County aims at stopping suicide
By Osvaldo Castillo
El Observador

When one commits suicide, he or she does not only hurt themselves, they hurt those who love them as well. The result of the suicide can be felt for many years.
In Santa Clara County, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death. Last year, several youths committed suicide in Palo Alto.
On Tuesday, August 24, the Santa Clara County Suicide Prevention Advisory Committee unveiled the county’s first comprehensive suicide prevention strategic plan at the Board of Supervisors meeting. The plan will serve as a springboard for a community wide effort to provide the resources and awareness needed to reduce the suicide rate in Santa Clara County.
“This plan has been an 11 month project which has resulted in several strategies to prevent suicide in Santa Clara County,” said Nancy Peña, Director, Santa Clara County Mental Health Department. “These strategies are designed to help people of all ages, all ethnicities, genders and sexual orientations.”
The Santa Clara County Suicide Prevention Advisory Committee collected data in order to prevent suicides in Santa Clara County. The data revealed that the highest rates of suicide appear to be from high-income areas of the county such as Palo Alto, Los Altos/Los Altos Hills, Sunnyvale and Morgan Hill.
Some of the conditions that may lead to suicide include; child custody battles, mental illness, alcohol and drug abuse. Suicides by military active duty personal and veterans are also relatively high.
The U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Suicide Prevention Resource Center identifies risk factors into three categories: biopsychosocial, environmental, and sociocultural. SAMHSA literally stresses the importance of understanding these well-documented risk factors because the impact of some risk factors can clearly be reduced by certain interventions.
“There are several ways to prevent suicide in our county,” said Victor Ojakian, Co-chair, Santa Clara County Suicide Prevention Advisory Committee. “One way is to simply improve the quality of life in our county.”
Other ways to prevent suicide include: effective clinical care for mental, physical and substance use disorders, strong connections to family and community support, and skills in problem solving, conflict resolution, and nonviolent handling of disputes.
The data that we collect says a lot about the people at risk of suicide,” said Victor Ojakian, Co-chair, Santa Clara County Suicide Prevention Advisory Committee.
If you or someone you know has been affected by suicide call (408) 683-2482. The National Suicide Lifeline or 1-800-273-8255. Veterans call 1-800-273-8255 and press 1 (one).