Wednesday, April 6, 2022
Youth Mental Health & Wellness Community Event at Gloucester High School
Last night, I attended an important gathering to discuss serious challenges faced by every community - mental health illness. The program featured keynote speaker Kevin Hines who survived jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge in a suicide attempt. In 2017 he released a documentary "Suicide: The Ripple Effect" to help reduce the number of suicides and suicide attempts around the world. The program was sponsored by Gloucester Public Schools, Gloucester, MA Health Department in collaboration with Gloucester Fishermen Athletic Association, GPS, SEPAC, and GHS Mental Health Ambassadors.
According to the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, there were 45,799 recorded suicides in 2020, up from 42,773 in 2014, The annual U.S. suicide rate increased 30% between 2000 and 2020.
