JD Schramm: Break the silence for suicide survivors

216,828 views ・ 2011-06-11

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00:15
From all outward appearances,
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John had everything going for him.
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He had just signed the contract
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to sell his New York apartment
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at a six-figure profit,
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and he'd only owned it for five years.
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The school where he graduated from with his master's
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had just offered him a teaching appointment,
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which meant not only a salary,
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but benefits for the first time in ages.
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And yet, despite everything going really well for John,
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he was struggling,
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fighting addiction and a gripping depression.
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00:50
On the night of June 11th, 2003,
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he climbed up to the edge
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of the fence on the Manhattan Bridge
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and he leaped to the treacherous waters below.
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01:02
Remarkably --
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no, miraculously --
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he lived.
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01:09
The fall shattered his right arm,
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broke every rib that he had,
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punctured his lung,
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and he drifted in and out of consciousness
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as he drifted down the East River,
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under the Brooklyn Bridge
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and out into the pathway of the Staten Island Ferry,
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where passengers on the ferry
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heard his cries of pain,
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contacted the boat's captain
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who contacted the Coast Guard
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who fished him out of the East River
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and took him to Bellevue Hospital.
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01:39
And that's actually where our story begins.
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Because once John committed himself
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to putting his life back together --
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first physically, then emotionally,
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and then spiritually --
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he found that there were very few resources available
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to someone who has attempted to end their life
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in the way that he did.
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02:00
Research shows
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that 19 out of 20 people
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who attempt suicide
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will fail.
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But the people who fail
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are 37 times more likely to succeed
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the second time.
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This truly is
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an at-risk population
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with very few resources to support them.
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And what happens
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when people try to assemble themselves back into life,
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because of our taboos around suicide,
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we're not sure what to say,
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and so quite often we say nothing.
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And that furthers the isolation
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that people like John found themselves in.
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02:43
I know John's story very well
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because I'm John.
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And this is, today,
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the first time in any sort of public setting
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I've ever acknowledged
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the journey that I have been on.
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03:01
But after having lost a beloved teacher in 2006
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and a good friend last year to suicide,
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and sitting last year at TEDActive,
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03:11
I knew that I needed to step out of my silence
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and past my taboos
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to talk about an idea worth spreading --
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03:19
and that is that people
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who have made the difficult choice
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03:24
to come back to life
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need more resources and need our help.
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03:30
As the Trevor Project says, it gets better.
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03:33
It gets way better.
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03:36
And I'm choosing to come out
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of a totally different kind of closet today
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03:40
to encourage you, to urge you,
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03:43
that if you are someone
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who has contemplated or attempted suicide,
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03:49
or you know somebody who has,
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03:52
talk about it; get help.
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03:55
It's a conversation worth having
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03:58
and an idea worth spreading.
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04:01
Thank you.
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04:03
(Applause)
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