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WILKES-BARRE – After the loss of his wife to suicide more than 3 1/2 years ago, Brian Hollingshead wanted to be proactive to help others and made a call to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

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Thomas Robbins, of Larksville, holds up a photograph of his son, Brandyn, as Robbins and hundreds of other people take part in a 3-mile walk around Wilkes-Barre on Sunday.

Pete G. Wilcox/The Times Leader

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Participants in Sunday’s Out of the Darkness Community Walk for suicide prevention cross over the Market Street Bridge.

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His wife, Erin, 26, had battled depression since childhood. She took her own life on Nov. 12, 2006.

Shortly after Erin’s death, Hollingshead, 31, sought help through the not-for-profit organization and asked what he could do to raise awareness about suicide prevention.

“Nobody wants to talk about it. I decided I wanted to do something different,” said Hollingshead, who started a walk for local survivors of suicide loss in fall 2007.

Hundreds like Hollingshead honored loved ones at Wilkes-Barre’s third annual Out of the Darkness Community Walk at Kirby Park on Sunday afternoon. The 3-mile walk benefits the AFSP for research, education, and survivor and awareness programs.

More than 200 communities will be participating this fall across the country. About $32,000 was raised at Sunday’s walk.

Hollingshead, a producer of WNEP-TV’s “Pennsylvania Outdoor Life” program, which sponsors the walk, said he is trying to form a northeast chapter of AFSP with the money raised in walks the past three years. The closest chapter now is in Philadelphia.

Don Jacobs, a co-sponsor, and producer and host of the show, said people are looking for a means to support each other.

While there are agencies in Luzerne County that offer help to people suffering from mental illness and suicidal thoughts, Jacobs said what is missing is “a cohesive group of people” that will guide individuals to find help.

Pat Gainey, regional coordinator for the AFSP, said most don’t understand how common suicide is in the United States.

Suicide is the fourth-leading cause of death in the nation among adults, Gainey said. It is the third-leading cause of death for young people between ages 15 and 24.

Seventy-three percent of all suicides are done with a firearm, she said.

In the Midwest, where guns are more readily available, there’s a higher incidence of suicide, particularly among the young.

But, the highest risk group is composed of adult white males, said Gainey, whose 29-year-old son suffers from depression and attempted suicide in the past. Men typically have a harder time reaching out for support, she said.

“Our culture that we live in sometimes makes it seem as though men have to be able to deal with almost any issue,” Gainey said.

Also, there still is a stigma associated with mental illness.

“People don’t talk about it and keep it inside, and they die by suicide because they haven’t gotten help and support,” said Gainey, adding that most suicides can be prevented, “if we can get help to people.”

Most people are helped by medication and therapy, she said.

Although mental illness is classified as a disease by the Centers for Disease Control, Gainey said many people believe that a mental illness, like depression, is something that a person can control.