A bit of ‘Margaritaville’ coming to Hunlock Creek

Supporters rally for funding for people with disabilities

First Posted: 6/8/2014 If you&#8217;re excessively sad, lonely and hurting, tell someone.
Don&#8217;t let pride or anything else stop you from saying the three words that can offer relief and finally get you started toward a real remedy: I need help.
Say it to a family member or a friend who understands the gravity of the situation and will make sure you get the proper assistance. Better yet, say it to the person on the other end of the phone line who&#8217;s been trained to listen and to connect you with a counselor, area agency or other expert resource that will give you what you need to deal with the weight you&#8217;ve been shouldering for too long.
There&#8217;s no shame in going to the professionals for a bone fracture or burn, so why should a chemical imbalance in your brain be any different?
Clinical depression, if left untreated, can be deadly, as made all too evident this month by the release of Luzerne County Coroner William Lisman&#8217;s grim statistics. Last year in this county, 53 people &#8211; an average of about one individual each week &#8211; took their own lives, ending their stories, snuffing out unrecognized potentials and, presumably, solving nothing. Each loss is a tragedy not only for the deceased, but for those left behind to question and to cope.
Individually, we need the sensitivity to recognize when someone near us needs intervention and the know-how to connect him or her with adequate care.
As a community, it&#8217;s incumbent that we have the compassion and commitment to not only provide good programs, but also to continually make people aware of them.
For example, Help Line &#8211; a 24-hour, telephone service available to county residents since shortly after the Agnes Flood of 1972 &#8211; continues to be a safety net in times of desperation. Its call-takers, skilled in crisis counseling, are available to speak with men, women and children. Help Line&#8217;s employees also keep at their finger tips a list of agencies and services, a who&#8217;s who of the regional social service network, to refer callers for specific issues: debt management counseling, manic depression, individual or marital counseling, adolescent counseling, drug and alcohol treatment and bereavement.
Operated by the Family Service Association of Northeastern Pennsylvania, based in Wilkes-Barre, Help Line once was well-marketed. A jingle that incorporated its phone number (570-829-1341) became imprinted on many minds. However, it&#8217;s been a long time since the association could afford that type of marketing campaign, so Help Line&#8217;s number probably has slipped from the memory of some people, and most newcomers to the area have had no exposure to it.
Likewise, other Valley-based social service agencies offering support to the emotionally distressed often lack the budgets for advertising, instead funneling their dollars to salaries and costs directly associated with their missions.
Meanwhile, Luzerne County&#8217;s population grapples with reoccurring challenges: the strain of high unemployment, the scourge of heroin addiction. In fact, in addition to last year&#8217;s suicides, the county registered 70 deaths due to accidental overdoses, Lisman said. These drug-related fatalities seemingly &#8220;go under the radar&#8221; of people outside the impacted families, he said, questioning why the issue isn&#8217;t of more widespread concern. (By comparison, during the mid-1990s, annual overdose deaths in the county numbered &#8220;maybe 15,&#8221; he said.)
Whether by suicide or overdose, each life needlessly cut short suggests a root problem: hopelessness.
It&#8217;s important that Luzerne County residents not become callous to these losses, but instead commit to reaching out to the individuals who suffer. Things can, and do, get better for those whose requests for help are heard.

OUR OPINION: SUICIDE PREVENTION Emotional help near as your telephone