Vim & Vigor - Fall 2008 - North Denver - (Page 24)

spreading the news going beyond his life as a journalist, anderson cooper’s understanding of mental health issues and suicide hits close to home. learn how you can identify if your loved one may be at risk and how to help by laurie davies S ome journalists enter the news business out of desire to right the world’s wrongs. Others are news junkies who want in on the action. For Anderson Cooper, CNN’s Emmy Award-winning anchor of Anderson Cooper 360˚, his own pain attracted him to journalistic coverage of war and strife. When Anderson was 21, his older brother, Carter, committed suicide by jumping off a balcony in front of their mother, Gloria Vanderbilt. In the wake of that tragedy, Anderson has immersed himself in news coverage of places and events such as war-torn Sarajevo, Hurricane Katrina and the tsunami that struck South Asia. “I wanted to be someplace where emotions were palpable, where the pain outside matched the pain I was feeling inside,” he writes in his book, Dispatches from the Edge. His brother’s suicide affected Anderson profoundly. And while suicide might garner more attention when it happens in celebrity families, it is more common than you might think. Here’s how to identify if someone is at risk and what to do next. according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). Statistics break down into clear gender and geographic groups. While women attempt suicide twice as often as men, men carry it out four times as often. And Western, rural states—Alaska, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico and Wyoming are the top ﬁve—have the highest suicide rates. While the causes for suicide are interwoven and complex, Paula J. Clayton, M.D., medical director for the AFSP, says that in general women use lesslethal means, sometimes attempting suicide as a cry for help. “Women use more aspirin and pills while men use more guns,” she says. Meanwhile, in the Western United States, more people own guns and live in isolation—both of which correlate with higher suicide rates, Clayton says. what to watch for Nine in 10 people who commit suicide have a treatable psychiatric illness, such as depression, schizophrenia or personality disorders, according to the AFSP. Top among these is depression, with 60 percent of all suicides occurring among those who are afﬂicted. the sobering statistics Suicide is the 11th-leading cause of death in America, claiming more than 30,000 lives each year. It’s estimated that one suicide attempt occurs each minute, 24 vim & vigor · fal l 2 008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Fall 2008 - North Denver

Vim & Vigor - Fall 2008 - North Denver Contents A Mission in Motion For Your Health Goal! Seeing Beyond Time Equals Muscle The Fiber Solution Prize Fighters On the Cover: Spreading the News I'm Glad I Had a... Tailor-Made Beyond the Bedside On Track Living the Good Life Little Kids, Big Decisions Zeroing In Right At Home Beating the Clock Community Connections Ask the Experts

Vim & Vigor - Fall 2008 - North Denver

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