Important highlights:
- Recovery from mental illness is ongoing and not always perfect
- Medication is a customized process that will take time
- Suicide is the result of mental illness and seeing no other way out
- For some, medication is an absolute necessity to prevent suicidal ideation and maintain a livable life
- Family and a support system is vital to maintaining a recovery with mental illness
- Looking for a therapist? If you can’t get a referral look online for your mental illness issue and then ask the receptionist
- How do you broach the subject if you are a friend and suspect your friend is “off.” Compassion is important!
- A anecdote that helped Summer address the “pray for help with your depression” comments
7 reasons I think we are seeing more teen depression
Published by
Anne Moss Rogers
I am an emotionally naked mental health speaker, and author of the Book, Diary of a Broken Mind and co-author with Kim O'Brien PhD, LICSW of Emotionally Naked: A Teacher's Guide to Preventing Suicide and Recognizing Students at Risk. I raised two boys, Richard and Charles, and lost my younger son, Charles to addiction and suicide on June 5, 2015. I help people foster a culture of connection to prevent suicide, reduce substance misuse and find life after loss. My motivational mental health keynotes, training and workshop topics include suicide prevention, addiction, mental illness, anxiety, coping strategies/resilience, and grief.
As talented and funny as Charles was, letting other people know they matter was his greatest gift. And now the legacy I try and carry forward in my son's memory.
Mental Health Speakers Website. Trained in ASIST and trainer for the evidence-based 4-hour training for everyone called safeTALK.
View all posts by Anne Moss Rogers
Just watched the FB live from last night. Anne and Summer, you were fantastic! Very courageous of you, Summer, to be willing to share your story. Great information about how there is really no criteria to define what “qualifies” as a suicide (whether the individual survives or dies as a result of the action) other than the behavior/action is initiated as a result of one’s feelings of hopelessness, despair, overwhelming pain, ________(fill in the blank) and has the potential to or does result in death. I personally don’t think conscious intent is always a factor and although it is extremely important to continue to include access to lethal means in the screening tools, I firmly believe that a more in depth assessment tool that looks at situational events and contributing factors is paramount.
We have to do a better job thinking outside of the box and as was mentioned in the FB live as it relates to medication management, realize that all treatment is not “cookie cutter” or one size fits all.
Great illustration of how gentle confrontation by a loved one around medication is acceptable versus using it as a “dig” in an argument whenever the person ticks you off. If someone was on antibiotics for a sinus infection and you weren’t happy with something they did I’m guessing the first question would not be whether they took their meds… Loved how that was presented.
Well done ladies!
Your commentary is always good Melissa. I think you summarized it very well