Category: Suicide

Students looking up ways to die. Is your college on this list?

I monitor the traffic from colleges to a page on my site written specifically to capture those searching for a particular way to kill themselves. I do this because suicide is the #2 cause of death at colleges and over the years, I have been able to identify trends and wondering if I might be able to see some patterns over time.

These are my statistics for my website only and don’t represent the volume of searches of this phrase.

I will put a link to the page I’m referring to but offer a trigger warning for vulnerable individuals. Here … Read more...

How did I smile through the client lunch when my son was in jail?

How did I manage a professional image when my personal life was falling apart?

No one’s life goes perfect for an entire professional career. Divorces, sudden illness or death of a loved one and more can throw our neatly folded life off balance. At some point, personal pain leaks into any carefully constructed professional space. After all, the two personas inhabit the same body and brain.

I have been in that place. I know it, I’ve felt it and the memory of it as I write this article has me typing through tears. There was a time when I struggled … Read more...

Guest on Steven Frain’s Sister Podcast

podcast about suicide
Quote credit: Christine Langley-Ogbaugh

Podcast hosts, Samantha Bennington (first wife of Chester Bennington) and Pamella Jean developed a life-long friendship after meeting in the late 1990’s. They always knew their special friendship would stand the test of time, but they never anticipated sharing a tragic bond of each losing a family member they deeply loved to suicide.

Their podcast (named after Pamella’s brother Steven who took his life) aims to provide coping tools for people experiencing helplessness who are dealing with suicide loss, fears a loved one is contemplating taking their own life or a person with suicidal thoughts … Read more...

Enjoyed speaking at FAB Women and Hanover Cares

I so enjoyed my time this week speaking to various groups on suicide prevention. The conversation after really opened up with the FABWOMEN and Shanna, the group founder was an awesome closer.

I’m focusing on colleges and the education market but that has a limited season, so if you know of a potential paid speaking engagement, do mention my name. Even a conference breakout session where I wouldn’t necessarily get paid but I’d make good connections and could book other engagements off that gig. I am thinking my Coping Strategies for Grief & Loss workshop would be good for corporations. … Read more...

And there were clues of suicidal thoughts

“…Also when I’m feeling this low in the wilderness away from my family on a sleepless night, I might do something that hurts my whole family even more. I don’t want to do that, but when I’m feeling like that I don’t think about others only ending my suffering. I know it sounds selfish, but I’ve been that miserable out here and it’s only getting worse.”

In going through old letters from wilderness for the book, I came across this letter from Charles. I’m only showing an excerpt here. He did drop clues over the years about his thoughts of … Read more...

What do people thinking of suicide say?

57 second video with pictures. You got the time for that.

This is a 57 second video on what people who are thinking of suicide say. It’s just a few of the comments. Most of the time, when you hear these things, you feel it. And sometimes because you don’t know what to do or what it means, you glaze over it and go about your day not meaning to overlook a cry for help.

But listening is your best currency. Connecting with another human being and taking that time can prevent suicide. Sometimes that’s all it takes. Please share. … Read more...

15-year-old with anxiety and low self esteem

by Hali

Note from Anne Moss: This one from Hali on this post who gave me permission to post this.

You’re a very kind person, Anne. It’s very sweet of you to take the time to try and keep people from making the mistake and ending their lives. But I would like to share my current feelings as well.

I’m a 15 year old girl and I’ve been dealing with anxiety and low self esteem for a while now. It’s only getting worse and I’m pretty sure I have depression. I’ve been so stressed in school, not just with work … Read more...

My son, Jake, died from depression

by Susan Shearouse 

Journal Entry. May 12. Sunday. Mother’s Day

Susan and her son, Jacob Hasson Stull who died by suicide.
February 26, 1982 – September 14, 2018

Sitting on the porch, comforted by the sweet soft rain. This bench is sheltered just so. I can look out across the front yard at my gardens there and stay dry here.

Mother’s Day. I am the mother of three children. One is not with me. Other people say “he is here.” No. Here is rumbling through the neighborhood in an old truck that needs a new muffler. Here is bounding up … Read more...

Keep it positive! A phrase I hate

All my career I heard that phrase. In advertising, they practically force fed it.

When did we become so fake that anything other than bliss was off limits? There are times when a warped or dark point of view is funny.

One time, we did an ad for Ethyl (now under another name.) It was for a fireproof suit. We featured a photo of a guy walking through fire with the suit on and the headline was something like, “Our guys walk through hell to test our suits.” The client loved it. Except for one thing. Could we make it … Read more...

Fighting suicidal ideation

by Larry

Note from Anne Moss: Larry emailed me last year and he has struggled with thoughts of suicide since donating an organ. He is from in the highest risk group for suicide in both Canada and US, middle aged white males. This latest email is published here with his permission and to show you how hard people fight their ideation.

“Shortly after my last email below I did a 180 and very nearly ended my life. I was in such deep despair I had decided it was best to end my wife’s pain at watching my steady decline and … Read more...

Dear Suicide

dear suicide

For years you stalked my son’s brain, took it hostage, lied to him and made him feel worthless and undeserving of life. At first he was frightened and confused but unwilling to tell us how much he hurt.

Because when you deposit pain you inject shame.

Charles didn’t understand because he didn’t know who you were, how unrelenting and convincing you could be, or how you’d come back over and over to torture him. Over time, you wore him down until he was desperate for solutions. He thought he found it when he first started using — marijuana and alcohol … Read more...

Speaker Testimonial from Dr. Horowitz

59 second video

Our presentation event in Baltimore, MD went very well and I’m grateful Dr. Lisa Horowitz took time out of her day to do this video and honored to have earned both her trust and respect. (Thank you videographer, Mary Tipton, Fellow at NIMH for shooting this video.) We make quite a team and for this conference, I was a suicide prevention speaker who spoke as a suicide loss survivor who joined this prestigious panel of respected suicide prevention experts.

L to R: Mary Tipton, Fellow, NIH;, Anne Moss Rogers, Emotionally
Naked LLC; John Campo, MD, WVU Rockefeller
… Read more...

People are finding guest posts through Google

What you see on this page are screen shots of my statistics that show people’s searches from google and on which guest post they landed. If you are using a mobile phone you might have to turn your phone landscape to see them.

These stats illustrate how important your stories are and that they help others when they are hurting or looking for answers. The one above is someone searching for God after a child died. Where was God when my child died?

Someone came from Google and landed on Jill Cichowicz’ story about her twin brother, Scott Neal Zeobrowski, … Read more...

Mother pours grief into ‘Claire’s Song’

by Karen Poll

Our daughter, Claire, was a bright, seemingly healthy teenager who had a zest for life and was always using the phrase YOLO (You Only Live Once).

However, by the age of 14 we started noticing changes.  We didn’t realize at the time they were some of the key warning signs of depression:  personality change, agitation, withdrawal.  We attributed them all to normal teenage angst.  

We had no idea of the catastrophic storm that was brewing inside her. Claire ended her life the last night of ninth grade at the age of 15, June 5, 2014.  We … Read more...

Do you have any brothers or sisters?

Randy, me, Richard, and my deceased youngest child, Charles

After Charles killed himself, my husband and I had to decide how to answer questions about the number of children we had, and Richard had to figure out how to answer the sibling question. Each of us had our own answers–none of which were wrong or the same as one another.

How each member of our family answers that question is a personal choice.

Immediately, I answered, “I raised two children. The oldest, Richard, is living his dream as a filmmaker in LA. And my youngest died by suicide.” I say … Read more...