fbpx

Tag: suicide prevention

A cry for help for suicide prevention from Nepal

india

From Anne Moss: Narendra and I have been emailing back and forth for a few months. While suicide is stigmatized here in the US, it’s even worse in Nepal, home of Mt. Everest and a country that ranks number 8 in the world for completed suicides and one of the poorest and least developed of the third world countries.

There are no resources in Nepal for suicide and Narendra has been working tirelessly, without funding, to create an ambitious training program to educate citizens to recognize and offer peer to peer support that is in keeping with their culture of … Read more...

Suicide Prevention: Ask the Question

Steven Boyd, producer/director, for Henrico County TV filmed this video focused on suicide loss survivors and suicide attempt survivors and how we can prevent suicide. It’s very well done.

In this video:

Suicide and Mental Health Facts

  • Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the US
  • In Virginia, suicide is the
… Read more...

Fragile heart — #griefheart number 188

Fragile heart
Fragile heart

Cousin Kate sent me this. And the moment I saw this camellia heart it reminded me how fragile a person Charles was. My friend Chris was telling my oldest about how resilient addicts are. And that’s true. You hear the stories of what they have endured– homelessness, being run over, multiple overdoses. When they tell the stories, you can’t believe they are standing in front of you as normal looking human beings once they have found recovery.

Charles didn’t have resilience and I wish I could have shared mine with him but depression took it away. In its place he had … Read more...

Suicide is not an act of selfishness

definition of suicide

Thinking it’s an act of selfishness is a lack of understanding of what suicide is.

Even before Charles died by suicide, I did not subscribe to the “selfish” notion. I remember Charles walking into my office and telling me that a friend’s dad had died by suicide. He said he thought it was selfish.

Then he asked what I thought.

Did he think it was selfish? Or was testing me to see what I thought. I don’t know that I will ever know for sure. My gut tells me he wanted to know whether I thought suicide meant someone was … Read more...

Suicide awareness heart – #griefheart number 139

September is suicide awareness month. Tomorrow, 117 people will die by suicide. Moms, dads, brothers or sisters will walk into a room and realize their worst nightmare. Survivors of suicide loss will grieve and wonder why.

Many of these deaths are preventable. If only we talked about the signs, had open conversation, many of these people would reach out for help. Or we would recognize when they are in trouble and have the guts to simply ask. But we stigmatize mental illness and addiction, the two leading causes of death by suicide. You can change that. By talking.… Read more...

Talk20 video on my story of suicide loss and the #griefheart project

Talk20 in Richmond VA invited me to speak on the topic of losing my son Charles Rogers, 20, to suicide in June of 2015 and how it inspired the #griefheart project. This a conversational style event so it’s not a formal presentation. The Coalition Theatre was a challenging place to have video taken so there may be some times where sound or steadiness are an issue.

Despite the venue challenges, I think Mark at BES did a great job and I wanted to reach out and thank them for this video.

Need to book Anne Moss as a speaker, … Read more...

Why are so many girls dying by suicide?

statistics

updated 11/2017

Suicide is the leading cause of death for girls 15-19* worldwide and suicide rates for females 10-14 have tripled since 1999, the most alarming increase.

We have to ask ourselves why.

Some say social media. Others site early puberty. While those factors might be part of it, I think that it’s a combination of things.

Teens, by nature, want to fit in. At this age, their peers are the most important relationships. They don’t want to be rejected or ostracized.

I think technology is a major reason

With computers, smartphones, social media and texting combined, teens have a … Read more...

Love of drama – #griefheart 66

Love of drama
Love of drama

Charles loved the stage. And it loved him. Stand up comedy, rapping, plays. I spoke here June 15, 2016 in Richmond, VA about our journey since losing him to suicide at age 20 and the #griefheart project. Such a supportive crowd for Talk20 Richmond. I saw the face and thought, “That’s a #griefheart!”

From his drama teacher at Wasatch Academy where he graduated high school.

“I brought a group of Comedy class students to Cedar City where Off the Cuff, a professional group of Improvisers, graciously allowed us to perform with them. Charles was amazing and … Read more...

Relentless

never-give-up

Guilty as charged. Part of my charm.

This one is for those of you who turn away because the subject of suicide  is too much.

You don’t want to read my posts.

You do sometimes with one eye shut.

They make you squirm.

They make you uncomfortable.

They make you sad.

They make you cry.

They are too raw.

You don’t want to be reminded that this awful thing happened to someone.  It’s your worse nightmare and you fear the same might happen to you.

Or you think it couldn’t possibly happen to you. It doesn’t touch your life so why bother? … Read more...

Super Heart – #griefheart number 45

#griefheart
Super Heart

Charles loved super heroes. The “man of steel” was his favorite. All super heroes have some pain in their past and I think now he identified with that.

He was always intrigued with super powers and used to talk of mechanical hands and flying as late as eighth grade. I think he hoped a super power could fix him.  And maybe a super power did.

This S is for Suicide Awareness. Thank you all for helping me spread awareness of a subject cloaked in silence.

What is the #griefheart project?

I explain my #griefheart project here.

See … Read more...

Tangled heart – #griefheart number 37

37-grieving-beauty
Grieving Beauty

“Weave the unveiling fabric of God’s word through your heart and mind. It will hold strong, even if the rest of life unravels.” –Gigi Graham Tchividjian

quote-left

When I lost my brother, Matt Geary, to suicide four years ago, it felt like life had unraveled.

The grief process is not linear but tangled and messy. It has been like a long string of anger, resentment, and hurt all jumbled up and knotted together. Hard to sort out like a ball of string.

But as years have passed, I have learned that you can knit something beautiful out of the passing … Read more...

Fractured Heart – #griefheart number 32

#griefheart
Fractured Heart

This #griefheart is in honor of Stephen B Sandknop, March 25, 1983-October 28, 2013. He was in a relapse from methamphetamine addiction and was having psychotic episodes and died by suicide when he jumped off his own apartment building in Hollywood, CA during a phone conversation with his mother, Randy. She didn’t find out until the next morning what had happened to him.

Stephen was a singer/songwriter and three of his songs are in movies. Here’s his YouTube channel. So many artists suffer from addiction and mental illness. This picture is donated by the photographer, his mother, to … Read more...

Can you make your suicide story positive?

And yes I get this question a lot. And no, I can’t. I won’t.

8615555b339ed34ce94880229f47873d

I won’t sugar coat my story. I won’t lie for the sake of saving you tears. I won’t avoid the subject of my son and his suicide.

Most importantly, I won’t leave you without hope.

Many times when he struggled and we struggled, I felt my hope waver. We were desperately in debt and resources for help were slim. But I clung to hope with all my might–never letting that pilot light to go out.

While my son died by suicide, I still have hope. Hope for others. And … Read more...