Helping Prevent Suicide Will Be Fashionable

Who says scrubs can't be fashionable? Come find out for yourself by attending an event during APA's 2009 annual meeting that will raise funds for the American Psychiatric Foundation to use for educational efforts on suicide prevention.

WARD76, a San Francisco-based scrubs line, will host the benefit, titled“ Evening of Education and Fashion,” at the Downtown San Francisco Marriott on Wednesday, May 20. The event will include a cocktail reception and runway show, which will showcase WARD76 designs and feature medical professionals and prominent members of the West Coast fashion community. One of the speakers is William Callahan, M.D., chair of APA's Committee on Public Affairs.

Michael Ghaly, M.D., a fashion designer and WARD76 founder, has experienced the devastation of suicide personally and as a psychiatrist practicing at the San Francisco Jail.

The benefit will also feature psychiatrists and other physicians who will talk about suicide prevention. Additionally, APA will staff an information booth at the event to answer questions and distribute information. WARD76's Web site will have information and links to other sites on suicide prevention and warning signs.

Ghaly's interest in the tragedy of suicide and the need for greater efforts at prevention was borne out of personal experience. “It was during my third year of medical school at Stanford University that I was involved in a tragic car accident that killed five of my friends. It was during that same week, during my psychiatry rotation, that I had three suicidal patients on my service. I remember thinking how in the world is this possible? Others would do anything for another moment while others the very opposite. My understanding of suicide was quite simplistic before I entered the field of psychiatry. Like many of us, in high school I had a couple acquaintances who took their lives, but not much more than that. Now, working in the department of corrections, I experience suicidal patients constantly, many of them successfully dying by suicide.”

The evening event will begin with a VIP reception at 7 p.m.; tickets are $150 each. At 8 p.m. is a general reception; tickets are $75 each. The fashion show will follow.

Tickets may be ordered by sending a check made out to Community Initiatives to WARD76 Suicide Prevention, 643 Connie Avenue, San Mateo, Calif. 94402. More information is available by contacting Linda Bueno at (703) 907-7841 or [email protected].▪