Category: Suicide

My child said he has felt suicidal and depressed but won’t accept help and now tells me he’s fine

This was one of the questions from my presentation to parents on how to prevent youth suicide in Lafayette, California. I figured it might be a common question so I wanted to post it here.

Charles didn’t comply worth squat. It was uber frustrating and what’s more, it made me feel desperate. So I have several strategies that others have shared have been effective.

  • You make an appointment with a therapist. Yes, you. Not your loved one. At some point, you invite your child to go. But here’s the deal. You approach it like this. You say you went to
… Read more...

The importance of suicide awareness. We are all more alike than we think

by Tammy Ozolins

I recently watched the movie Dear Evan Hansen and I want to share how I related so much to this movie with my mental health journey.

One of the movie’s characters named Connor does die by suicide and I felt like he suffered in silence. When I was in high school, I had a good friend Brian Rini with whom I was very close. I absolutely loved him, and he was such a great guy. During our college years, he took his own life and it rocked my world.

I was devastated and always wondered why. I … Read more...

10 Tips for Preventing Suicide in Our Children: A guide for parents and caregivers

1. Take a deep breath. Don’t freak out.

If your child confesses to thoughts of suicide or an attempt, shore up everything you have and remember they are there in front of you now and alive. Not all of us get that opportunity. Because nothing scares kids more than their parents losing it.

2. Listen more, lecture less.

Meet them where they are and allow them to feel heard. The magic phrase is, “Tell me more. I am listening.” Don’t suggest fixes but ask questions instead. “How long have you felt this way?” “Did you have a plan?” “How … Read more...

What is ‘manufactured fear’ and how can that hurt us?

Fear is rarely the adaptive primal response that can save our lives but rather something that destroys our self-esteem and disrupts our relationships with others. It doesn’t promote good mental health or help communities connect and thrive.

Most of our fear is manufactured by our own selves or others and is often manipulative, destructive, and exploitative. Our current culture thrives on creating and magnifying fear because that’s what gets online clicks and tempts people to tune in. Manufactured fear often triggers manufactured rage. When we come under the influence of manufactured fear, we become a threat to ourselves, to others, … Read more...

We need your help on a Zero Suicide Video Project for Parents

The nonprofit, Zero Suicide is creating a series of helpful videos and wants to interview parents whose child has made a serious suicide attempt for a video to share with other parents who have a child recently discharged after a suicide attempt. It is meant to be informative for parents in this position in terms of supporting the myriad of feelings that they are experiencing.

This video will be shared with parents of youth under 18 years old whose child has just been discharged from a hospital or ER.

We have enough suicide loss survivors and need parents of … Read more...

Fear of feelings

Our first instinct is to push away unpleasant or difficult feelings like sadness. But the anticipation of them is far worse. It takes more energy to avoid them than to allow them in.

What’s more, pushing them away means they’ll come back at you like a boomerang on steroids. Because holding them back is like preventing a waterfall from going over the edge.

Over time pent-up feelings build up and can leak out in ugly and unpleasant ways.

Feelings are temporary and denying them isn’t brave or heroic, but cheating yourself out of healing or developing coping skills for managing … Read more...

Anne Moss Rogers with Michelle Chalfant on The Adult Chair Podcast

330 – Understanding And Preventing Suicide With Anne Moss Rogers

Suicide Prevention Lifeline Call or text 988

Podcast episode with the show notes on the Adult Chair Website

This highlights how I survived and healed after my son’s death by suicide, how I overcame the questions and guilt that come when someone close dies by suicide, and my work as a mental health and suicide prevention speaker, reaching others who are hurting and educating people on the signs of suicide. 

Themes include substance use disorder, grief, suicide, hope, and healing.

They said they’re thinking of suicide. What now?
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It’s been 9 years since the last time I saw you

by Cayla Fendick

Strong emotional content and suicide method referenced. If you are in crisis, text “help” to 741-741 or call 988

Cindy Fendick and her daughter Cayla Fendick

You were sitting at the counter at the Park Diner. It was the first and only time you had ever visited me at work, and I couldn’t believe you actually did come. Earlier that morning,

I was at your apartment, like almost every other morning you had off work–drinking coffee. You literally always made the best coffee and I “stole” one of your shirts (I still have it). You said you’d … Read more...

Wear it out! T-shirts for Suicide Prevention Month

Order Your T-shirt

T-shirts for suicide prevention month

These are the #justlisten t-shirts in honor of suicide prevention month.

Sizes XS to 4XL. Women’s fit (order 2 sizes larger than normal), Unisex (true to size), Long Sleeve (true to size), Sweatshirt (true to size). Note that the 4XL is available only in certain colors including royal blue. ORDER here. Multiple colors!

#just Models!
stop suicide with your ears
Order Your T-shirt
Back of shirt

What stops a person from killing himself?
… Read more...

In memory of my mom, Anne Nimocks

In the photo above in 2019, my mom is at my book signing in Fayetteville, NC. My mother died of natural causes Wednesday, August 10, 2022.

She was a child who was born because her sister LuMaddy, whom she never met, was killed in a truck accident at age 2. She had a sister 10 years older. When I lost my son to suicide, my mom dropped everything and drove up immediately with my ailing dad to be with me, and help us with everything including practical things like going to the pawn shop and picking up some of … Read more...

One can never predict the future. Or change the past.

by Liza Sierra

Strong emotional content and suicide method referenced. If you are in crisis, text “help” to 741-741 or call 988

John Michael Carrington, 12/27/1984 – 05/07/2018

At 17, I enjoyed loud music, hanging with friends, and like any other teenager, online chatrooms. One day I got a message from a guy who was 19, single, and from the U.K! I was completely fascinated by him, being that I’m from Texas.

We exchanged pictures, and phone numbers and we both got into so much trouble for running up our parent’s phone bills back then. (Sorry Mom). It was hard … Read more...

USA Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is now 988

Also known as the 911 for mental health crises, the new 988 rolled out Saturday, July 16, 2022. The crisis text line, a separate service, is still 741-741.

Those struggling with an emotional crisis including substance misuse or addiction, or a person with a loved one in an emotional health crisis, can call or text the 988 number.

At this writing, 988 Text and chat is available in English only but 988 voice calls are can be answered in Spanish or English. Language Line Solutions provides translation services for over 250 additional languages.

Congress designated the new 988 dialing code … Read more...

A special audience

#griefheart Musical heart #8
Musical heart- Originally part of the #griefheart project which is here

I can’t tell you where it was but I can tell you how it felt.

I had been nervous that morning prior to this panel event. But a brisk walk to burn out my nervous energy did the trick. Backstage we put on our mics and prepped for our entrance–the moderator, me, and my two fellow panelists all of whom I admire a great deal. We took our seats.

By this time I was surrealistically calm. Excited, but no longer nervous. I had asked Charles to be with me … Read more...

ManTherapy.org – Sometimes life’s dog takes a dump on your lawn

A friend of mine and top researcher in suicide prevention, Dr. Sally Spencer Thomas, wanted to figure out how to reach men who might be struggling with some kind of mental health event or condition. A lot of her work centers around the corporate world and the construction industry, the latter having the highest rate of suicide. She is also a suicide loss survivor, having lost her brother, Carson, decades ago.

She ended up working with an ad agency to execute a way to reach men using humor. The site is ManTherapy.org. There is a lot more to the … Read more...

How a 16-year-old went from suicidal to hopeful

This is a conversation from a series of comments on this site that took place June 1-June 7 from the page, How to Write a Suicide Note. This “how-to” page is not a template for writing suicide letters but a page people land on from a google search that includes resources.

This is part of my work to use search and digital content marketing strategies to help people save their own lives. I have dozens of these pages that rank well on Google and other search engines and I have been doing this work since 2016, answering comments from … Read more...