#suicide #SuicidePrevention #SuicideAmongMen #AspenColorado
He was a reliable family guy with a big laugh.
He was white, hard-working and middle-aged.
It may have been the American Dream that caused him to commit suicide.
So writes Randy Essex, senior news director at the Detroit Free Press. His column on the matter also appeared April 16, 2019, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“I’ve known a handful of men over the years who took their own lives. I’m in the prime demographic myself,” Essex writes. “And, I spent three years as an editor near Aspen, Colo., — as strange as it may seem, an area plagued by suicide,” he continues.
“The (ski) season goes by and people think, ‘I didn’t meet the girl of my dreams. I got laid off. I don’t have any more money,” writes Essex, talking about the glamour of living in a vacation paradise.
Not everyone gets the opportunity to be whatever he or she wants, Essex says. White men already born with advantages, feel the unspoken words: “If you can’t make it, it’s your fault and you are a failure,” he writes.
Suicide rates have been rising not only in the general population, but also among troops after deployment.
Some of the men Essex talks about did have it good at one time. The Great Recession changed that for good.
Now, all men and women are faced with going to a job and not knowing what surprise announcement might await them.
After all, no one tells you it’s coming until the day it arrives.
In today’s world, companies have to be nimble. They have to adjust to change quickly. What was a hot seller for years is no longer. What used to be done by five people is now done by one, thanks to technological advances.
In previous generations, such progress was much slower. In some cases, unions had the power to slow progress and prevent efficiencies.
Those days are gone forever. What faces many people, particularly middle-aged people or older, is the horror of losing a job that had been good to them for a long time, and getting a job that probably pays a good deal less.
There’s talk of getting retrained, but those in the middle-to-end of their careers have a decision: do I spend the time getting retrained, only to buy a couple more years of work? Or, do I spend the time getting retrained to do job X, only to find that by the time I get started with it, a different skill from the one I learned is needed.
There is good news here. Yes, one does not have to kill himself. Instead, he or she can spend a few part-time, off-work hours a week doing something completely different — something that can not only augment income, but perhaps surpass any income a job could provide.
The key is being open to looking at one of the many vehicles that would allow a person to do that. If you have thoughts about doing something different, and want to check out one of the best such vehicles, message me.
If you find yourself wanting to commit suicide, stop. Call the Suicide Lifeline included in Essex column. The number is 800-273-TALK (8255).
Your family and friends still love you, no matter how desperate you feel your circumstances make you. Instead, look ahead to a bright future by looking at something different.
Peter