Speakers: Dr. Lisa Shea, Director of Clinical Psychiatry at Butler Hospital, Neil & Laurie Kiely, parents of Stewart Ross Kiely
Don Saracen, introduced today’s speakers, who brought us their personal insight into a very difficult but important subject, Suicide Prevention. Dr. Shea is a clinician working in the field of suicide prevention. Neil and Laurie Kiely are parents of their middle child, Stewart Ross Kiely, who committed suicide in his mid twenties.
Neil Kiely said that to all outward appearances, their son, Ross was a normal, well adjusted, handsome kid, middle child of three happy boys. All three were Eagle Scouts, but Ross tended to show signs of depression from an early age. Ross resisted taking medication to help deal with his depression as he looked upon needing them as a weakness. Ross unfortunately turned to self-medicating to ease his anxieties, using alcohol and perhaps other substances. Ross was suffering from “an unbelievable level of anxiety“ and was hospitalized in an effort to try and gain some emotional stability. Ross was released from the hospital and came home in time to celebrate the holidays with his family. He took his own life the next day. “Be grateful “were his last words written following his homecoming.
Neil & Laurie elaborated on their struggle as parents to help find a pathway to health and well being for Ross, between the opposing polarities of being raised in an environment offering every opportunity, and the risk of a child becoming “spoiled rotten”, and the bitter medicine of a tough-love approach to parenting. Neil & Laurie made every possible effort and spared no expense to find a solution that would allow their son to lead a normal life, unfortunately to no avail.
Dr. Shea gave us some clinical insight into Suicide Prevention and Treatment. One in four people in Rhode Island are afflicted with mental illness. Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the USA and 3rd leading cause of death among our youth. Male suicide outranks female suicides by three to one. Most prevalent age group for suicide is 34 to 54 years of age.
There is an urgent need to create a system to “eliminate suicide “. Funding is far too low to be effective and resources are too few.
Dr. Shea pointed out the importance of parents noticing sudden changes in their children’s behavioral patterns or routines. It is also important not to “worry alone“and to seek out resources at Butler Hospital or at Bradley Hospital.
