Dr. Jane Pearson is a researcher at the National Institute of Mental Health. She is part of the Suicide Research Team, studying every nuance of cause, treatment, continuity of care, history and prevention of suicides and attempted suicides, for one primary reason, to save lives. There is a huge need for the research being done at the NIMH. Finding any common thread across demographics can prove to be a boon to helping solve the unknown.

Recently, while doing research of my own, I came across an interview of Dr. Pearson talking about the demographics of suicide. One of the most shocking statistics of all was that of caucasian males who are 85 and older. The rate of suicide for that group is 4 times the national average. My reaction was total shock.
Just as my two previous cross country Kindness Bicycles rides embraced a wider cross section of the issues I was riding for at the time, so too is becoming the case on this ride.

With all the retirees in south Florida, this is an important place to be for interacting with that age group during my Ring Our Country with Kindness ride over the next couple of months.

I met dozens of people while riding today. Anthony, a junior in high school was bullied for the last few years. He met me as I was loading The Kindness Bicycle at the end of the day. He saw the piece on WINK a few nights ago and was hoping to meet with me before I left town. We had a nice conversation and when asked what got him through the tough times, he said, believing in himself.

The link of Dr. Pearson’s interview is below.