The grass-roots group AWARE Mountain Brook will host a fall meeting Oct. 13 featuring guest speaker and self-proclaimed “survivor of suicide” Mary Turner of Tuscaloosa.
At age 16, Turner came in contact with suicide on a personal level through the loss of her father. Unable to answer why her father ended his life, Turner said she turned to alcohol to deal with the frustration and sadness she felt.
“I began to drink and tried to numb the pain that his death caused,” Turner said.
At age 27, she entered recovery, worked through her issues and went on to marry and have two children. Soon afterward her mother took her own life. Her brother did the same years later.
With the support of her husband, Turner began attending a “survivors of suicide” support group in Birmingham and began a group in Tuscaloosa.
“I knew of many people in my town that had similar experiences like me,” Turner said. “I felt if I could start a group in Tuscaloosa we could reach some smaller surrounding counties as well.”
Turner said that she found solace in the ability to talk openly about her feelings.
“We have to let people know they are not alone,” Turner said. This is the reason Turner supports the work of the AWARE group and its push for open discussion.
“We need to remove the stigma in regards to mental illness so people will not be ashamed to talk about their depression and seek help,” Turner said. “We must educate people to look for warning signs, what to do if you know someone is depressed and give possible resources.”
Aware’s fall meeting will take place at 6 p.m. at the Crestline Elementary School Field. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, visit the group’s Facebook page.