The basketball ace - who filed his own divorce papers against the
'Desperate Housewives' star on Friday (19.11.10) - is not hoping to
"escalate things" by counter-petitioning his estranged wife, who
originally sought to end the marriage on Wednesday (17.11.10). A
friend explained: "He is just following standard procedure. This
was not meant to escalate things. "He filed his own papers to
protect his rights during the proceeding. They are still committed
to working this out together amicably." Despite the claims, it is
believed filing his own papers could lead to a bitter battle
regarding where the divorce hearing will take place. If the
28-year-old sportsman's petition is granted in Texas, the couple's
marriage could be dissolved in as little as 60 days, whereas if the
35-year-old actress' wish for the hearing to take place in
California is accepted, the divorce could take up to six months to
go through. Tony is now said to be coping with the breakdown of his
marriage by focusing on his games with Texan basketball team the
San Antonio Spurs. The insider added to People magazine: "He's been
coping by focusing on work. He has been relying on his teammates
for support. Everyone at the Spurs has been so supportive of him."
Sept. 10 marks World Suicide Prevention Day as
organizers want to put out the message that what you do know, and
more importantly what you need to know, could save a
life.
Launched in 2003 as a partnership between the World Health
Organization (WHO) and the International Association for Suicide
Prevention, the occasion has now grown to include 35 countries and
regions.
The WHO estimates about one million people annually die from
suicide around the world, or one death every 40 seconds, while
there are untold non-fatal attempts. The United Nations public
health arm is adamant that suicide is indeed preventable but the
public needs to be educated in recognizing the warning signals as
about 80 percent of people attempting suicide or dying by suicide
display such signs.
In Vancouver, a 75-minute ceremony is being held at the art gallery
in the downtown core during the busy lunch hour to raise awareness
of suicide, a tragic act that takes almost 4,000 Canadian lives
annually.
The participants are being requested to bring a pair of new or
gently-used shoes to place on the gallery steps. The intention is
to provide a visual representation of the lives lost. The footwear
will be donated to those in need.
Symbolically, the act is also to help those bringing the shoes in
memory of someone they have lost to move forward into the future by
providing assistance to someone in need, perhaps reducing their
despair.
The guest speakers at the event will include the province's chief
coroner, Dr. Diane Rothon.
Diane Damstrom-Albach, the coordinator at Suicide Attempt
Follow-up, Education and Research (SAFER), said the prevention day
was important as it broke social taboos about how to make it more
comfortable to talk about suicide. How to bring it out in the open,
and how to break the silence.
"At a much more personal level, it is really important to be able
to ask freely about suicide if you are concerned about someone. If
you see that someone seems to be suffering with issues or problems,
if they are emotionally distraught, if they are overwhelmed, if
they are depressed, it is very important to ask them directly about
suicide and ... to connect them with people who can help them," she
said.
"Some of the particular signs are feelings of hopelessness,
helplessness and worthlessness, people who have lost the sense that
they know how to deal with the challenges and problems in their
lives. People are often very isolated, feeling alone, feeling
perhaps emotionally overwrought, angry, afraid. People may actually
talk about suicide, they may joke about it. They may seriously
indicate that they're considering making an attempt on their
lives," she noted.
Damstrom-Albach had her doubts about suicide statistics, reasoning
that they were likely low as a coroner has to prove intent that a
person actually tried to take their lives -- something difficult in
cases of drug overdoses and fatal car accidents involving a single
driver. And she pointed out that concern also had to be given to
the survivors, those who had lost a loved one.
If 4,000 people die in Canada by killing themselves each year, and
they all had 12 friends and family, over the period of a decade
suicide had affected nearly 500,000 people.
"Survivors go through tremendous and challenging despair in
connection with losing a loved one to suicide and they themselves
at some time may be at greater risk to suicide. One of the things
we know for people who lost someone to suicide is they themselves
may need support so they don't fall into depression and '
suicidality,'" Damstrom-Albach said.
"Suicide is not the result of personal weakness. Suicide happens
when people feel overwhelmed and alone in response to difficulties
and problems that any of us might have. Depression is a very, very
common issue all around the world. People struggle with financial
concerns around the world, even perhaps more so now. People
struggle with either terrible physical or emotional pain. Really
what we're talking about with suicide is what happens when people
fall into despair and I would argue that despair is something that
can afflict anyone, anywhere, anytime," she added.
