58 minutes
Posted on SoundCloud (Charles’ account, actually). I suppose I should get my own account.
On a segment of WRIR Zero Hour, three parents who’ve lost a child to suicide talk about their grief after that event, what they want all of you to know, and how they’ve managed to move forward and process this loss years after the fact. The segment is about an hour. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for 10-34-year-olds in the United States.
Dave Matthews and … Read more...
Visit Anne Moss Rogers Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Speaker website here. See an example of a school mental health, coping and resilience event here.
For college and high school mental health and suicide prevention presentations, I start by telling the story of my youngest son, Charles, who suffered from depression, then addiction and died by suicide.
How did it all happen? What was … Read more...
THE RESPECT PODCAST: EXPLORING WORK, LOVE, & LIFE: A son’s suicide and how a Mom being emotionally naked helped her survive with Anne Moss Rogers.
Podcast recording and full transcript is here.
Most will say, “I couldn’t survive that.” Or, “I would never be able to move forward again.”
At first, none of us knows how we are going to survive. When people found out my son Charles died by suicide, faces reflected horror which is similar to my own reaction to the news.
Facing what was an uncertain future fueled my terror. And the simplest activity such as taking a shower would take every ounce of energy I had for the day.
I had to go to work, write an obituary, go to the pharmacy, decide what to do with the … Read more...
USA Suicide & Crisis Lifeline call 988
USA Crisis Text 741-741
Suicide & Crisis Lifeline for Veterans call 988, press 1
USA Crisis Line for LGBTQ Youth, call 1-866-488-7386
USA Crisis Text for LGBTQ Youth 678-678
USA TransLifeline call, 1-833-456-4566
USA Suicide Prevention Lifeline & Chat for the Deaf or Hearing impaired. Or dial 711 then 988
United Kingdom Samaritans 116 123
Australia Crisis Line 13 11 14
Canada Crisis Line 1-833-456-4566
Canada TransLifeline 877-330-6366
International suicide hotlines
For the NSA Virginia (National Speaker’s Association) holiday party, Mary Foley (our bada$$ Prez) asked me to interview Brandon Farbstein, a diversity and inclusion speaker who has exploded recently. Local guy is killing it. But don’t think that climb has been without a lot of heartache and hard work.
After a severe battle with cyberbullying in high school, Brandon decided to share his story- to both offer hope and to enact change. He has since helped bring forth 2 bullying prevention laws in Virginia and will be working with lawmakers in DC to implement new policy federally.
His type … Read more...
What I speak about is often acknowledged as important.
Heads nod, emails are answered and then the, “I think that is Sara’s or Kenny’s area.” Let me introduce you to these five people. And my message just gets drowned out in a sea of emails of “we’ll get back to you later.”
Do I get back? Sure I do. But what I get in response is, “Did you ever talk to Kenny or Sara?” No, they wouldn’t call me back.
Suicide, mental illness, grief and addiction are topics people want to pass to someone else to take care of. Not … Read more...
I touch on the work I’m doing with digital marketing to save lives at a critical moment through technology. I met Sally in person at the NSA (National Speaker’s Association) Influence Conference and we hit it off. If suicide prevention is an important topic to you, please subscribe to Sally’s podcast. It’s very well done and she is a suicide prevention rock star.
From what those with lived experience have told me and what studies show, it goes something like this.
“I’m afraid my mom and dad will no longer be proud of me.” -15 year old male (race?)
“I’m afraid the army will find out and I’ll never get promotions. If they find out I’m seeing a counselor, it will ruin my military career. That’s why I drive 45 minutes to see a private counselor. I don’t want them to know.” -21 year old white male army recruit
“I’m afraid my wife will think I am weak.” -59 year old married white … Read more...
Link to Episode 48 with Alec Lifschultz III. The award winning podcast that was created to break the silence on mental health issues and give a voice to those suffering with host Alec Lifschultz III (Twitter: @TreyBizzy).
I talk about the trauma of having lost a child and my struggles with having suffered from a brain tumor and the aftermath of the surgeries and radiation treatment.
I got this message from a mom.
The daughter was googling how to kill herself, clicked on a link in a post I wrote expressly to capture people in crisis on this blog.
On that page, I have a link to this article. How to Tell Your Parents You Want to Die
The daughter read the article and she told her mom about her feelings.
I used a digital marketing technique I used to use to get plumbers leads online, help orthopedic surgeons get more knee surgery patients, and help a store in New York sell more diamonds online.
Why … Read more...
Thanksgiving day 2019 was beautiful and started with a hike in the mountains. Dinner was amazing and festive.
There’s a familiar dull ache and heavy feeling that comes over me. I see our family together and know how much Charles would have enjoyed it. More than anything, that child loved family and the get togethers that brought us all together.
He’d have been outside today with those kids playing badminton and he would have orchestrated a corn hole game after. He’d have insisted we all go outside and build a … Read more...
Life (UN)Closeted: LGBTQ & Heterosexual Coming Out Stories & Advice for coming out of life’s closets! Host, Rick Clemons addresses getting out of your comfort zone and living the life unapologetically. I love, love, love the theme of this podcast. The intro rocks and Rick is a great host and amazing speaker.
Each episode takes you on a brash, fun, and in-your-face, provocative storytelling ride that explores how to escape your bullshit, explore your fears, and unabashedly elevate your f*cking self-expression to live your LIFE UNCLOSETED.… Read more...
Given the sensitivity around topics such as addiction, mental illness, and suicide, meeting professionals should strive to hire mental health speakers who pay attention to safe messaging. So here are some thoughts on how meeting professionals and event planners can find the right behavioral health speaker.
While you want your speaker to deliver a thoughtful and educational presentation, avoid hiring or inviting mental health speakers who go into graphic detail about suicide methods or cleanup which could potentially be activating, especially for … Read more...
