CAS CONNECT 2015

36 “I think that there is such an optimistic component of this profession that it just natu- rally keeps you wanting to come back and help people,” Davidson says. As Wingate’s lab nears the end of its first decade, she continues to adjust and refine the direction of the research. She expects to expand the lab’s efforts in exploring posi- tive psychology while also moving even more towards studies in suicide of ethnic minori- ties, particularly the idea of historical loss or historical trauma, which represents how tragic events experienced by past generations (such as slavery in African-Americans or removal from tribal land in Indigenous peoples) may factor into suicide rates of younger generations. O’Keefe, who is in her fifth year in the program, recently landed a prestigious intern- ship with the Veteran’s Affairs Health Care System in Puget Sound, Wash. She will gain valuable clinical experience with veterans while continuing her research at the University of Washington into American Indian suicides. Tucker elected to remain on campus at OSU for his fifth year. He has already defended his dissertation and plans to focus on the many publications he has in the works. In addition, he is Wingate’s lab manager, a position he has held since his second year, and provides behavioral health counsel- ing at the Payne County Health Department for those in the Stillwater community and trains clinical staff at the health depart- ment in mental health treatment efforts. On a wider scale, Tucker has worked diligently with contemporaries from across the coun- try to give graduate students interested in suicide prevention a voice with the American Association of Suicidology (AAS). “I refer to him as a superstar of the lab,” Wingate says. “I have great students in general, so by all means me talking about Ray is not at all a put-down of others.” WHAT TO DO IF SOMEONE YOU KNOW EXHIBITS WARNING SIGNS OF SUICIDE: è DO NOT LEAVE THE PERSON ALONE è REMOVE ANY FIREARMS, ALCOHOL, DRUGS OR SHARP OBJECTS THAT COULD BE USED IN A SUICIDE ATTEMPT è CALL THE U.S. NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION LIFELINE AT 800-273-8255 è TAKE THE PERSON TO AN EMERGENCY ROOM OR SEEK HELP FROM A MEDICAL OR MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL Source: ReportingOnSuicide.org Wingate herself was a superstar graduate student at Florida State University, where she studied under Dr. Thomas Joiner, a leading expert on suicide. She began to explore gender and ethnic differences after discovering some surprising facts about suicide: » » Women are more likely to attempt suicide but men are more likely to die. » » Black women have the lowest rates of death by suicide. » » Older white men have the highest rates of enacting suicide. The last two points in particular seemed to contradict widely accepted risk patterns and she wanted to find out why that was the case. That work continues at OSU with her own graduate students. Part of the deal with study- ing suicide is taking the time to dispel common misunderstandings about the subject. “There are so many myths and stigmas about mental health in general and suicide specifi- cally,” O’Keefe says. Researching new ways to assess and treat those who attempt suicide can be an espe- cially challenging task. Wingate says, “One of the biggest difficulties is that while too many people die by suicide, it is still a rare event.” Additionally, if they come across someone who is believed to be at high risk, the study must end, and all efforts must be made to save that person’s life. Moments such as those are ultimately what make the work so rewarding. “I want to work in this field,” Tucker says. “I feel like there is a lot of change and a lot of good that can come from the research.”