Reaching Out About Depression and Suicide (ROADS) sponsored its third annual Candlelight Remembrance Gathering at St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Keshena on Tuesday.
Organizers said the event was to help people whose lives have been touched by depression, mental illness or suicide to connect, heal and build hope for the future. About a dozen people attended.
ROADS was founded in 2002. Ellen Swedberg, of Swedberg Funeral Home in Shawano, was one of the co-founders.
“The funeral home saw a lot of suicide deaths, more than I thought it should be, and then upon research, I found out it was a nationwide event happening,” Swedberg said. “I actually had the experience of coming across a suicide attempt along the Mountain Bay Trail and that made me very nervous, that we should be thinking about this.”
Swedberg said people need to more openly discuss issues such as depression and suicide.
“People are not willing to talk about it nor share it,” Swedberg said. “The key is education people and talking about it.”
The Rev. Dave Barrett, who retired in 2008 after 28 years as pastor at St. Michael’s, said working as a chaplain at the Winnebago Mental Health Institute in the 1970s helped him better understand depression and suicide.
“Working with suicidal people, they generally do not want to die,” he said. “What they really want to do is escape the pain they are experiencing.
“It comes to a point where the pain is so great, that the only way out is to commit suicide.”
Barrett said it is important to encourage people to discuss their issues and be an active listener.
“A lot of the time people interrupt people as they are talking without even hearing them out and knowing what they are saying.” Barrett said. “They are just not hearing them.”
“If you are talking to someone and believe they are suicidal, you need to ask them questions,” Swedberg said. “Have you made a plan? Do you have access to lethal means? Those are the things that you can do to help them.”
There is help for people within Shawano and Menominee counties, Tuesday’s speakers noted, including the county social services and community programs departments.
“They can call either department and we can at least help them if they know what services they need,” said Vicki Heling, supervisor of the Division of Child and Family Services for the Shawano County Social Services Department. “Whether it is mental health services or crisis services, both can steer them in the right direction.”
Crisis lines also are available in both counties and can be reached at 715-526-3240 in Shawano County and 715-799-3861 in Menominee County.
ROADS meetings are held the first Thursday of every month at the Swedberg Family Center, 114 N. Bartlett St. For more information, call 715-526-2631.
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