Friend making a suicide trip abroad? Ask if he/she is OK!

September - National Suicide Awareness Month

We’ve all be touched by someone we know having passed due to suicide. And I am no exception.

If you have a family member, friend or colleague who organizes a trip, by themselves on the spur of the moment, ask them “Are you Ok.” Really ask, please.

I recently attended the U.S. Department of State’s Overseas Advisory Council (OSAC) conference on travel security programs, where the topic of death abroad was discussed. While I have dealt with death abroad, and my family has experience in what is entailed to transport one’s mortal remains from a foreign country to the United States for burial, I didn’t realize how little I knew, compared to what I thought I knew.

I learned that some of those U.S. citizens who pass in places like Mexico and Thailand, do so as part of a planned trip to end their lives. They are traveling to those locales to commit suicide. One of the reasons I came to learn was pharmaceutical availability. The access to drugs is different from country to country and those contemplating suicide will travel to those locales where the availability of life-ending drugs exists.

I admit to having been sitting on this topic since the beginning of the month. Then yesterday NBC’s Megyn Kelly shared the story of a coffee bar in Chicago, Sip of Hope. They trained their baristas in listening. They also acknowledge that is ok, to not be ok.

Watch this piece, and you will understand why it’s important to ask, “Are you Ok.”

How Sip of Hope Coffee Shop is Supporting Suicide Prevention

As noted, the U.S. State Department has been tracking deaths of citizens abroad (we should add, reported deaths, unless they are informed by the family or the host government, they don’t know)

Here’s an excerpt from their webpage explaining the process — (direct link to Death Abroad page)

When an U.S. citizen dies abroad, the Bureau of Consular Affairs assists the family and friends. The Bureau of Consular Affairs attempts to locate and inform the next-of-kin of the U.S. citizen’s death. The Bureau of Consular Affairs provides information on how to make arrangements for local burial or return of the remains to the United States. The disposition of remains is subject to U.S. and local (foreign) law, U.S. and foreign customs requirements, and the foreign country facilities, which are often vastly different from those in the United States.

The Department of State has no funds to assist in the return of remains or ashes of U.S. citizens who die abroad. The Bureau of Consular Affairs assists the next-of-kin to convey instructions to the appropriate offices within the foreign country, and provides information to the family on how to transmit the necessary private funds to cover the costs overseas. Upon issuance of a local (foreign) death certificate, the nearest embassy or consulate may prepare a Consular Report of the Death of an American Abroad. Copies of that report are provided to the next-of-kin or legal representative and may be used in U.S. courts to settle estate matters.

A U.S. consular officer overseas has statutory responsibility for the personal estate of a U.S. citizen who dies abroad if the deceased has no legal representative or next-of-kin in the country where the death occurred, subject to local law. In that situation, the consular officer takes possession of personal effects, such as jewelry, personal documents and papers, and clothing.

The consular officer prepares an inventory of the personal effects and then carries out instructions from the legal representative or next-of-kin concerning the effects. For more information on the Consular Report of the Death of an American Abroad, and other services that a consular officer can help you with when a loved one passes away overseas, see the links below.

In the first half of 2018, there have been 62 suicides of U.S. citizens reported abroad.

Date	City	Cause of Death
1/10/2018	Niagara Park - New South Wales	Suicide
2/26/2018	Caye Caulker - Belize	Suicide
2/25/2018	Phnom Penh - Phnom Penh Municipality	Suicide
1/21/2018	Lethbridge - Alberta	Suicide
1/9/2018	Huinan Town Pudong - Shanghai	Suicide
1/15/2018	Zhongshan - Guangdong	Suicide
3/24/2018	Malacatos - Loja	Suicide
3/1/2018	Marsan - Gers	Suicide
6/8/2018	Kaysersberg - Haut-Rhin	Suicide
2/23/2018	Bad Rappenau - Baden-Wurttemberg	Suicide
5/21/2018	Duesseldorf - North Rhine-Westphalia	Suicide
1/19/2018	Kaisariani - Attica	Suicide
1/20/2018	Yokosuka-Shi - Kanagawa-Ken	Suicide
1/23/2018	Higashi-Ku - Okayama	Suicide
3/11/2018	Minato-Ku - Tokyo	Suicide
4/29/2018	Shinjuku-ku - Tokyo	Suicide
6/8/2018	Koto - Tokyo	Suicide
1/10/2018	Puerto Vallarta - Jalisco	Suicide
1/13/2018	Todo Santos - Baja California Sur	Suicide
2/6/2018	Tijuana - Baja California	Suicide
2/8/2018	Garcia - Nuevo Leon	Suicide
2/16/2018	Mazatlan - Sinaloa	Suicide
2/16/2018	Mazatlan - Sinaloa	Suicide
3/2/2018	Guadalajara - Jalisco	Suicide
3/8/2018	Ciudad Juarez - Chihuahua	Suicide
3/25/2018	Tijuana - Baja California	Suicide
4/2/2018	Hermosillo - Sonora	Suicide
4/11/2018	Zapopan - Jalisco	Suicide
5/6/2018	Chapala - Jalisco	Suicide
5/13/2018	Hermosillo - Sonora	Suicide
5/26/2018	El Pitillal - Jalisco	Suicide
5/31/2018	San Luis Potosi - S.L.P.	Suicide
6/6/2018	Puerto Vallarta - Jalisco	Suicide
6/28/2018	Puerto Vallarta - Jalisco	Suicide
4/25/2018	Zwolle - Overijssel	Suicide
5/7/2018	Matagi - Atafu	Suicide
3/17/2018	San Juan del Sur - Rivas	Suicide
2/6/2018	Dumaguete CIty - Negros Oriental	Suicide
1/16/2018	Warsaw - Masovia	Suicide
5/16/2018	Blajel - Sibiu County	Suicide
1/11/2018	Bupyong-gu - Incheon	Suicide
2/7/2018	Gunpo - Gyeonggi	Suicide
6/7/2018	Busan - Yeongnam	Suicide
1/9/2018	Zaragoza - Zaragoza	Suicide
2/16/2018	Malaga - Malaga	Suicide
3/26/2018	Madrid - Madrid	Suicide
6/27/2018	Barcelona - Barcelona	Suicide
2/13/2018	Zhubei - Hsinchu	Suicide
3/18/2018	Tamsui - New Taipei	Suicide
1/8/2018	Bang Lamung - Chon Buri	Suicide
2/16/2018	Ko Pha-Ngan - Surat Thani	Suicide
2/22/2018	A. Muang - Chiang Mai	Suicide
2/27/2018	A. Muang - Chiang Rai	Suicide
4/7/2018	A. Muang - Chiang Mai	Suicide
5/16/2018	A. Muang - Chiang Mai	Suicide
2/8/2018	Dubai - Dubai	Suicide
1/17/2018	Ho Chi Minh City - Southeast	Suicide
1/31/2018	Ho Chi Minh City - Southeast	Suicide
3/19/2018	Dai Loc District - Quang Nam	Suicide
4/11/2018	Tay Ho - Hanoi	Suicide
5/7/2018	Ho Chi Minh City - Southeast	Suicide
6/20/2018	Ho Chi Minh City - Southeast	Suicide

In 2017, there were 106 suicides reported to the U.S. Department of State of citizens who perished abroad.

Date	Location	Cause of Death
2/10/2017	South Australia	Suicide
2/18/2017	New South Wales	Suicide
9/3/2017	Greensborough - Victoria	Suicide
4/13/2017	Tortola	Suicide
6/7/2017	Turnhout	Suicide
10/5/2017	Belize City - Belize	Suicide
2/18/2017	Kompong Chhnang	Suicide
8/7/2017	Phnom Penh	Suicide
7/5/2017	Vancouver - British Columbia	Suicide
3/7/2017	Liaoning	Suicide
8/29/2017	Guangzhou - Guangdong	Suicide
1/6/2017	Antioquia	Suicide
2/23/2017	Antioquia	Suicide
3/29/2017	San Jose	Suicide
4/19/2017	San Jose	Suicide
8/30/2017	Santa Cruz - Guanacaste	Suicide
10/9/2017	Parrita - Puntarenas	Suicide
12/30/2017	Potrero - Guanacaste	Suicide
5/6/2017	Paralimni	Suicide
4/20/2017	Montecristi	Suicide
8/17/2017	Santo Domingo	Suicide
2/28/2017	Yap	Suicide
3/23/2017	Romainville	Suicide
5/28/2017	Lyon	Suicide
7/15/2017	Paris	Suicide
1/3/2017	Idar-Oberstein	Suicide
1/16/2017	Wismar	Suicide
1/31/2017	Bavaria	Suicide
4/10/2017	Hillscheid	Suicide
5/16/2017	Bavaria	Suicide
7/5/2017	Alfter - North Rhine-Westphalia	Suicide
8/1/2017	Darmstadt - Hesse	Suicide
8/3/2017	Heidelberg - Baden-W�rttemberg	Suicide
1/18/2017	Karpathos	Suicide
1/18/2017	Francisco Morazan	Suicide
7/22/2017	Kennedy Town - Central and Western District	Suicide
10/28/2017	Balassagyarmat	Suicide
5/6/2017	North Jakarta	Suicide
2/5/2017	Naples	Suicide
6/24/2017	Caserta	Suicide
7/22/2017	Florence	Suicide
9/20/2017	Treviso	Suicide
4/27/2017	Manchester	Suicide
5/12/2017	St. James	Suicide
1/12/2017	Okinawa	Suicide
5/13/2017	Okinawa	Suicide
8/28/2017	Funabashi-Shi - Chiba-Ken	Suicide
9/26/2017	Narashino-shi - Chiba-ken	Suicide
12/12/2017	Tokyo	Suicide
7/6/2017	Mombasa	Suicide
2/12/2017	Seoul	Suicide
2/15/2017	Okcheon-Gun	Suicide
3/7/2017	Gunpo	Suicide
4/14/2017	Chungnam	Suicide
7/16/2017	Daegu	Suicide
10/30/2017	Pyeongtaek City - Gyeonggi Province	Suicide
12/9/2017	Pohang - North Gyeongsang	Suicide
12/27/2017	Gimjae - South Gyeongsang	Suicide
12/31/2017	Seoul	Suicide
4/27/2017	Selangor	Suicide
1/4/2017	Ciudad Juarez - Chihuahua	Suicide
1/11/2017	Nayarit	Suicide
1/22/2017	Merida - Yucatan	Suicide
2/8/2017	Guanajuato	Suicide
4/5/2017	Tijuana - Baja California	Suicide
4/19/2017	Sonora	Suicide
4/29/2017	Baja California Norte	Suicide
5/4/2017	Jalisco	Suicide
5/19/2017	Baja California Norte	Suicide
6/11/2017	Baja California Norte	Suicide
6/12/2017	Baja California Sur	Suicide
6/18/2017	Chiapas	Suicide
6/28/2017	Baja California	Suicide
6/28/2017	Baja California	Suicide
7/7/2017	Cancun - Quintana Roo	Suicide
7/12/2017	Isla Mujeres - Quintana Roo	Suicide
8/23/2017	Nogales - Sonora	Suicide
10/30/2017	Guadalajara - Jalisco	Suicide
9/21/2017	Freetown	Suicide
2/18/2017	Rivas	Suicide
3/15/2017	Managua	Suicide
5/27/2017	Akwa Ibom	Suicide
1/15/2017	Lima	Suicide
1/24/2017	Lima	Suicide
1/24/2017	Lima	Suicide
12/5/2017	Cebu City	Suicide
6/27/2017	Lublin	Suicide
2/25/2017	Doha	Suicide
4/24/2017	Bratislava	Suicide
2/10/2017	Ljubljana	Suicide
4/22/2017	Baleares	Suicide
4/9/2017	Gothenburg	Suicide
5/12/2017	Geneva	Suicide
6/8/2017	Taipei	Suicide
1/14/2017	Chiang Mai	Suicide
3/23/2017	Chiang Mai	Suicide
6/11/2017	Phuket	Suicide
6/29/2017	Surat Thani Province	Suicide
7/17/2017	ChonBuri - ChonBuri Province	Suicide
7/25/2017	Bangkok	Suicide
9/3/2017	Phuket	Suicide
10/11/2017	Phuket	Suicide
11/25/2017	Bangkok	Suicide
12/10/2017	Bangkok	Suicide
12/21/2017	Bangkok	Suicide
7/27/2017	London	Suicide

Please take a moment today and tomorrow’s tomorrow - When you see a friend, family member, colleague act impulsively to travel abroad, ask them “Are you OK,” then listen.