Officers urge people to get help if thinking about suicide
PORTLAND, Ore. – Portland police officers urged people with suicidal thoughts to seek professional help after a woman jumped to her death off the Vista Bridge on Tuesday afternoon.
Police spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson said the woman jumped from the bridge in Northwest Portland, a spot that has seen suicides in the past.
“Suicide is preventable,” Simpson wrote in a news release.
Police urged people with suicidal thoughts to call or visit Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare. They have a walk-in clinic open every day from 7 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. and payment is not necessary. Cascadia also offers a mental health crisis line at (503) 963-2575.
Police said people can also call “Lines for Life” 24 hours a day at (503) 972-3456.
Last year the city posted signs near bridges around the Portland that have the number for Lines for Life. The Vista Bridge was one of the first locations to get the suicide prevention signs.
“When people call our lines they can talk for any amount of time,” Judy Cushing, the CEO of Lines for Life, said at the time. “If they need to talk for an hour, they can talk for an hour.”
"We can help you cross this bridge?" Seriously? That almost sounds like not-so-subliminal wording to go ahead and JUMP because of idea that many have of dying being a bridge they cross over. It's a weird message.Â
 I vote that the signage is changed ASAP to something better and less mixed-message cutely like:
We can help you RIGHT NOW. Things WILL get better.
You are wanted and needed in this world, please talk to us.
There is a tomorrow, call us so you can be there.
We care and we can help, Call now!
You matter. Your life matters. We care. Call us.
We can help you back down from here safe and sound. We care. Call us.
I guess the signs didn't work?
my parents took me to a doctor because they thought I was depressed the doctor prescribed some wack pills for me which I declined to take.  Turned out the diagnosis was wrong.  I found out that I had crappy parents...Soon as I moved out I was just fine.
Sorry, I am not on this bandwagon. If someone wants to end their life then they should be allowed to do just that. After all it is their life.
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Most folks who call 911 saying they want to kill themselves really don't want to do it. They are just looking for attention and we give it to them. Portland, like every other city, is full of folks who do this all the time. They are called frequent flyers and they take up a very high percentage of mental health money that could be spent on those who really need mental health care.
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Those who just end their lives are determined and in so much pain that death is the only way out. We will never be able to stop those folks from ending their lives.
@RalphCramden --- We are usually in agreement on most things and I can see your point, but I think we need to make an attempt to help these people, especially when Health care professionals have given medications that are supposed to help and instead make things worse.
 @RalphCramden you  heartlessly sound like:
1)a person who would go ahead and yell jump to a hurting wreck of a human
2) a troll, fer  cryin' out loud, with that statement.
Lots of  normal people become suicidal under duress or various illnesses which affect mood and thought and they deserve help. Anyone who is suicidal's mind is not working correctly and they are sick...and need help.Â
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 @RalphCramden As far as I'm concerned, with that statement of yours, you can go screw yourself! I've utilized mental health services, I've been on a variety of prescriptions, and there's been plenty of times that I thought I was ready to take my own life. Personally, I'd rather find a way to cope with life rather than to be medicated for it. Many others are in the same situation. For you to get down off your pedastal and grace us mere mortals with your vision of how life should be, and to tell us mortals that people who utilize mental health services are attention seekers, is one of the most offensive statements I've heard you make. There are very few people that I know of that draw attention to their need for mental health services. Your logic is flawed here, and as far as I'm concerned, you can just go screw yourself.
 @pdxdÂ
So I give a perspective different from your and I can "go screw myself"?
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Very adult of you.
 @RalphCramden  @pdxd you sound pretty juvenile yourself with your original post. Just sayin'...
 @Whitehawk  @RalphCramden  @pdxd wow. Cold and inhumane much?
 @RalphCramden  @pdxd I'm with ya Ralph.. I have known a few that attempt it,,but they chicken out cuz they don't really want to die.but they can't live with themselves or their lives either..they are damned if they do and damned if they don't// Weakminded individuals ifn ya ask me..
 @RalphCramden What perspective? All you added to the mix is how people who call 911 or mental health services for help are doing it for attention. If it weren't for me calling mental health services several years, no doubt, I would have killed myself, and people with your "perspective" stigmatize those who use the mental health services and crises numbers.
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So yes, I'm reiterating that you should screw yourself. Undoubtedly no one else will, and I bet you're disposition will be more pleasant once you do that.
This is a national problem no two ways about it. I'm still mad at and sad my favorite cousin killed himself with alcohol last year. He wanted to end the pain after losing his wife to cancer. We tried everything to change his path but he was determined. RIP Ken.
 @The Resistance Sorry for your loss. People when they kill themselves are not  in their right minds and our culture is lousy about any ways for people to really deal with grief ( you are expected to take a couple days off work only, etc.) At least in Victorian times the bereaved wore black and subdues colors so they were given the due respect of  an extended (read: normal)  time of mourning and not expected to "pass for normal" like we have now.  People like your cousin get stuck staring in the direction of where  the one they lost went,  and  instead need to turn around from that doorway and turn back to life in this world and live until their own time comes...so they will have lots of cool stories to share with the one they lost when they catch up again together.
The sad part is Cascadia is a complete and total joke.
 @axpman you know this because you use it?
 @axpmanÂ
Yes it is. It is an agency that is desperate to keep relevancy.
I think its very sad. I wonder how many people who have died from suicide are on benzos or "depression/anxiety" meds! Those things really do a number on someones life and coming off them is nearly impossible! So crazy this world is always TAKE A PILL it WILL FIX EVERYTHING!
"A common dynamic when someone jumps is that they realize all their problems are solvable the minute they've leapt." - Dr. Eric Caine (Speaking about Golden Gate Bridge jumpers interviewed for research into safety measures).
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 @Repoman How would he know, does he interview them after they're dead?
 @NGerblansky  @Repoman several people survived the jump attempt and were indeed interviewed. Powerful reading.. Very powerful.
http://lostangelesca.tumblr.com/post/3511773493/jumpers-letter-from-california
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reading.http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/out-the-darkness/201110/the-jumpers-what-happens-after-person-jumps-the-golden-gate-bridge-surv
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http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2002299856_bridge04.html?syndication=rss
The single biggest cause of death in this nation is suicide! We have a mental health crisis in america, and it starts at the top with those suicide pills that they keep prescribing to anyone that wants them.
 @portlandborn83 WTF is a suicide pill? I've never heard of such a thing.
Psychotropic drugs and antidepressants...these are the drugs the mass shooters are on. The batman shooter was on about 5 different psychotropic drugs. These are also the drugs the people use who are suicidal, including returning vets.
 @pdxd  @portlandborn83 You are right.  Taking the wrong medications, the wrong doses, or the wrong combination of legal, illegal or over the counter meds and foods can all play a role in how our bodies metabolize the drugs.  This is why they are best taken only after prescribed by a doctor who understands the role of these meds (a psychiatrist would best serve anyone who has had issues taking medications in the past, who has a series of medications they are taking or if they have other addictions or concerns).
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As far as I can tell, I only see references to Holmes taking vicodin -- by no means is that a anti-psychotic or psychotropic medication if taken as prescribed and if you have a normal reaction to the medication so I don't know what all of the references of late have been about him having been taking drugs. Â It isn't like they were used as prescribed or used with other legal drugs.
 @portlandborn83 If the side effects are being caused, and it is taken under the prescribed use, then it's time to try another prescription. But not taking the pills at the same time of day, or mixing with other medications, or mixing with booze, can all amplify those side effects, or worse.
It's no misuse because these people have prescriptions and take them regularly. The pill container labels mention suicide and suicidal thoughts can be a problem.
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Regular illegal drugs can cause these problems as well but everyone knows that.
 @portlandborn83 Is it the prescription or the mis-use of the prescription? I've known people who self-medicate in addition to mixing the prescription with alcohol. Which 6 years ago, I did myself, and I'll admit that I did it, and that it was not pretty. Provided that someone is using the correct dosage, not mixing the prescription with booze, and not over medicating with other things, the likelihood of them going off the deepend should not be so severe.
 @portlandborn83 Yep. Most of the shootings in recent history these drugs have been involved.
 @pdxd  @portlandborn83 The so-called anti-depressants which are well know to push people right over the edge. The FDA has known about the problems for decades in a number of cases and still no meaningful change is made with the insane approval process for the wonder drugs from big pharma.
 @pdxd  @axpman I never took them even though it would have seemed like a reasonable response and had been suggested but instead pushed and really pushed my doctors to dig deeper and they finally found out I had a thyroid problem which was making me feel low blues. One  I got the thyroid meds to correct the problem, my life felt good again, regardless of the circumstances. I think too many people (not all)  have undiagnosed medical conditions that are then covered over with psychotropic meds.
 @axpman With anti-depressants, it can take time for them to kick-in, and that's after you find the right one, because there's no such thing as a one-pill cures all anti-depressant. Over the last decade, I was probably prescribed at least 5-6 anti-depressants or anti-anxiety meds, finally, I encountered one that mellowed me out a bit. It's not a perfect science, but at the same time, there's no such thing as a perfect human either.
 @pdxd  @portlandborn83 I'm gonna go out on a limb here and bet he/she is talking about antidepressants.  Now we'll wait and see if that's the answer given....tick, tick, tick.
@portlandborn83 as of 2009, suicide is #10.
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http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/suicide/statistics/leading_causes.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/24/suicide-leading-cause-death-us_n_1909772.html
It's weird to me that so much time, money and effort should be spent on someone who has consciously determined that life isn't worth while and made the choice to check themselves out, but we continue to perpetuate infanticide through Planned Parenthood against millions that never got to choose.
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I say we should "keep our laws off their bodies" and take a give Pro-choice a new meaning. If they want to go, let them go and reduce the surplus population.
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And btw, I have family members that have chosen that option. Sad for the rest of us, but they made their choices.
 @sebastian cervantes I'm sorry for your family, but is it possible that in your family members last minutes or breaths that they had an "oh crap, what have I done?" moment, and wished they hadn't take the suicide route?
 @sebastian cervantes Suicide is really a cry for help.  I think you can break it down in two general categories:  1)  the group who lack the coping skills to rationally see reality and that things aren't necessarily as bad as they seem or that they are in a situation they think is impossible to get out of and 2) the group who are physically or mentally ill.  These people don't want to die.  They want answers.  They want help.
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Obviously this article primarily addresses the first case. Â I'd give you $50 to find me 5 teen agers (14-21) who haven't at least momentarily contemplated suicide. Â Those are the people who need help the most!
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Comments like yours only serve to push them closer to the edge.
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FWIW, I, too, have been touched by suicide in my family. Â I'm familiar with two very different situations where two men both tried to take their own lives. Â Unfortunately neither succeeded. Â Both became living cadavers. Â Trust me when I say caring for these two men has cost taxpayers a heck of a lot more than helping to fund (whether by donation or grant monies) suicide prevention outreach.
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One man thought that, since his relationship was ending, he needed to end his life. Â He selfishly ignored what the repercussions would be for his brothers, sisters, and parents. Â More importantly, he disregarded the true joys in his life -- his three young, beautiful daughters who had to grow up without a father (sure his shell remained a few years longer -- but then the family had to make the decision to terminate his life -- just like going through it all over again).
Correction: I didn't mean to single out Planned Parenthood. Of course there are other means of having these procedures performed, and those procedures aren't the only services that PP offers.
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http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss6108a1.htm?s_cid=ss6108a1_w
There is no HOPE in USA!  Obama is killing this country and jobs too ...  Will be another 4 more years of hell!   That's why people are killing themselves. NO HOPE ! you all got DOPE!
 @america no common sense! Awwww, why don't you go someplace else then? The American public voted, and spoke, and got Obama, if you want to be a sore loser about it, then go cry to Barbara Bush, or maybe Ann Romney can fly you to their off shore accounts to count their money for them. Your remark is off topic, and offensive to what is a very serious and concerning discussion at hand.
 @america no common sense! I believe there is a padded room somewhere with your name on it...and to anyone (The Resistance, and erudite) who liked your comment...they have plenty of rooms available. Â
@america no common sense! Go away, troll. This has nothing to do with Obama.
 @america no common sense! Shut up.  This isn't about you.  Clear enough?
 @Sundowner  @america no common sense! flag that sucka
Such a sad thing - and the pain people must be in to end their lives is unfathomable to me. However - what is left behind is far worse - the pain of family and friends who wonder if they could have done something to stop it. Ask for help.....things are rarely as bad as you think they are.Â
 @Somonecaresaboutsomething and yet there are  heartless posters on here who have posted that they wish these distressed people success in dying. Wonder if they would still be singing that tune if it were their own family member?
Suicide isn't a joking matter, I've called the hotlines myself back in the day, and they can be remarkable at keeping things in perspective when you may otherwise make a drastic decision.
 @pdxd that's actually REALLY interesting. I've always wondered what the success rate with them is, or how well they actually work.
 @Sarbar There were times at a point in an abusive situation, that I literally thought the only way out would be driving off the Marquam or Fremont Bridges, having someone on the other line that could help me keep things in perspective was definitely a priceless resource for me.
 @pdxd  @Sarbar Glad you are here to tell us about that. Brave of you to speak up. Stick around. We need more honest people like you : )