Every child has the right to a healthy and peaceful future. Wars damage the dreams for those children who suffer hunger, poverty, pain, and trauma. They have seen their friends and families die, and their schools, houses, and hospitals destroyed. This pain will last a lifetime and will have an impact on the children that is hard to predict.
I cringe anytime I hear someone talking about finding "the cure." It’s the same feeling that strikes me when someone walks into my office, where we help people with mental health problems, proclaiming how they just want to “fix” their loved one.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month (MHAM). This is a chance to learn about signs and symptoms of mental illnesses and help fight stigma that keeps people from receiving vital care. This month’s column won’t focus directly on MHAM, but upon a recent challenge in the mental health field, the Netflix Original series 13 Reasons Why, which since its release has generated a lot of buzz, especially from mental health and suicide prevention organizations.
I turned 37 on April 20, 2017. Another candle on the cake. Another year of beautiful life. Another year of surviving mental illness. I reflected on my life. It has almost been 20 years that I have been living with schizoaffective, bipolar type. However, back then, my diagnosis was bipolar disorder with psychotic features. I can’t believe I have made it this far. I have survived multiple suicide attempts and about 12-15 psychiatric hospitalizations. I survived all the delusions.
“The key to keeping your balance is to know when you’ve lost it.” I don’t know who said that, but knowing I had lost my balance in life was the turning point in learning to live with bipolar disorder and multiple sclerosis. Unknown to me as an undergraduate nearly a half-century ago, I had both incurable neurological diseases. Most disorders have obvious symptoms, but mine were hidden working like a computer virus destroying a marriage, a career, and ultimately leaving me living alone, in poverty, and planning suicide.
Over 4.3 million people in California need mental health services, with just under 40,000 of those based in the San Joaquin Valley. Anxiety disorders play a big part in this statistic, with panic attacks being a common issue.
Our last article explored bringing folks to the table to address suicide, or who. We’ll now assume you’ve at least rounded up a few interested folks. If you don’t have a large and diverse group, don’t worry, you can work on that over time. This is a process of continually developing new partnerships, inviting new people and organizations to the table, and constantly improving and strengthening your efforts.
Suicide is a complex behavior just as we all are complex individuals. A suicidal person can be a person at any point on our walk through life. There are greater risks and protective factors present, but suicide can occur among all races, ages, religious affiliations or philosophies (or lack thereof), economic statuses, ages, and professions. It is important to remember this complexity when thinking about approaching prevention efforts.
Although you may enjoy the stimulation of keeping busy, enjoying the excitement of staying on top of diverse things from your career to orchestrating family, it’s also important to do nothing important at all, to just take time off for yourself, unwind, and reconnect with your family.
Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States. More than forty-four thousand people die by suicide annually. Each death leaves behind survivors of suicide loss, including partners, family, friends, co-workers, schoolmates, and others. Often, these survivors are in need of resources such as support groups, counseling, and opportunities to take action. In many areas these supports are not available. This creates an opportunity for survivors to turn their experiences into advocacy and help bring resources into their community and/or join existing efforts.
