University commemorates World Suicide Prevention Day with candlelighting Sept. 10
Rutgers is home to New Jersey’s first suicide prevention hotline. The NJ Hopeline (1-855-654-6735), launched by the New Jersey Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services on May 1, 2013, is operated 24/7 by Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care (UBHC). Recognizing how critical response time can be, all calls are answered quickly by counselors on duty, rather than by an automated system.
“The suicide rate in New Jersey is rapidly escalating. It has risen by more than 30 percent in the past 10 years,” says Christopher Kosseff, president and CEO of UBHC. “While New Jersey has one of the lowest suicide rates in the country, the creation of NJ Hopeline is critical to keeping it low,” Kosseff adds. “The impact of Superstorm Sandy, the difficult economy, financial, family and other issues all remind us how important it is for people in distress to be able to access professional help quickly.”
Nationwide, approximately one million people in the United States attempt suicide each year; of those, about 40,000 succeed. In New Jersey, the number of suicides has risen 31 percent among adults ages 35 to 64 from 1999 (296 suicides) to 2010 (438 suicides), according to a report released this year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
During its first four months, NJ Hopeline has received more than 5,000 calls: 20 percent were from people at risk for suicide, 2 percent were from people who had already taken steps to kill themselves. All suicides in progress were connected to emergency services.
New Jersey Department of Human Services Commissioner Jennifer Velez notes the importance of trained counselors who are based in New Jersey answering the Hopeline calls. “This helps callers to relate easier, and can help lead to fewer suicides,” she says.
On World Suicide Prevention Day, Sept. 10, UBHC will host a candlelight ceremony, “Sharing the Light of Hope,” at its Piscataway call center (151 Centennial Avenue) to promote awareness, remember loved ones and gather with suicide survivors. Sharing their experiences under the theme for this year’s worldwide event, “Stigma: A Major Barrier for Suicide Prevention,” are Eric Arauz, a nationally recognized behavioral health speaker and author of An American’s Resurrection; James Clementi, oldest brother of Tyler Clementi, a first-year college student who took his own life in 2010; and Linda Bean, the mother of Army Sgt. Coleman Bean, who committed suicide after serving two tours of duty in Iraq.
Joining them at the event, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., will be Lynn A. Kovich, assistant commissioner for the New Jersey Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services, Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini and Allison Blake, commissioner of the Department of Children and Families. Also present will be behavioral health professionals, staff members from UBHC peer-counseling helplines and suicide survivors from around the state.