Brother's suicide compels wife of Speaker to testify at hearing...

Deborah M. Dimes spoke on Beacon Hill on Tuesday of this week about her brother's death. At right was her husband, House Speaker Salvatore F.DiMasi. (Globe photo by MIchelle McDonald).
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Here is the story by April Simpson as it appeared in the December 14 edition of the Boston Globe.

Deborah M. Dimes coolly and confidently told state lawmakers that her brother lost his longtime battle with physical and mental illness earlier this year and took his life.

Dimes, wife of House Speaker Salvatore F. Dimes, said she was finally speaking publicly about losing 46-year-old Jeff Kinlin in late March in hopes of eradicating the "social stigma" attached to suicide and psychiatric illness.

She joined suicide prevention advocates, mental health specialists, relatives of suicide victims, and student leaders at a Beacon Hill hearing Tuesday. Dimes applauded legislators for appropriating $1.25 million for suicide prevention, but urged them to triple the amount to $3.75 million in the fiscal year starting July 1.

"Death in its coldness and finality is inevitably a source of sorrow and loss," Dimes told legislators. "But when death comes -- not from age nor accident nor illness -- but from a conscious decision to end one's life, then that sorrow and loss are compounded by the anguish of tragedy and regret."

In Massachusetts in 2004, there were 429 suicides, 4,277 attempted suicides, and 6,033 people who were medically treated for self-inflicted injuries, according to the state Department of Public Health. Of those who committed suicide, most had a diagnosable and treatable mental illness, and a number shared their intentions with another person, specialists testified.

Kinlin suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, a spokesman for the speaker's office said. He was a veteran of the US Army and the French Foreign Legion, said the spokesman.
DiMasi's daughter, Ashley Marchal, testified that eight days after her uncle's death, a friend from Needham High School committed suicide, one of four student suicides in 18 months.
Needham students said that in addition to the pressure to conform during adolescence, a "culture of expected success" has created a tense academic environment. The pressure to succeed has prompted Needham school officials to discontinue publishing the honor roll in a local newspaper.

"High school is hard enough to begin with, and when you have to deal with these things as well it becomes intolerable," said 17-year-old Nick Simmons.

Comment: This story helps raise consciousness of the terrible family tragedy involved in suicide. Send your comments to RepDonato38@aol.com.