Suicide prevention tour visits Slippery Rock University
“The first time I tried to kill myself I was 13,” Pam Nolan, a certified peer specialist, told a group of people at Slippery Rock University Friday.
“I'm 66 now ... I've been dealing with depression for 56 years.”
Nolan was one of a large group of people who attended the state's Suicide Prevention Task Force public listening tour. Gov. Tom Wolf announced the initiative in May, sending a wave of state agents and others across the state, starting east and moving west to gather information on how the state could better respond to suicide and general mental health. On Friday, they made it to Western Pennsylvania and they are expected to complete the tour next month. The listening session took place in a college that recently dealt with several suicides. In July, Adam Zook, a senior communications major from Tyrone, died by suicide at his off-campus residence. Zook was completing an internship in his major and was set to be the editor in chief of The Rocket in the fall. And in December, a student was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at a baseball field on the school's campus.
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