Suicide

When Lisa Hurka-Covington of Towson stands on the Capitol steps in Washington this week, she will be keeping alive precious memories as she unveils Maryland's first suicide quilt and recites the names.Her sister, Laura Anne Hurka; John and Jody White, husband and son of author Susan White-Bowden; 12-year-old John Tolzman of Riderwood; 32-year-old Wes Hewitt of Bel Air. And too many more.Hurka-Covington will be among more than 25 state coordinators displaying memorial quilts embossed with photos of loved ones Friday.

Just in time for Mother's Day, your article on the mother of the young man who inexplicably committed suicide ("Dulaney graduate's mother will accept his college diploma from Temple," May 9) was a clear and strong wake up call to all mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and friends of those suffering from depression or other problems. My own 25-year-old son from Parkville, successful on the outside, committed suicide last month, having said nothing to show he felt so burdened. Suicide needs to be rejected and spoken of openly in the public square.

More than 100 parents and students gathered at Wilde Lake High School in Columbia on Thursday night to learn about how to prevent of cyberbullying and hear details of the Howard County public schools' anti-bullying policy. Thursday's forum was in the works before the Easter Day suicide of a Glenelg High School sophomore who had been bullied online. But experts say the conversation is especially timely given the threat of copy-cat suicides. "Cyberbullying doesn't directly lead to suicide," said Sameer Hinduja, the forum's keynote speaker and co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center.

Thank you for publishing the courageous story of Regina Friend and her pride in the achievements of her son before he committed suicide last year ("Mother 'closing loop' for her son after his suicide," May 10). Ms Friend's story was a particular gift to me as this is the 11th anniversary of the death of my husband, Jerry, by suicide. Although Roswell Friend was much younger than Jerry, they shared many of the same characteristics - friend and inspiration to many, creative, focused on the future.

The mourners wore blue nail polish, blue-striped ties, blue jewelry and crisp blue dress shirts. Blue hoodies and blue hair bands. Blue was Grace McComas' favorite color, so that's what mourners at her visitation wore Friday in memory of the 15-year-old Glenelg High School sophomore who took her life recently to end the pain, her family said, of a cyber-bullying campaign against her. Meanwhile, a social media "event" — blue4grace —...

Thank you for publishing the courageous story of Regina Friend and her pride in the achievements of her son before he committed suicide last year ("Mother 'closing loop' for her son after his suicide," May 10). Ms Friend's story was a particular gift to me as this is the 11th anniversary of the death of my husband, Jerry, by suicide. Although Roswell Friend was much younger than Jerry, they shared many of the same characteristics - friend and inspiration to many, creative, focused on the future.

The death of former LPGA Tour player Erica Blasberg has been ruled a suicide by the Clark County Coroner's Office. The 25-year-old was found dead in her home in Henderson, Nev., on May 9. According to responding police, Blasberg was found with a plastic bag secured over her head. The coroner ruled the death a suicide due to asphyxia and toxic levels of prescription medication in her system. Thomas Hess , Blasberg's personal doctor, is being sought by police on obstruction of justice charges for allegedly removing items from the scene prior to officers arriving.

From a cluttered Baltimore apartment office, Dr. Lawrence Egbert says he has helped direct the deaths of nearly 300 people across the country. Some of his patients, as he calls them, are racked with cancer, paralyzed or staring down Alzheimer's. Others simply want to slip away on their own terms. Sometimes family members gather around the bedside to say goodbye; in other cases, their appointed "exit guides" lock the door behind them and make arrangements for someone to stumble across the body.

Nearly a decade ago, not long after losing a daughter to suicide, a Baltimore County couple made a decision. They would turn their personal tragedy into a means of helping themselves, and others, by addressing mental illness in the open, without shame. When the attack on the World Trade Center happened on Sept. 11, 2001, Douglas and Sharon Strouse's 17-year-old daughter, Kristin Rita, was living in New York City, blocks from Ground Zero. A month later, the Parsons School of Design freshman ended her own life.

A man who jumped from Md. Route 100 onto southbound Interstate-95 Sunday afternoon near the Howard and Anne Arundel counties line was killed when he landed on top of a multi-passenger vehicle, said state police at the Waterloo Barracks. The death has been ruled a suicide and the man's identity was withheld pending notification of his family. Shortly after 5 p.m., state police found the man's body lying in the roadway. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said the driver of the Mercury Villager van on which the man landed was not injured.

Regina Friend will don her son's ceremonial cap Thursday morning and take footsteps that were supposed to be his. The mere idea of those steps gives her chills, but she will take them. Her only child worked 41/2 years to earn a diploma from Temple University, and she will collect it, proud as any other parent in the room. "He's not here to accept it," the Cockeysville resident said. "So as his mother, and I'm still his mother, I need to get it for him. " Last August, Roswell Friend — Dulaney High graduate, college athlete, selfless friend, soon-to-be Temple alum — went for a run over a Philadelphia bridge and never came back.

A ray of hope, and a touch of grace. That's the mantra that the family of Howard County teen Grace McComas hopes will prevail in confronting incidents of bullying. Addressing a group of parents and school leaders Saturday, they said the emerging epidemic played a part in Grace, a 15-year-old, ending her own life on Easter Sunday. The McComas family joined forces with Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice to send a powerful message in a forum called "A Ray of Hope: A Pro-kindness, Anti-bullying, Teen Suicide Prevention Outreach," at Howard High School.

More than 100 parents and students gathered at Wilde Lake High School in Columbia on Thursday night to learn about how to prevent of cyberbullying and hear details of the Howard County public schools' anti-bullying policy. Thursday's forum was in the works before the Easter Day suicide of a Glenelg High School sophomore who had been bullied online. But experts say the conversation is especially timely given the threat of copy-cat suicides. "Cyberbullying doesn't directly lead to suicide," said Sameer Hinduja, the forum's keynote speaker and co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center.

The Easter Sunday suicide of a Glenelg High School teen has raised long-standing concerns about cyber-bullying, as parents and teachers call on Howard County schools to do more to boost awareness and prevention. Chaun Hightower, president of the Howard County Council of PTAs, said she doesn't know enough about the circumstances surrounding 15-year-old Grace McComas' death to discuss it. But she believes that cyber-bullying is a pervasive issue and that the district's policy could be strengthened.

The childhood mantra, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me," is no longer true. The words, once thought the weaker of the phrase, can now kill. This weekend, The Sun published a story about 15-year-old Howard County student Grace McComas,  who committed suicide, a tragedy her family attributed to relentless cyberbullying she experienced in school. Her death garnered national attention on social media sites, and among local celebrities, who helped spread the word about a memorial that encouraged the region to wear blue, her favorite color, on Friday.

The mourners wore blue nail polish, blue-striped ties, blue jewelry and crisp blue dress shirts. Blue hoodies and blue hair bands. Blue was Grace McComas' favorite color, so that's what mourners at her visitation wore Friday in memory of the 15-year-old Glenelg High School sophomore who took her life recently to end the pain, her family said, of a cyber-bullying campaign against her. Meanwhile, a social media "event" — blue4grace —...

"Night Falls Fast," by Kay Redfield Jamison. Knopf. 432 pages. $25.So many people throughout time have died from suicide, written about it, tried to make sense of it. In this new book, Kay Redfield Jamison attacks this complex, emotionally charged topic without fear. She has created a single, fresh text that answers the question so many have agonized over for so long: Why?In a sweeping, authoritative look at suicide, laced with the compelling tales of those who died or nearly died at their own hands, including herself, Dr. Jamison exposes the truth: Suicide is not one isolated moment of madness for otherwise rational people, but mostly an impulsive act of a patient trying to end the awful pain of a psychiatric illness.

Marvin T. Burkindine, who was found hanged in his cell at the Anne Arundel County Detention Center on Sunday, wanted to do his jail time in the infirmary, fellow inmates told county police yesterday.Instead, he was placed in a solitary cell where he was found dead at 7:23 a.m. He had used the cord from a laundry bag as noose and tied it to the bars on the door, police said.The state medical examiner yesterday ruled his death a suicide.Burkindine had been evaluated by Detention Center doctors, who determined that he was not a suicide risk.

Want to work out like Katniss? The Maryland Athletic Club has developed a Hunger Games workout. The four-week program is designed to “bring out your inner tribute,” by testing your endurance, reflexes and natural strength. Officials say the workouts will get progressively more intense (though there's no mention of arrows, fire balls or genetically altered dogs.) The program will feature: Week 1 is “District 12,” which includes iceskaters, spiderman push-ups, inverted rows, ball slams, suicide sprints, straight punches and jumping squats.

In 1969, three unrelated events occurred that have since been combined with political bungling to slowly strangle the U.S. economy. Moammar Gadhafi overthrew King Idris of Libya. He nationalized Western oil company reserves with no retribution from the U.S. Sensing our weakness, all of the other OPEC nations abrogated their concession agreements with U.S. companies. The Arab producers cut back production and embargoed the U.S. because of our support for Israel. Middle East despots have been in the driver's seat ever since, and as the Arab Spring seems increasingly likely to empower Islamists, things are unlikely to get better.