Film addresses suicide’s impact on survivors

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Cheryl Robinson talks about losing her son to suicide. She spoke at the screening of “jumping off bridges” Thursday night at Sauk Valley Community College. Kat Chandler (left) listens to a panel discussing the film about teen suicide. (Chris Padgett/cpadgett@svnmail.com )

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Suicide in the Sauk Valley, and especially in Whiteside County, remains a painful constant.

The 2006 film “jumping off bridges,” which the Whiteside County Health Department presented Thursday at Sauk Valley Community College, explores how suicide affects families and friends.

In the film, Zak, a high school student, has a mother who is chronically depressed because of the death of her daughter 8 years earlier. Zak comes home from school one day to find his mom in the car in the garage, dead of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Zak holds himself responsible for both his mother’s and his little sister’s deaths. His best friend avoids him, he fights with his girlfriend, he refuses to talk to his dad, and he becomes depressed, angry and solitary.

He tries to kill himself when he and two of his friends jump off a bridge into the river. The friends surface; Zak doesn’t. They search desperately for him, find him and perform CPR until an emergency crew takes him to the hospital.

He recovers, and as time passes, he again begins to notice the small pleasures in life – a neighbor weeding her flowers, the colors of autumn. He brings out the old family photos, and he starts to joke with his friends and talk to his father again.

The film doesn’t have the classic happily-ever-after ending, but there are signs that Zak will recover from his grief and depression.

Afterward, a panel discussion was held that included the film’s writer and director, Kat Candler, actress Savannah Welch, who played ZaK’s girlfriend, and local health professionals.

They agreed that the film revealed many of the classic warning signs of depression and possible suicidal tendencies: Zak’s mother’s failure to recover from her grief and guilt, despite 8 years in group therapy; and Zak’s isolation, depression, anger and sarcasm after his mother’s death.

“About one in 20 people in any given week considers suicide,” said the Rev. Ken Zuithoff of Bethel Reformed Church in Sterling. “Suicide causes everyone severe pain.”

Gloria Martin, associate director of Sinnissippi Centers Inc., said suicide survivors have complex emotional struggles, and are themselves at risk.

“They so often think they will relieve their loved one’s pain if they just die,” she said. “What we must help them see is that suicide is very destructive to their family and friends.”

The national suicide rate began trending upward some time ago, Martin said.

Whiteside County’s suicide rate is double that of the rest of Illinois. County Health Department Administrator Beth Fiorini attributes that statistic to current societal pressures.

“When you have a high level of underemployment and unemployment, that leads to a tremendous amount of stress,” Fiorini said.

“People under that kind of stress are more prone to suicide. The ‘Say It Out Loud’ campaign encourages people living with stress to talk about it. Talking really helps.”

Cheryl Robinson, a Living Works program facilitator at Sterling High School, lost a son to suicide, and so is aware of the devastation that results.

“I fear for others in our family,” she said. “But by keeping the conversation open, you create a protective barrier against suicide.”

Sterling High School student Ellie Miller lost her father to suicide.

“It takes time to get through it,” she said. “And the sorrow lasts a long time.”

“Suicide happens one person at a time,” Whiteside County Community Health Clinic behavioral health manager Pat Albert said. “And one person at a time can be helped.”

On the Web

The state’s “Say It Out Loud” campaign maintains that research shows that the best way to reduce the stigma and discrimination surrounding mental illnesses is to talk about them in a meaningful way, sharing knowledge and experience.

For more information on the campaign, go to www.mentalhealthillinois.org online.

For more information on suicide prevention, call the Whiteside County Health Department, 815-626-2230; Sinnissippi Centers, 815-625-0013; or Living Works facilitator Cheryl Robinson at Sterling High School, 815-625-6800.

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