Category: Suicide

I wanted it all to end. And then it did.

Actually, I just wanted it to stop. It was too much.

I was so distraught when Charles was out somewhere in the city after relapsing from heroin addiction. He still had not admitted to being addicted to that drug although he did admit to an addiction to an opiate. Sort of.

He didn’t want us to know all the ugly details and HIPAA prevented anyone from sharing information with us. So we had to rely on what he was telling us which was usually fabricated or only partly true.

How could I make a decision on wobbly information?

My brain … Read more...

Add Crisis Text Line info in physical and virtual classrooms

Download the crisis text line poster below in 8.5 x 11

For teachers, their classrooms and virtual classrooms, and even parents and ministers, make the crisis text line visible.

Below is a downloadable pdf that you can print out and post. Or download the virtual background for use in online classes.

With 25% of teens seriously considering suicide during this pandemic, we need to make the resources visible. There is also a link to a school kit with social media images for schools to post.

… Read more...

First live event since February was very special.

The Speak Up Reach Out (SURO) event in Edward, Colorado was the first live event I’ve done since February. COVID-19 shut down most live events. However, they did this one outside within guidelines as people sat on lawn chairs spaced apart. Although it doesn’t appear to be so, attendance was great with some 80 people attending this outdoor walk event.

Earlier that week, air quality was unbreathable due to fires. Then it snowed and was stormy. But Saturday, September 12, 2020 in Edward, Colorado? It was gorgeous.

The SURO organization is really amazing and I love how they work together … Read more...

Novel at Home: Authors Margaret Thomson & Anne Moss Rogers

A book chat with me, author of, Diary of a Broken Mind, who lost my son, Charles, to suicide, and Margaret Thomson author of The World Looks Different Now and lost her son, Kieran, to suicide. Margaret’s son was active military.

Thank you to Novel Bookstore in Memphis, Tennessee, for hosting the event for suicide prevention month.

How to tell someone I want to kill myself
… Read more...

September is Suicide Prevention month

While other diseases have flattened in terms of mortality, conditions like heart disease and stroke, suicide rates are climbing. Recent CDC statistics reveal that 25.5% of respondents 18-24 years old reported having seriously considered suicide during the COVID pandemic. In late June, 40% of USA adults reported struggling with mental health or substance misuse.

Your stories are important so keep talking. Keep telling them. Support mental health candidates this fall, give to behavioral health organizations. Thank you for being part of this tribe.

Study from CDC

How to tell someone I want to kill myself
… Read more...

Reimagine: Live, Love & Loss Virtual Event with Gail Rubin

This was a moving interview and discussion with Gail Rubin and a group of men and women including parents who have lost a child to suicide. We had a frank discussion and I so enjoyed being with many of you all virtually at least.

Transcript:

1
00:00:53.340 –> 00:00:58.500
Gail Rubin: Hey, welcome everyone to today’s reimagine

2
00:00:59.310 –00:01:10.020
Gail Rubin: Life love and loss event. I hope you are muted and will stay muted at the moment until we open this up for Q & A

3
00:01:11.100 –> 00:01:22.050
Gail Rubin: We are recording this session, … Read more...

Facebook Live 11 am EDT, Mon, Aug 31, 2020

Add to Calendar 08/31/2020 11:00 AM 08/31/2020 11:30 AM America/New_York Facebook Live with Charles Gates Interviewing Anne Moss Rogers About Suicide Prevention Charles Gates Local Legislature LLC Go to- https://www.facebook.com/LocalLegislatureLLC/ 90

Virtual Facebook Live Interview with Charles Gates of Local Legislature LLC

I am going to focus on suicide prevention in Virginia with Charles Gates Live Facebook Show on Monday, August 31 at 11 am EDT.  With recent CDC reports showing that 25% of US youth have “seriously considered suicide” during the pandemic, it is important to recognize the signs and know what we can do in our state to … Read more...

How a teen described his suicidal episode

After a stay in a psych hospital following suicidal thoughts with a plan, a 16-year-old high school student described his suicidal intensity as two peaks happening in a twenty-minute period.

He said as the emotional pain got worse (peaked), the more he wanted to end it.

Then it eased off and that was a period where he had more fear and wasn’t so sure he wanted to die (ambivalence about death). Then he said there was one more peak, more intense than the last, when he really felt worthless, that the world would be better off without him. After that, … Read more...

Let’s talk about death, grief, and suicide

It’s never the “right time.” So we need to talk about it all the time.

There are a lot of events happening soon. So I’m going to post the ones coming up fast. The calendar links will add it to your calendar together with a registration link so you won’t forget to sign up. Join me for one or all of these. And please share.

VIRTUAL: Reimagine- Life, Loss, & Love: The Emotionally Naked Truth about Suicide

DATE/TIME
Date(s) – Fri, 08/28/2020
2:00 pm-3:00 pm EDT

Add to Calendar 08/28/2020 02:00 PM 08/28/2020 03:00 PM America/New_York Reimagine: Life, Loss, &
… Read more...

Does the guilt stalk you?

Having a child struggle with substance misuse made me feel like a failure. Hadn’t we talked about drug use? Hadn’t I been open about losing his cousin Reese to the substance use disorder?

People didn’t want me to talk about him. I think they thought steering the conversation to another subject would help me “forget” it. I felt like a dismal failure then, too.

Other people’s kids were doing normal kid things. My oldest was, too.

They were winning awards, doing well in sports, getting good grades. What were they doing that I was not? Comparison really is the thief … Read more...

Support a dad who is struggling

Hi Anne
I am the Graham who posted on your site on July 23. Thank you for taking the time and thought to respond to me, a complete stranger.

Since then, I have entered into a CBT program. I’m not sure if it is helping yet or will help, but it’s something. I have had some days where I feel almost normal. Not 100% normal, because something is always lurking in my thoughts, waiting to pounce, but nearly normal, and with great clarity of thought. On those days, any idea of suicide is completely alien to me. I don’t … Read more...

Pandemic is increasing suicidal thoughts in young people

A quarter of young adults ages 18-24 have seriously contemplated suicide during the pandemic according to new statistics from the CDC. The physical distancing and isolation, have seriously affected our mental health. And that stat is not the only sobering statistic.

We need to get back to as normal a life as possible. And science has proven that mask-wearing diminishes the viral load. That means that if you get it, you get less of the virus resulting in a weaker disease that is less life-threatening. That saves lives and allows us to to connect more. They are hot and uncomfortable. … Read more...

Reading from Diary of a Broken Mind on Richmond Mag’s IG Channel

This is a 10-minute reading of my book. Feel free to comment, share this or heart it on Instagram.

… Read more...

Gratitude letter

Dear Charles,

I’m grateful you were part of my life. If I had known from the beginning about your suicide at age 20, would I have chosen to have you as my child?

I’d like to think so. Knowing me, I would have thought I could have changed the course of destiny. Nevertheless, your life, as short as it was, transformed mine. And your death transformed it again. Everything is now categorized as before or after your death.

You helped me see outside of myself. You made me laugh and see the world from a whole different perspective. No one … Read more...