she saw Ryan.

"We were all together and I could tell there was something bothering him. I knew for about a year that there was something he was just struggling [with], and as mamas, that's the intuition God gives us," she said.

The Daily Press won't go into details on how Ryan died or how he was discovered, although Tinsley did provide that information. She said it's important to know there are "normal" families who experience darkness.

"Do I believe we see the signs, yes. I believe there are signs, and I think sometimes we just think, 'OK, God, if we can just get them to hear' or 'If this just can happen,'" she said.

Tinsley's brother died within a day of Ryan's birth, and she said there was a period of about four minutes when she believed her family was there at the hospital to tell her something had happened to her newborn.

"I get out of the room and I'm walking in the hallway and I see my stepfather and my sister. I asked why they were there at 5 a.m. and they were there to tell me my brother had passed away," she said.

She said those four minutes felt like an eternity before her family realized she thought it was Ryan and not her brother.

"I already experienced it once, the grief — that short amount of grief with little Ryan that I thought I had lost him," she said. "Trauma comes in all different forms and fashions."

During a Jan. 9Hulbert Schools Board of Education meeting, a new policy was added as part of the district's mental health protocols. HPS Superintendent Jolyn Choate said the policy that would help others understand and recognize if a student has social-emotional issues.

Tahlequah Public Schools Superintendent Tanya Jones announced Jan. 9 that the Counselor Corps grant allowed them to add more counselors to focus on addressing three issues, one of which is suicide prevention.

"The outcomes of these additional counselors will be a coordinated Pre-K through 12th-grade approach to meet academic, social, and emotional needs of all Tahlequah students," Jones said.

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