Suicide Prevention Aim Of FDL Conference

The Prevent Suicide Fond du Lac Committee will be hosting a conference this June at the UW-Fond du Lac. A grant will pay for the conference called “Destination Zero: Reducing Suicide in Fond du Lac County” on June 7th and 8th. County Veterans Service Officer Rick Patton is a member of the committee. He says veterans make up a higher percentage of all suicides. He says, “Eight of our suicides in Fond du Lac County last year were veterans. There were a total of 21 that we know of. To put that into perspective veterans make up about nine percent of the County population, but made up about 33 percent of the suicides in our County.” He says veterans are taught to tough it out when they are in the service and carry that philosophy into civilian life when they should be asking for help. He says, “There’s some veterans that when they walk through the door I tell them the ‘Oorah’ attitude or the suck it up and drive on attitude stopped the day you left the service you need to take care of yourself.” Patton says anyone can attend the conference in June. It will cost $60, which covers both days and the cost of meals. He notes every year in the U.S. there are a total of 48,000 to 50,000 suicides.