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To clarify; The DAS Foundation is looking for two distinct kinds of testimonials:

• If you have stepped back from the brink of suicide, we want to hear how and more importantly, why you did so, as well as what you’ve been doing since then.
• If a loved one or dear friend completed suicide, we want to hear about the effect it has had on your life since and why.

Please write your story in 500 words or less, and submit it with a photo or drawing that represents you or the loved one. This can also be a photograph of art work that represents what you have been through. But, please send only art that you have the right to reproduce.

Submit it to me, Allan Wallace, Executive Director of the DAS Foundation at ED@theDASfoundation.org.

If you or a loved one has suffered through one or more suicide attempts but found the path out of the wilderness, we want to make your story available below to inspire others.

To participate, write  your story in 500 words or less and submit it with a photo or drawing that represents the survivor, longer stories may be subject to careful editing for length (and of course, grammar, spelling, and punctuation). Please understand that by submitting your story you are giving DAS permission to use everything you submit on its website and in any way it deems appropriate for encouraging others away from suicide.

Please submit your story & image by emailing them to ED@theDASfoundation.org.

And find this page currently under Take Action.  Later, we will have a dedicated button for these stories on every page of our website.

The facts of suicide

Michael Smith
Saturday, October 01, 2011

ON September 10, the world community acknowledged the problem of suicide with World Suicide Prevention Day.

Around the world, there were press conferences, lectures, and silent vigils to remember lives lost because of suicide and to draw attention to the fact that suicide is a preventable tragedy.

Activities and dialogue will continue through October 10 as part of the World Mental Health awareness month.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), approximately one million people commit suicide each year worldwide, which is about one death every 40 seconds or 3000 per day.

For each individual who takes his/her own life, there were at least 20 attempts to do so. These numbers do not include additional thousands of others whose actual fates were hidden, disguised or misdiagnosed. ….

For the rest of the story, go HERE.

9/22/11 03:40 PM ET

Recently, during National Suicide Prevention Week, extensive efforts were made to both increase awareness of the risks for suicide as well as specific ways to help those at risk. In the past several days, despite these efforts, there have been reports of young people — like 14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer — who have taken their own lives. It is important to know that suicide is not the result of one but of many contributing factors, and while a negative environment at school and/or at home can impact a person’s psychological well-being, each of those individual factors does not automatically lead to a young person ending their life.

These recent deaths are vital reminders of the crucial steps we all need to take to work to prevent more young people from taking their lives. These steps include working to minimize and address risk factors associated with suicide as well as increasing awareness of and expanding access to protective factors including emotional support. …

The rest of the story… http://tinyurl.com/3eznj2c 

For National Suicide Prevention Week 2011

$50 per person

Proceeds Benefit The Damon and Stella Foundation for Mental Health

Date:  Tuesday September 6th   -   Time:  7 pm

 Ye Olde Steak House
6838 Chapman Highway, Knoxville, TN

Menu:  Rib Eye Steak * Chicken * Swordfish.

Cash bar

Special Guest Speaker —

Jon B. Ellis, Ph.D.
Professor & Clinical Psychologist
at East Tennessee State University

Special Entertainment —

RB Morris -
poet, singer, songwriter, musician, playwright and actor, hails from Knoxville, Tennessee. Morris served as Writer-in-Residence at the University of Tennessee from 2004-2008, and was inducted into the East Tennessee Writers Hall of Fame in 2009. He was one of Stella’s favorites.

Limited Seating

For each $50 Donation made through our website
between now and the Dinner on Sept. 6, you get one Dinner.

Click on “Donate” Above
Simply print out your paid receipt and bring it with you.

Donate Now to insure your seat at the table.

Even if you cannot attend, you can still help.
Donate Today!

Total donations of $100 or more receive a Thank You gift by mail
(with complete contact info.)

IASP has prepared a World Suicide Prevention Day 2011 Toolkit that offers users easy access to World Suicide Prevention Day resources and related Web sites.

The toolkit – a PDF document – includes links to: the official WSPD brochure “Preventing Suicide in Multicultural Societies,” the theme of this year’s event, and a list of suggested activities to mark the Day.

For the Remainder of the Story:  http://tinyurl.com/3behtul

World Suicide Prevention Day 2011 Toolkit:  www.iasp.info/wspd/toolkit.pdf

ROCHESTER, Minn.–(EON: Enhanced Online News)–Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the United States. Every year millions of Americans think about taking their own lives. Sadly, each year tens of thousands die by suicide. While suicides can be a shock to family and friends, some warning signs exist. Often a simple question from a family doctor can be enough to start a person toward help and treatment.

Read the Rest of the Story:   EON Businesswire Mayo Clinic STORY

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