Description

Learn How situational depression can be caused and how one such cased led to a young mans suicide.

Transcript

How to Cope with Depression Female1: In our region, an alarming increase in the number of youth suicides has caused heartache beyond belief. I am here at the Foresthill Bridge, one of the highest anywhere in the country. It is also the site of countless suicides being here is chilling. Everyone at some point in life will be affected by depression either their own or someone else’s. Depression is not a personal weakness, it is a disease. During this next half hour, you will see some amazing strides being made in treating depression. Recognizing the signs could save your life, left untreated the toll could be devastating. Female2: We just kept calling from the bridge. Male: We even tried the cell phone. We were yelling. I was walking all over screaming his name. Female1: Suicide is the worst possible outcome of untreated depression and for young people it is the third leading cause of death. The Foresthill Bridge looms 730 feet above the American river in Placer County. It is also the site of countless tragic endings. Female2: The last time I saw him he was full of joy and the first thing you feel as a parent is guilt. You know why, why? Male: What did we do? Female2: Yeah. Why were we not there for him? Why did he not come and wake us up and talk to us if he was upset? You know why did we not hear the truck drive away? Female1: The pain of losing a child to suicide is horrific. Wind tattered notes frequently found taped to the Foresthill Bridge speak volumes. “Dear precious soul” one letter begins. Raw emotion and pain spill on to the paper. “If you could have held on for just one more day, another sunrise perhaps a ray of light of hope could have pierced your tortured soul I wonder now is your pain gone?” Female2: Since his death, I can personally say I understand what depression is now because I was totally depressed. And without anti depressants, I do not know if I could have made it through the pain you feel where there are no answers. Female1: The Beeman family would turn back the hands of time in a second if they could but they cannot. Their wonderful 20 year old son Christopher is gone forever. Female2: Christopher was very outgoing, very popular, loved life. Male: He was a positive kid too. Female2: Very positive. Female1: He loved motocross and played football, was attending college and working 30 hours a week then he made a mistake. A beer earlier in the afternoon and honest answer to a cop and Christopher lost his license. Female2: He received a DUI even though the breathalyzer was legal if he had been 21. We thought it would be a 90-day suspension of his license and it ended up being a full year. Female1: That decision left Christopher overcome with anger. His parents got him into counseling. He was diagnosed with situational depression, depression triggered by life events that can include death, divorce, and job loss. In Chris’s case it was a DUI. June 13, 2004, Christopher found himself at the Foresthill Bridge. A break up with a girlfriend, a party and too much alcohol the combination proved deadly. Female2: The hardest part was he was on the phone with his girlfriend he was explaining to her that his life sucked he had made one mistake and his life was over. Female1: And then the phone disconnected his girlfriend immediately called 911. Male: When we got there it was a terrible site for a parent. There are fire trucks and there is high patrol and sheriff’s car. I remember on the middle of the bridge yelling his name. Ultimately, we found the body and she got worried and I remember hearing her scream.