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Suicide claims too many lives

Suicide is taking the lives of too many people. After hearing of the death of Robin Williams, I feel that our community needs to come together and give care for people who need support or someone to talk to.

I don’t think we have enough group therapy in our area. There are too many people that are going unnoticed and committing suicide. Whether it be by drugs or something more severe, I think that those people have more of a support group surrounding them, they would feel more loved and appreciated. If we could just get the word out and help people with their struggle, I feel that the suicide rate would be lower.

Alysha Weaver

Walker

Suicide claims too many lives

I’ve been thinking about this all week after hearing about the death of Robin Williams on Monday, Aug. 11. I did not want to be a part of the norm and say how much I loved his characters or RIP Robin, I wanted to go much deeper in thought than that.

Last Monday, Robin Williams took his life by hanging himself. Let me rephrase that: a wealthy man who was married, had money, had three beautiful children, felt so lonely in a world filled with people that he took his own life.

This kind of thing happens each and every day. Statistics say 36,000 people commit suicide each and every year. Let me put that into perspective. That is a life lost every 17 minutes.

My stomach turns pondering on the thought of how low a person has to feel to think they are not good enough, or they are not needed anymore. I’m here to remind you, you are just as important as the person sitting beside you, or just as important as your favorite celebrity. You matter. You belong here.

In Jeremiah 1:5, the Lord says, “Before I made you in your mother’s womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I chose you for a special work…” (ERV).

You are on this Earth for a reason. There are people who love you, and people who couldn’t imagine life without you.

My prayers are with all the ones who are struggling mentally, emotionally and physically. The ones who feel alone, the ones who cry themselves to sleep at night. I pray that God grants them the strength to carry on, and I invite you to do the same.

Shelby Devericks

Parkersburg

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