Mother on mission to stop teen suicide
Bangor Daily News
July 8-9, 2000
By Dawn Gagnon, Of the NEWS Staff

Champney said, ticking them off on her fingertips.
There was no talk of death or of committing suicide, nor had there been a
previous suicide attempt. Ryan had not been giving away cherished
possessions, hadn't seemed depressed or sad, and hadn't withdrawn from
friends, family and favorite activities.
''That didn't happen,'' she said. ''He had been happy, smiling.''
Though he'd been diagnosed as having oppositional defiant disorder, a
chemical imbalance in the brain that can result in hostile behavior, he'd
been receiving counseling, Champney said.
Furthermore, she recalled a comment Ryan made to his stepdad. A few weeks
before the teen-ager's death, he was watching a movie with William Champney
when one of the characters committed suicide.
''Dude, that's crazy. I'd never do that,'' Ryan said at the time.
As far as mother-son relationships go, Champney said, she and Ryan shared an
unusually close bond. Champney gave birth to Ryan when she was only 16 and,
in some ways, she said, grew up with him.
''We'd talk about everything,'' she said. ''We liked the same music, the
same clothes, the same cars. ... When I lost Ryan, I not only lost a son, I
lost a best friend.''
A common tragedy
Though many people think that no child, friend or student would ever consider
suicide, it is one of most common ways for young people to die in Maine.
Statistics show that suicide death rates among Maine teens and young adults
have consistently been above the national average.
In a 1993 Maine Department of Education survey, 11 percent of teens indicated
that they had attempted suicide in the previous year. A study commissioned in
1999 and released in March of this year by the state's Department of
Education and Department of Human Services indicated that 15 percent of high
school students surveyed had made a suicide plan in the previous 12 months.
From 1990 to 1995, suicide was the second-leading cause of death for the
state's 15- to 24-year-olds, according to the state Office of Data, Research
and Vital Statistics. From 1986 to 1995, there were 265 reported suicides by
Mainers in that age bracket.
Closer to home, there were 30 suicides among all age groups in Penobscot
County in 1996, more than any other county in Maine, including Cumberland and
York with their larger populations.
So far this year, the county's suicide rate for young people seems to be
slowing. Penobscot County Sheriff's Department Chief Deputy Glenn Ross said
that records maintained by his department and the Maine State Police show
that there have been four suicides in Penobscot County as of this week.
Two involved teen-agers and two involved adults. The vast majority of
successful attempts since 1989, Ross said, resulted from gunshots, and most
of the victims were male.
According to Patricia McKenzie, a crisis worker with a background in
substance-abuse counseling and interactive theater, the statewide attention
given to preventing adolescent suicides since 1996 appears to be making
inroads. In 1996, Maine ranked 11th nationally in terms of adolescent suicide
rates. Last year, the state's ranking fell to 15th.
According to McKenzie, eight out of 10 teens who commit suicide gave some
signal of their intent, which means that future crises may be headed off as
communities get better at picking up on the signals and knowing where to get
help.
McKenzie said another reason for hope is that 90 percent of those who attempt
suicide do not want to die, but rather want to end their pain.
Fighting back
In a recent interview at her home in Hermon, Champney acknowledged that she's
still very hurt and angry about Ryan's suicide, an act she believes was
impulsive, not premeditated. She wonders why her son took his own life when
he had so much to live for. She's also very worried about the suicide's
effect on Ryan's friends because suicides can trigger other suicides,
according to studies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
To that end, Champney has made it her mission to put teen-age suicide back in
the public spotlight, to let area young people know that help is out there,
and to preserve Ryan's memory, even if that means sharing a story that is as
painful as it is personal.
''Bill and I have told all his friends that we have an open-door policy,''
she said. ''We're here for them if they need a place to go, if they need
someone to talk to, if they need a ride, no questions asked. I can't go
through this again.''
Champney knows that Ryan's friends, and those who didn't know him as well,
are hurting. Some 500 kids attended his funeral, she said, filling St. John's
Episcopal Church. At his wake, Ryan's friends and classmates expressed their
pain on a huge piece of paper they were invited to write on. The poster, as
well as a vase of roses, his favorite flower, have been placed in his
bedroom, which otherwise is just as he left it.
''If I can help one person, if I can make a difference in just one person's
life, then I've done what I set out to do,'' she said, adding that keeping
busy has helped her to cope with the grief that threatens to overwhelm her.
A week after Ryan's funeral, she went right back to school. She also began
researching teen suicide, once reading two sizable books on the topic in a
single day. She has kept in touch with Ryan's friends in person, through
e-mail and over the telephone.
This week, Champney, her husband and mother attended their first meeting of a
support group for those who have lost loved ones to suicide.
Though the region and the state offer much more support for troubled
adolescents than was available even five years ago, Champney wonders if it's
enough. It is a problem that she believes requires the combined resources of
schools, families, communities and churches.
Programs available
In an effort to reverse what have been alarming youth suicide trends, two
Bangor-based mental health resources have collaborated to develop prevention
programs.
Seeking Other Solutions, a school-based program also known as SOS, was
established in the mid-1990s and is now part of the Community Health and
Counseling Crisis Services, which coordinates mental health crisis services
in Penobscot, Piscataquis, Hancock and Washington counties.
At the request of middle and high schools, SOS' youth crisis stabilization
unit sends trained crisis workers to educate kids about how to deal with
stress and depression.
Speak Out For Kids, a program primarily led by Acadia Hospital, distributes
free suicide prevention material to schools in several counties. As part of
its suicide prevention mission, the Bangor mental health facility also has
offered a seminar for parents and has given away gunlocks.
At Hermon High School, where Ryan was among at least five students who
committed suicide in the past several years, a crisis response program was
established.
According to Deputy William Laughlin of the Penobscot County Sheriff's
Department, a member of the team and the father of five children who have
attended Hermon schools, a team of about 10 people from within the school
department and others from the larger community are mobilized to help
students deal with crises that can overwhelm them.
The day of Ryan's suicide, the team developed a strategy for helping students
cope with their loss and brought in additional counselors from schools in
neighboring communities.
Ross said all Penobscot County deputies are trained in suicide intervention.
Something parents can do at home, according to Ryan's friend Shawn, is listen
to their kids, show they care and treat their concerns with respect. Parents
also should not be too quick to dismiss teen relationships.
''There isn't a specific age where love gets up on you,'' he said. What
might seem trivial to adults can be devastating to teen-agers, he said.