Suicide awareness is about educating yourself, knowing options

By Chaplain (Maj.) Tammie CrewsSeptember 17, 2009

Suicide awareness is about educating yourself, knowing options
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TOBYHANNA ARMY DEPOT, Pa. - September is Suicide Prevention month throughout the Army.

What is it that takes an individual on the journey that gravitates between life and death as though death is the answer to life with all the shades of variation between those two extremes' The will to live as well as its counterpoint, the will to die, is a very complex area with no easy answers.

One issue that has received little to no attention in all the Army campaigns on suicide awareness is the side effects of certain drugs that may lead some people to have suicidal ideations and actions.

Jordan Campbell, a high altitude climber who resides in Boulder, Colo., tells the story of his struggle with madness on Thalay Sagar, a complicated and treacherous rock pinnacle towering 22,651 feet in the Himalayas of India.

On the mountain face and for the next five years Jordan struggled with his "Goth." It was neither human nor beast, but a small black winged demon that would not let his being rest. High in the Himalayas this demon began to torture Jordan to such an extent that he could barely maintain life. His tortuous thought processes robbed him of the success of reaching the summit of Thalay Sagar.

One year later, at the age of 25, Jordan described himself, "I'm plagued by a sickness so profound and sinister that I wouldn't hex it upon my worst enemy. My day-to-day reality is mysterious fatigue, married with disturbing psychological manifestations and suicidal fantasies - some too dark even to whisper."

Then, as unexpected as the tormenting symptoms appeared in 1992, they inexplicably disappeared in 1998.

Ten years after the symptoms ended, Jordan heard a report on the radio about how anti-malarial drugs had been linked to numerous suicides.

Jordan realized that he first took the drug in April 2002 prior to his expedition of Thalay Sagar and that it was the cause of his illness.

The symptoms, which are only just being fully understood, are severe anxiety, paranoia, hallucinations, nightmares, insomnia, seizures exhaustion and fatigue. It can also cause brain damage, heart arrhythmia, central nervous system disorders, balance or vestibular-system damage, and enduring psychological effects - most notably, suicidal ideations.

By the late 1990s, the side effects of an anti-malarial drug were linked to scores of completed or attempted suicides, as well as unexplained behavior among military personnel, Peace Corps volunteers and international travelers.

As I prepared this article, I searched the Internet for drugs whose known side effects include suicidal ideations and behaviors.

Antidepressants are high on the list. In addition to certain drugs that assist with sleep, they can cause suicidal tendencies. These medications affect certain chemicals in the brain that control everything from appetite to mood swings. When too much of the chemicals are present in the brain, suicidal tendencies can become one of the side effects individuals might experience.

Psychotropic medications do not affect every individual in the same way. Not every individual who takes anti-malarial medications, antidepressants or sleep aids will develop suicidal tendencies. However, it does mean that individuals on such medications are at higher risk for developing suicidal thoughts and actions.

Even with this in mind, not everyone taking any of the medications in these drug categories should stop doing so. Nonetheless, patients should demand greater diligence from the medical field for monitoring symptoms and for educating consumers on the risks and benefits of their treatment.

Not all suicides are preventable. Not all suicides revolve around relationship, work, financial, or other stress/anxiety and situationally-related issues. Some suicides may be chemically based.

Suicide awareness is about treatment awareness and an understanding of the full spectrum of options that are available for those who need assistance for facing life challenges.

Suicide awareness is about tapping into the resources of the whole person - physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.

Tobyhanna Army Depot is the Defense Department's largest center for the repair, overhaul and fabrication of a wide variety of electronics systems and components, from tactical field radios to the ground terminals for the defense satellite communications network. Tobyhanna's missions support all branches of the Armed Forces.

About 5,600 personnel are employed at Tobyhanna, which is located in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania.

Tobyhanna Army Depot is part of the U.S. Army CECOM Life Cycle Management Command. Headquartered at Fort Monmouth, N.J., the command's mission is to research, develop, acquire, field and sustain communications, command, control computer, intelligence, electronic warfare and sensors capabilities for the Armed Forces.