If Trevan hadn't talked to a stranger, he might not be alive today.

He was a 15-year old high school student with average grades, a shy smile, and the typical social life of a teen. But unlike some high schoolers, Trevan once considered doing the unthinkable. Not once, but on several occasions. Thoughts of self-mutiliation and suicide permeated his mind on a daily basis, and he had reached a breaking point. For the purposes of anonymity, Trevan's real name and location won't be revealed.

Like many students, Trevan began getting teased in elementary school. At first, the jokes were about his weight, and the out-of-date Reeboks he wore. By the time he reached middle school, the harrassment became worse and focused on the learning disability he was diagnosed with a few years earlier. The joking didn't stop there. They picked on him about his lack of involvement with sports, girls, and "in-crowd" social activities. He had no friends; his clothes were raggedy; and he stood almost one foot shorter than most 15-year olds.

Trevan was embarrassed and angered by the teasing. He never really considered taking his anger out on the kids who bullied him, or the teachers who seemed to ignore it. Instead, he focused on himself and sketched an image of inadequacy, failure and disappointment. He began to wonder if he should even be alive.

"It was really rough," said Trevan who begins his Freshman year in college this Fall. "Thinking about those days makes me realize how life is different for everybody. You never know what a person is going through. By pure luck, I talked to a stranger and the conversation we had saved me. I would have taken my life and ended the misery, but someone I didn't know told me to look at life another way."

Back then, Trevan didn't know about suicide prevention and the numerous resources available. If he had known, he would have picked up a phone and called a crisis counselor to talk about his problems.

Just recently, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) began using funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to provide grant support for the completion of a project under way to evaluate the effectiveness of a new training program for telephone crisis counselors at suicide hotline centers. The rollout of the new training program, which began in winter of 2008, offers an unrepeatable opportunity to assess the benefits of the training. The information could shape telephone-based suicide prevention services across the country.

"By providing guidance on the effectiveness of training for telephone-based crisis counselors, the information obtained with Recovery Act funding of this project will have an important impact on public health efforts to assist people in crisis and prevent suicide," said NIMH Director Thomas R. Insel, M.D.

According to the NIMH, one of the rationales for hotlines is research suggesting that suicides are often precipitated by stressful life events; in addition, those who attempt suicide and survive report ambivalence and a desire to be rescued and helped.

"I wanted help--I just didn't know who to talk to," said Trevan. "Being an African-American male teenager, people don't think about us taking our own lives. Most people I know in the Black community never talk about suicides or self injury."

According a study in the March 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, in a given year, African American teen girls are most likely to attempt suicide, followed by Caribbean teen girls, African American teen boys, and Caribbean teen boys.

Trevan thought about talking to someone who could help him cope with his feelings, but his options were limited. His mother worked 12-hour shifts and was never home. His father walked out when he was 6-years old and his older brother (whose nickname for Trevan was "chocolate ham") was in college and only visited occasionally.

One day after several older kids attacked him on a school bus, Trevan wanted to end everything. Later that night, he tried cutting his left wrist. But the pain was more than he could bare and Trevan eventually concluded that bleeding to death from a wrist-cut would look wimpy. He decided to take a bolder approach--one that involved a handgun. It would be much quicker and he wouldn't feel a thing.

He decided a note wasn't appropriate and simply left home on a mission. While walking through town in an effort to locate a drug dealer who he knew sold guns, Trevan was stopped by a homeless man who asked him for $0.75 cents. At first he was upset about being bothered, but Trevan thought about how difficult life must be for someone who has to piece together dimes and nickels to make ends meet. The two begin to talk.

During their conversation, the homeless man spoke about his three tours in Vietnam, his failed marriage, and the birth of his first daughter. Trevan talked about his disruptive family life, his depression, the bullies, and eventually revealed his plans to commit suicide. He and the stranger spoke for nearly three hours under a noisy highway overpass.

Now 20-years old, Trevan didn't reveal exactly what the stranger said that made him change his mind, but the interrupted journey to locate a gun dealer was the beginning of the rest of his life. If he hadn't been stopped and asked for $0.75, Trevan would have continued on his journey. When he left home that day, Trevan didn't have enough money to purchase a handgun. He only had $2.40 cents in his pocket and gave all of it to the stranger.

The homeless man who pursuaded Trevan to stay alive died during a hit-and-run accident in 2007. Authorities have never located the vehicle or person(s) responsible. Trevan thinks his encounter with the stranger was divine intervention and not happenstance.

"I will never forget what that man did for me," said Trevan. "He was in the right place at the right time. He saved my life."

Trevan recently approached his university's student sociology organization about giving free seminars on suicide prevention. He speaks once a month about his journey and offers support resources including a one-page pamphlet with helpful phone numbers and website links.

For more information about suicide prevention, or to help someone who may have suicidal tendencies, visit these sites:

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-TALK) (www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org)
• Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE) (www.save.org)
• National Institute of Mental Health

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