Suicide Prevention Summit to focus on resiliency, discussion

By Karin J. MartinezOctober 6, 2016

Suicide Prevention Summit
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

VICENZA, Italy -- All members of the Vicenza Military Community are encouraged to attend the first Suicide Prevention Summit that will take place on Caserma Del Din Oct. 21.

The upcoming summit, created in an effort to eliminate high-risk behavior within ranks, in homes and in the community, will start at 8:30 a.m. at the Sigholtz Center.

"Anyone is welcome to come and be a part of the summit," said Sandra Class, manager, Army Substance Abuse Program, United States Army Garrison Italy. "It's time to talk about something that is hard to talk about."

Goals of the summit are twofold, according to Class: to get input from the community and to strategize how to communicate to the community about suicide prevention and awareness from that point forward. The theme "#BeThere" during September's Suicide Prevention Awareness Month should carry over throughout the year, she added, and the summit is a way to extend thinking beyond September.

"#BeThere reminds us that everyone plays a part in suicide prevention. It is everyday interaction. We need to break through the masks and stop saying, 'It's not my business, it's not my fight.' Suicide doesn't begin at suicide. There are so many factors leading up to it," said Class. "Getting to know people and seeing when their behavior is not quite right, employing the ACE [Ask, Care and Escort] intervention program and making the commitment to be there for others is how we will help people."

Marcella Zappia, a certified peer recovery coach, speaker and suicide attempt survivor, says the same in her speaking engagements.

"Suicidal thoughts don't happen overnight," said Zappia during a September speech to U.S. Army Health Clinic employees on Caserma Ederle. "There are many factors, including depression, domestic violence, co-dependency and addiction. There is no single picture of what [someone who attempts suicide] looks like."

Adding to that, Zappia quoted that the second leading cause of death among people ages 10 to 24 years old is suicide, and someone dies by suicide every 12.3 minutes. The statistics are in direct corroboration with those published by the Jason Foundation, Inc., an organization dedicated to the prevention of youth suicide through educational and awareness programs. In the fourth-quarter 2015 Department of Defense Quarterly Suicide Report assembled by Keith Franklin, Ph.D. and director of the Defense Suicide Prevention Office, the average number of attempts at Soldier suicide in the U.S. Army for the past three years is about 122 per year.

One is too many.

According to Col. Steve Marks, garrison commander, USAG Italy, there is a problem that needs to be addressed, and the Suicide Prevention Summit is where the community can start.

"We have a serious challenge with suicide in our ranks, and we need the community's help in addressing it," he said. "This problem will not be solved by money, policy or reporting alone. It will only be addressed when we all work together to eliminate the conditions that make our teammates think that suicide is a viable option."

The summit is a collaboration of many organizations, Class said, to include USAG Italy's command team, ASAP, the Sexual Harassment/Assault Response Prevention program and the U.S. Army Health Clinic here. It will be set up in a round-robin format with participants divided into four groups. Each group will spend approximately 25 minutes on four topics, with open discussion led by subject-matter-expert facilitators. At the end of the summit, there will be a group discussion to identify what came out of the conversations, where the community should focus its efforts, and how to move forward to help the community deal with this serious issue.

Family Readiness Groups will be raising money for their organizations by selling food at the event, and information tables with resources will be available. No registration is necessary, but anyone with questions is encouraged to call the Ederle ASAP office at DSN 637-8951/7858, comm. 0444-71-8951/7858.

Related Links:

USAG Italy Facebook page

USAG Italy website