PLATTSBURGH, NY. (WCAX) – Saturday is International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day, with over 300 events happening worldwide to help people grieve those they’ve lost to suicide.
The Clinton County Coalition to Prevent Suicide held a program on the SUNY Plattsburgh campus to help suicide loss survivors navigate grief.
New York State Health Connector data shows that in the North Country, suicide rates are slightly higher than the state average of 9 people per 100 thousand.
According to the National Center of Health statistics, Vermont’s suicide rates are over double New York’s.
Officials say grieving suicide can be especially challenging because it is preventable.
“It’s a shock. It drives the question ‘Why?’: Why did it happen? Why didn’t I see anything? What could I have done about it? So all of that self-questioning, which is not healthy for us, the survivors,” Bonnie Black of Clinton County Coalition to Prevent Suicide said.
International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day falls on the Saturday before Thanksgiving because holidays can be a difficult time for survivors.