Hello friends.

Time for another update on what we are doing here at the Todd Thomas Foundation. We held our Board of Directors meeting on March 7, 2001 and at that meeting we all agreed that we had to focus much more specifically in what areas of suicide prevention we would focus our efforts. We agreed that our mission statement would be two-fold.

• Firstly, we would like to raise the awareness of the public to the prevalence of suicide in our society.
• Secondly, to raise funds to provide specific education programs to hopefully stop individuals from choosing the horrible alternative of committing suicide.

During these past few weeks we have begun a research program showing each organization involved in providing education to prevent people from committing suicide statewide and nationally. We further want to study every program that is out there at present that teaches about suicide prevention. If anyone who is reading this letter knows of any educational programs or organizations please email me so that I can add your organization to our research list.

We intend this fall to come up with a summation and our specific recommendations on which organization and programs we will be investing our funds.

As I said above, if anyone that has knowledge to help us with our mandate, please email me with the information, as we will be very appreciative of any assistance.

Our next event that we will be the recipient of funds will be the Gauthier Classic, a car rally October 19-22, throughout the roads of Arizona. There is more information on this specific event on our website.

I am finishing off this newsletter by giving you some updated statistics about suicide which I know you will find very alarming but true. Also, there are some further resources where people can go for help.

This is all for now, thank you for your continued support.

My very best personal regards,
Peter H. Thomas
Chairman

From the Mouths of Children

A survey of 16,000 students in 151 schools by the Centers for Disease control yielded the following findings:

• 21% of students have seriously considered suicide in the past year.
• 23% of Hispanic students and 16% of black students have seriously considered suicide.
• 16% of students have made a specific suicide plan.
• 8% have attempted suicide in the past year, including 12% of girls and 5% of boys.
• Twice as many students in grades 9 and 10 have attempted suicide in the past year as in grade 12.
• 3% of students have required medical care as a result of a suicide attempt in the past year, and the rate is nearly three times greater among 9th graders as among 12th graders.

Suicide Help Guidelines

Every day, 1,500 Americans attempt suicide, and 86 succeed. The Centers for Disease Control and the National Depressive Manic-Depressive Association have issued the following guidelines:

For Individuals:

• Get Help: Call 1-800-SUICIDE or a local crisis center, and express your feelings to trusted friends or relatives.
• Avoid drugs and alcohol.
• Recognize the earliest warning signs and then treat yourself with care instead of anger or disgust.
• Write down your hopes for the future and the people you value and re-read it when you're feeling depressed or suicidal.

  For Families and Friends:

• Listen, offer support, urge professional help, but never issue challenges or dares.
• Be clear about how important that person is to you and the impact the suicide would have on you and others.
• Express empathy and concern and try to break through their sense of withdrawal and self-absorption while acknowledging their pain.
• Describe specific behaviors and events that trouble you.
• Familiarize yourself with suicide intervention resources.
• Restrict inappropriate access to firearms.

  For Communities:

• Build support for families, communities, and neighborhoods.
• Ensure accessible and effective clinical care.
• Expand suicide prevention efforts.
• Promote awareness of suicide intervention resources.

Guns and Suicide

• Nearly 60% of all suicides in the United States are committed with a firearm, mostly because suicide attempts with firearms usually succeed.
• Guns are used in about 18,000 suicides a year, compared with about 13,000 homicides.
• The presence of a gun in the home increases the risk of suicide five-fold.
• The rate of suicide by firearms in the U.S. is 11 times greater than the average in other industrialized nations.
• A survey of 20 gunshot suicides among Maricopa County teens found that only one of the guns was locked up or had a trigger lock.
• The risk of suicide increases 57-fold in the first week after a person buys a gun, according to a California study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
• Firearms account for 77% of suicides among men and 32% of suicides among women, largely accounting for the much higher rate of completed suicides among men.
• Gun-related suicides account for 62% of the increase in the suicide rate among teen since 1980.
• Firearms-related suicides account for 96% of the increase in suicides since 1980.
• Vancouver, British Columbia, has one tenth the handgun suicide rate among teens when compared with neighboring Seattle, although both cities have similar rates of suicide involving rifles, poisoning, hanging and other means. This factor alone appeared to account for a sharply lower rate of teen suicide in Vancouver.

Symptoms of Suicidal Tendencies

• Change in eating or sleeping habits.
• Withdrawal from friends, family and regular activities.
• Violent actions or running away.
• Drug and alcohol abuse.
• Unusual neglect of personal appearance.
• Marked personality change.
• Persistent boredom and concentration problems.
• Frequent complaints of physical symptoms, including headaches, fatigue, and stomach aches.
• Loss of interest in enjoyable activities.
• Rejection of praise or rewards.
• Complaints of being "rotten inside" or "worthless."
• Statements like, "I won't be a problem for you much longer."
• Putting affairs in order or giving away favorite possessions.
• Becoming suddenly cheerful after a period of depression.

Suicide Resources

• EMPACT/Suicide Crisis Hotline, 480-784-1500.
• www.toddthomasfoundation.org, a local foundation established by Scottsdale hotel developer Peter Thomas to raise money for mental health treatment and suicide prevention following the death of his son in early 2000. The foundation is raising money to provide mental health services in the Valley.
• 1-800-SUICIDE, the national suicide hotline.
• American Association of Suicidology, www.suicidology.org or 202-237-2280.
• American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, www.afsp.org or 888-333-2377.
• American Psychiatric Association, www.psych.org or 800-852-8330 (for information and referrals to psychiatrists in your area).
• American Psychological Association (APA), www.apa.org or 800-964-2000.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention national Center for Injury Prevention and Control Division of Violence Prevention, www.cdc.gov/ncipc/ or 770-488-4362.
• The Center for Mental Health Services, www.mentalhelath.org.
• National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), www.nami.org or 800-950-6264.
• National Depressive and Manic-Depressive Association (NDMDA), www.ndmda.org or 800-826-3632.
• National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), www.nimh.nih.gov or 800-421-4211.
• National Mental Health Association (NMHA), www.nmha.org or 800-228-1114.
• The National Mental Illness Screening Project Suicide Division, www.nmisp.org or 800-573-4433 (to locate free, confidential screenings near you).
• Suicide Awareness-Voices of Education (SAVE), www.save.org or 612-946-7998.
• Suicide Information & Education Center (SIEC), www.siec.ca or 403-245-3900 (for a library and resource center call or visit).
• Suicide Prevention Advocacy Network (SPAN), www.spanusa.org or 888-649-1366.

Suicide in America

• Suicide is the 8th leading cause of death for all Americans and the 3rd leading cause of death for those ages 15-24.
• Suicide rates have increased 100% among youths ages 10-14, and 14% among those ages 15-19 since 1980; almost all are firearms related.
• Males are 4 times more likely to die from suicide, although females make about twice as many attempts.
• Suicide rates for Native Americans are 50% higher than the national average and account for two-thirds of deaths among young males.
• The teen suicide rate has increased 105% among Native Americans since 1980; almost all are firearms related.
• Suicide claims the lives of about 30,000 Americans annually, compared with about 19,000 homicides.
• The suicide rate rises steadily with age, from 12 per 100,000 among teenagers to 20 per 100,000 for those over 75.
• Gay youths are 3-7 times more likely to kill themselves, and account for about 1,600 of the 5,000 teenagers who kill themselves annually.
• The once-low suicide rate among black teens has more than doubled in the past 15 years.
• Suicide remains the 9th leading cause of death worldwide.
• 1 out of 16 suicide attempts succeed.
• The U.S. teen suicide rate is twice the average for industrialized countries.
• Alcohol plays a role in half of all suicides.
• An estimated one-third of young people who commit suicide suffer from diagnosable clinical depression or other treatable mental illness. About 40% have a diagnosable drug abuse disorder.
• Kids, deliberately hurt themselves about 30-100 times per suicide, making it a major potential warning sign.
  

Suicide in Arizona

• Arizona's teen suicide rate is about 18.2 per 100,000, roughly 60% higher than the national average.
• 2 Arizonans kill themselves each day, and more than 800 per year.
• Arizona's suicide rate is about 75% higher than its murder rate.
• Western states have the highest suicide rate nationally.
• Arizona ranks 8th in its overall suicide rate and second in teen suicides.
• One survey indicated 40% of Tucson teens have contemplated suicide.
• About 150 Arizona teens kill themselves annually, more than two-thirds with guns.
• Arizona has the 7th worst "firearms death rate" in the country according to the Violence Policy Center.
• About 30 out of 34 teen suicides in Maricopa County in 1997 could have been prevented, according to one study.
• The suicide rate among the elderly in Arizona is about 44 per 100,000, more than twice the national average.
• Reasons offered for suicide attempts by Tucson teenagers included: depression (13%), stress (7%), personal loss (3%), relationship breakups (3%), isolation at school (2%) and teasing (3%). Statistics taken from Phoenix Magazine, March 2001, "Back to the Wall" by Peter Aleshire.

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