Stigma
7 Ways to Beat Mental Health Stigma in the Black Community
Stigma Excerpts
Facts vs Fiction
117 Mental Illness Stigma Sayings
Shame, Stigma,
and Suicidality Shame especially can follow a suicide attempt. One small study found that most of the people interviewed felt shame related to their attempt, whether for not living up to others’ expectations or, painfully, for having survived. Shame and Suicidality: Cause or Effect? Just as suicidal thoughts can lead to shame, shame can lead to suicidal thoughts. It is a merciless cycle of pain: one begets the other. "Thinking of suicide means I’m weak,” clients have told me. “I’m a loser, a failure.” “I should be able to cope.” “I’m a bad person.” Lost in all the self-condemnation is the understanding and acceptance of suicidal thoughts as a symptom. Suicidal thoughts can be a symptom of a mental illness such as depression or bipolar disorder. Or you may not have a mental illness. Suicidal thoughts also can serve instead as a symptom of extreme stress, overwhelming painful emotions, a sense of despair and hopelessness, or some other situation that the person experiences as unbearable. Suicidal thoughts are not who you are. They do not define you. Instead, they happen to you. The same is true of conditions and situations that can lead to suicidality: depression, anxiety, trauma, schizophrenia, addiction, and other mental health issues. These conditions do not touch your truest, deepest self, what some may refer to as your soul or your essence. Close Cousins: Shame and Stigma It’s hard to talk about shame about suicidality without also talking about stigma. Shame comes from inside the person. It is an emotion, an internal feeling of disgrace. Stigma, on the other hand, comes from outside the person. It is a mark of disgrace. Stigma comes from the messages that society sends out, messages that there is something fundamentally bad about people if they have certain conditions or qualities. There is a tremendous amount of stigma toward people who think about, attempt or die by suicide. Many movies, press accounts, even random comments on the Internet portray suicidal individuals as cowardly, weak, selfish, defective – and so on. This harmful stigma ignores facts about biology, in particular neurobiology, illness, and the functioning of the brain. Most importantly, stigma feeds into shame. Stigma reinforces for the suicidal person the idea that something is bad about him or her. And stigma causes many people not to seek help. They simply are too embarrassed, too frightened, too ashamed. What to Do? Rather than viewing suicidal thoughts as a character flaw, it is more helpful to look at their underlying meaning. What are your suicidal thoughts telling you that you need? If you are thinking of dying, it could mean that you need to leave a toxic relationship, or quit a job, or learn new ways to cope, or do any number of things that might allow you to experience less pain without killing yourself. Your suicidal thoughts likewise could be a signal that you need a change in medication, or therapy, or more connection with others. The shame itself is telling you something, too. It is telling you that you may have a wound, an injury deep inside of you that needs healing. You may even identify this wound as your self, you true self, not as a piece of your past. Psychotherapy can help. So can other things. The practice of mindfulness meditation helps people to observe that their thoughts and feelings do not constitute their essence. Practicing compassion toward oneself can also help a person separate their selfhood from their problems or symptoms. Finally, reading about shame and its
antidotes is a powerful tonic. In particular, I recommend
the works of Brené
Brown. A good place to start
is her Ted Talks: Listening
to Shame, and The
Power of Vulnerability. Suicide
prevention experts: What you say (and don't say) could save
a person's life There's not one answer to what makes someone move from thinking about suicide to planning or attempting it, but experts say connectedness can help. "Reaching out ... can save a life," said Jill Harkavy-Friedman, a clinical psychologist and vice president of research at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. "Everybody can play a role." World Suicide Prevention Day on Sept. 10 is of particular note in the United States where suicide rates have increased nearly 30 percent over the past two decades. Did you know that September is #SuicidePrevention Awareness Month? One conversation about mental illness and suicide can change a life. Know the warning signs and where to seek help: nami.org/suicideawarenessmonth …. You are not alone. Pay attention to risk factors and warning signs The Suicide Prevention Resource Center reports that these conditions increase a person's risk:
These warning signs, whether risk factors are known or not, mean you should take action:
You can check in on people based on what you know about them, said John Draper, director of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. "All those warning signs that we’ve listed for what makes a person look suicidal are fairly generic and hard for us to be able to spot unless you’re a diagnostician," Draper said. "However, you know when a person is having relationship problems or going through a divorce — you know when somebody has serious financial loss. ... These are very human recognizable signs that people could be needing help." While experts caution that suicide is never the result of a single cause (bullying, a breakup, job loss), when those events are combined with other health, social and environmental factors they can heighten risk. The most important thing you can do is look for a change, said April Foreman, a licensed psychologist who serves on the American Association of Suicidology's board of directors. "Notice when somebody is different," Foreman said. "Trust your gut. If you’re worried, believe your worry." Take the time today to check in with friends and loved ones. Ask them how they're really feeling. And if you're worried that someone you know might be thinking about suicide, here's how & why the 5 steps of #BeThe1To can help. http://www.bethe1to.com/bethe1to-steps-evidence/ … How The 5 Steps Can Help Someone Who is Suicidal The five action steps for communicating with someone who may be suicidal are supported by evidence in the field of suicide prevention. Ask How – Asking the question “Are you thinking about suicide?” bethe1to.com What to do It's important to encourage someone who is having suicidal thoughts to call the Lifeline (800-273-8255) or text "SOS" to the crisis text line number 741741, find a support group, or reach out to a therapist, particularly one who specializes in evidence-based suicide prevention techniques such as Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Suicide Prevention. However, there are also things you can do. The National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline have identified these five steps to help reduce deaths by suicide: 1. Ask. In a private setting, ask the person you're worried about directly if they're thinking about suicide. Studies have shown that it does not "plant the idea" in someone who is not suicidal but rather reduces risk. It lets the person know you're open to talking, that there's no shame in what the person may be feeling. If a person tells you they're thinking about suicide, actively listen. Don't act shocked. Don't minimize their feelings. Don't debate the value of life itself, but rather focus on their reasons for living. 2. Keep them safe. Determine the extent of the person's suicidal thoughts. "We want to know are you thinking about killing yourself? Do you have a plan? What were you thinking of doing? Do you have the materials to do that? Have you gathered those things? Where are they? What could I do to help you stay around until this passes?" Harkavy-Freidman said. If a person does have a plan, it's important to take action to remove the lethal means. (Guns were used in 23,000 of the 45,000 deaths by suicide in 2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.) 3. Be there. If someone tells you they're thinking about suicide, continue to support them. Ask them to coffee. Give them a call. Some people will eventually stop having suicidal thoughts and feelings, others will continue to struggle throughout their lives. Deena Nyer Mendlowitz, 40, of Cleveland, is a suicide attempt survivor who has had chronic thoughts of suicide since she was 8 years old. Mendlowitz said one of the moments she felt most supported was when she was going through electroconvulsive therapy and a friend brought her a meal. "I just felt like I had a regular disease at that point, because they were doing an action they would have done for a friend who was going through anything else," she said. "And I thought, somebody cares about me in the regular way they care about people." 4. Help them connect. Encourage them to seek additional support. That could mean calling the Suicide Lifeline (800-273-8255) and the Crisis Text Line 741741, suggesting they see a mental health professional or helping them connect with a support group. Jennifer Sullivan, a 21-year-old college student at Worcester State University in Massachusetts, struggled with suicidal ideation as an adolescent. It grew worse after she was raped twice, she said. Joining a sexual assault support group made her feel less alone. "I met a fantastic group of young ladies," she said. "One became one of my best friends. When I had feelings of wanting to die or cut I would tell her I was having a bad day." 5. Follow up. Keep checking in. Call them, text them. Ask if there's anything more you can do to help. After a suicide attempt One of the risk factors for suicide is a prior attempt. Studies show that suicide survivors often experience discrimination and shame and may struggle to talk about their feelings because they are worried people will judge or avoid them. "When I started publicly speaking about my experience ... people would treat me differently," said Chief Warrant Officer Cliff Bauman a suicide survivor in the Army National Guard. "Somebody, if he was my friend and we laughed and joked the day before, now suddenly doesn’t know how to approach and talk to me." If someone you know is a suicide survivor, in addition to the steps above, the Suicide Lifeline says: Check in with them often and let them know you'll listen. Resources to get help National Suicide Prevention Line Understanding
Mental Illness Like most diseases of the body, mental illness has many causes – from genetics to other biological, environmental and social / cultural factors. And just as with most diseases, mental illnesses are no one’s fault. The unusual behaviors associated with some illnesses are symptoms of the disease – not the cause. But most importantly, mental illnesses
are treatable through medication and psychosocial therapies
– allowing those who live with them the opportunity to
lead full and productive lives. Stigma as a
Barrier to Mental Health Care This is a photo of a ladder in a tunnel.While stigma is one of many factors that may influence care seeking, it is one that has profound effects for those who suffer from mental illness: “The prejudice and discrimination of mental illness is as disabling as the illness itself. It undermines people attaining their personal goals and dissuades them from pursuing effective treatments,” says psychological scientist Patrick W. Corrigan of the Illinois Institute of Technology, lead author on the report. “One does not work long on mental health issues before recognizing the additional hardships caused by stigma,” write Former U.S. First Lady Rosalynn Carter, Rebecca Palpant Shimkets, and Thomas H. Bornemann of the Carter Center Mental Health Program in a commentary that accompanies the report. These problems continue today, they add, in the form of poor funding for research and services compared to other illnesses; structural forms of discrimination; and “widespread, inaccurate, and sensational media depictions that link mental illness with violence.” In the report, Corrigan and co-authors Benjamin G. Druss of Emory University and Deborah A. Perlick of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York synthesize the available scientific literature, identifying different types of stigma that can prevent individuals from accessing mental health care. Public stigma emerges when pervasive stereotypes — that people with mental illness are dangerous or unpredictable, for example — lead to prejudice against those who suffer from mental illness. The desire to avoid public stigma causes individuals to drop out of treatment or avoid it entirely for fear of being associated with negative stereotypes. Public stigma may also influence the beliefs and behaviors of those closest to individuals with mental illness, including friends, family, and care providers. Corrigan and colleagues note that stigma often becomes structural when it pervades societal institutions and systems. The fact that mental health care is not covered by insurance to the same extent as medical care, and the fact that mental health research is not funded to the same levels as medical research, are two clear indications that stigma targeted at mental illness continues to exist at the structural level. In the face of these realities, the report identifies approaches to addressing stigma that can help increase care seeking among those with mental illness. These approaches operate at various levels, from promoting personal stories of recovery and enhancing support systems, to instituting public policy solutions that enhance actual systems of care. Researchers, advocates, and care providers have made gains over the past few decades in increasing the number of people receiving adequate and appropriate mental health care, but stigma remains a significant barrier to care. The new report surveys existing scientific research on mental health care participation as a way of advancing efforts to eradicate this barrier. “This issue of Psychological Science in the Public Interest makes a strong start in consolidating and disseminating what we now know — that public policy, the law, and media remain our greatest resources to stimulate change and spur action,” Carter, Palpant Shimkets, and Bornemann write in their commentary. “We also need to build bridges to other fields that connect to mental health, such as public health, primary care, and education.” In taking this integrative, multi-level approach, they are confident that there is hope for the future: “Together, we can create robust systems and services all along the path of recovery and encourage early intervention and access to treatments without fear of labels or diminished opportunities. When that is achieved, we will know that our tireless efforts to eradicate stigma have been successful.” The report, “The Impact of Mental Illness Stigma on Seeking and Participating in Mental Health Care,” and the accompanying commentary, “Creating and Changing Public Policy to Reduce the Stigma of Mental Illness,” are available online for free to the public. The manuscript was made possible in
part by National Institute of Mental Health Grant MH08598
(to Patrick W. Corrigan) and Grant MH075867 (to Benjamin G.
Druss). 
4:187 Ways to Beat Mental
Health Stigma in the Black Community The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) website says, "According to the Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, African Americans are 20 percent more likely to experience serious mental health problems than the general population." They also go on to explain that while 40 percent of whites seek mental health care, only 25 percent of African Americans do. Recently I discussed the stigma around mental health in the black community with Imade Borha, the founder of the website depressedwhileblack.com and a friend of mine. We came up with seven tips that we believe will truly help people beat stigma and get on the road to recovery. 1. We need to prioritize peace of mind over material things One thing that Imade and I both observed about black culture is that there's too much time, effort, and money spent on trying to impress one another. This can be done in the form of a flashy appearance or subtle bragging, and it's all done with good intention. However, according to Imade, it's actually rooted in slavery. She believes that black people were traumatized by the scarcity our ancestors experienced in slavery. Having very few material items belonging to them, our ancestors who were slaves would obsess over the material excess they observed among slave masters, which took precedence over mental health. This obsession was passed down from generation to generation. One of the things that we need to stress is the importance of peace of mind. We need to learn to focus on this instead of looking good to each other. This might mean prioritizing therapy over clothing, cars, and other material things. 2. We need to normalize treatment instead of mental distress It's important that we learn how to better use language around mental health. For example, when people have conversations about depression, you may not hear them using the word depression. Instead, you'll hear words like tired, exhausted, or sad. According to Imade "by not calling a symptom or condition by its proper medical term, mental distress is actually being normalized.” It's important that we become more aware of the tendency to both celebrate and trivialize mental distress. We may laugh about the person who's known as the neighborhood alcoholic named Sparkles. Everyone knows Sparkles by name. But, at the end of the day, Sparkles needs help, and he's not getting it because people are not seeing the problem for what it truly is. This is just one example of how we have normalized mental distress, but we have not normalized treatment. 3. We need to redefine what "strong" is As a black man, this one really hits home with me. We love to use the terms “strong black man” and “strong black woman.” Like many other cultural habits, it comes from good intentions. But, it's really important that we widen the definition of what that means. When it comes to mental health, being strong doesn't mean that you don't need help or get help. Instead, being strong means being able to ask for help when you need it. Once someone is able to get the help that he or she need, things begin to change for the better. When it comes to mental health, being strong doesn't mean that you don't need help or get help. Instead, being strong means being able to ask for help when you need it. 4. We need more mental wellness role models in the black community We need to look at role models in the black community who are talking about mental health. For instance, we have NFL player Brandon Marshall, Michelle Williams of Destiny's Child, Mariah Carey, and one of my favorites Chirlane McCray, the First Lady of New York City. She is a huge advocate for mental health and speaks openly about the challenges that her family has struggled with. When we have role models that are inserting mental health in the conversation, it will inspire us to model them. It helps us feel less alone and reminds us that other people have the same internal battles that we do. 5. We need more resources that are easily accessible There are many resources around mental health, like HealthCentral. But, we need to spread the word and make them easily accessible in the black community. A few other good websites are Therapy for Black Girls and Therapy for Black Boys. To empower mental wellness in the black community, it’s important that we provide educators and people in positions of power with resources about mental health treatment: information about symptoms and where to go for help. 6. We need access to free therapy in black communities According to The Brookings Institution, "large gaps in median household income persist between blacks and the rest of America." In fact, there is a $10,000 difference between the incomes of black people and white people. This discrepancy makes it much more difficult for black people to have access to the same mental health treatment that whites have, if any treatment is even available in their community. That's why it's so important that we find ways to get free, high-quality therapy into the black community that can be immediately accessed. We need to get people the help they need. I don't necessarily think this treatment needs to be a government-funded. Individual non-profit organizations that want to focus on bringing mental health care to communities are one feasible way to allow better access. Ultimately, having easier access will be a step forward towards giving people the tools to empower themselves and helping the black community rise. 7. We need to be the example of self-care Improving self-care is the final step and one of the most important actions towards breaking the stigma when it comes to mental health in the black community. "We need to live as the example of what self-care is so others can see that example," says Imade. Leading by example will help you navigate your mental health challenges and help the people in your life take better steps toward mental wellness. It's important to remember that self-care looks a little different to each person. The following are examples of what this might look like:
One final note One last insight from Imade was the importance of creating a stigma-free zone. "There needs to be a safe space to bring mental health into the conversation. So, when you are socializing with people and talking about mental health in your own life or listening to others share, you need to be intentional about making it a safe space. People need to know that it's okay to discuss. In a safe space, there's no shaming, there's no blaming, and there's no cutting off the conversation. It's just a safe space." These seven strategies can help the
black community beat stigma and get on the road to
recovery. If You Suspect
Someone Is Thinking of Giving Up … There’s a misconception that discussing suicide might plant the idea, but it just doesn’t work like this. If someone is contemplating suicide, the idea will already be there. If they aren’t, talking about it won’t put the idea into their mind. Suicide isn’t caused by asking the question. Never has been. According to Dr Scott Poland, one of the major causes of suicide are feelings of isolation and disconnectedness. People who are suicidal are hurting. Knowing that someone has cared enough to notice and ask the question can interrupt the path towards suicide enough for the person to seek help. Be direct. To start with, try something like, ‘You seem a bit down lately. Can we talk about it?’ Then, if you suspect, even in the slightest, that the person might be suicidal ask the question directly. ‘People who feel like that sometimes think about suicide. Do you have any thoughts of suicide?’ or just, ‘Are you thinking that you don’t want to live anymore?’ Skirting around the issue by using words like ‘hurting yourself,’ instead of ‘suicide,’ can give the message that talking about suicide is unacceptable and might undermine the conversation. Suicidal people aren’t interesting in ‘hurting themselves’, they’re interested in killing themselves. An indirect question is less likely to bring about a direct response. And If The Answer is ‘Yes’? If the answer is ‘yes’, take it seriously and don’t minimise the situation with responses like, ‘plenty of people feel like this but they don’t kill themselves,’ or, ‘it’s not that bad’. If someone is thinking of killing themselves, it is that bad. It’s as bad as it gets. What other people in the same situation did will be completely irrelevant. Tell them you’re there for them and you’ll get through this together, let them know depression is treatable and help them get help. An important question in response to hearing someone is suicidal is to ask if the person has worked out how they would do it. If the answer is ‘I don’t know,’ let them know that you’re here for them and help them get help. If the response reveals a clear intention to suicide and a plan, ask about the plan. Dr Pollard suggests to ask questions as though you were asking about a trip the person was going on: – where, when, how. Most importantly, get help immediately (call a national suicide support line or crisis text line like 741741, or take the person to a doctor or hospital, or if they won’t go, call the doctor or hospital for help). Most importantly, don’t leave the person alone. Sometimes, if somebody has made the decision to suicide, they may seem happier than they have for a long time. This can be mistaken for a sign that the person has worked their way through to the other side of their depression and is feeling genuinely happier. What’s more likely is that the happy change has come about because the person has found a way to end their hurt, and it will just be a matter of time. In this situation, stay vigilant, stay close and get help. Talking about suicide is the surest
way to keep safe those whose pain feels unbearable. It
doesn’t matter is the words you choose aren’t the
perfect ones. It’s not about the words – it’s
about the connection and anything said with compassion and a
genuine intent will not do any harm. Latest Evidence
Based Youth Suicide Warning Signs In August 2013, AAS, NCPYS, and SAMHSA, convened an expert panel at SAMHSA headquarters in Rockville, Maryland. The panel consisted of researchers with extensive experience working with suicidal youth, developing a greater understanding of the factors related to suicide, and coming up with new treatments to assist those suffering in silence. Also included were public health officials, clinicians with decades of individual experience helping suicidal youth, and various other stakeholders including individuals representing national organizations focused on suicide prevention and school teachers. Prior to the meeting, the experts reviewed and analyzed the available literature. In addition, leadership at AAS and SAVE conducted a survey of youth suicide attempt survivors, as well as those who lost youth to suicide. The goal was to determine what changes occurred immediately before the suicide attempt or death. The panel met for one and a half days with the task of hearing about and reviewing the full body of literature available on the topic and determining a consensus list of warning signs for youth suicide that are rooted in science and our best understanding of clinical practice. SAVE then facilitated focus groups in order to refine messaging. The information provided on this website reflects the consensus view of the expert panel. Panelists included:
Source: www.youthsuicidewarningsigns.org/about Talking Openly
About Mental Illness What if there were a space you could go where you could talk to people who would not judge you, people could be there for you unconditionally, who would just listen? What if that space wasn’t a support group, a place that’s defined explicitly as something that’s “for” people with mental illness in their lives? What if it could be a mix of people with direct lived experience -- people who have struggled themselves, perhaps thought about or attempted suicide, people who are actively facing the ins-and-outs of real life mental illness -- and people who have loved ones who have struggled, attempted suicide, died by suicide? I had this experience in the days leading up to the Out of the Darkness Overnight Walk. The Overnight is a tradition (and fundraiser) organized by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). This year was my second overnight. I walked in D.C. alongside my mom and a group of new friends; last year, I walked among friends and strangers in New York. AFSP provides a number of resources for people facing mental illness and their loved ones, particularly for people who have lost someone to suicide. The Overnight, in many ways, is one of these resources, a chance to connect with others who also have personal experiences with mental illness. The group I connected with was brought together by Elijah’s Journey, an initiative that aims to be a Jewish resource on the issues of suicide and suicide prevention. We were connected not only by our life experiences with mental illness, but by our Jewish backgrounds. Did that similarity make it easier to speak openly? Traditionally, Jewish communities have been quiet, sometimes silent, about suicide. Like other social issues, such as addiction or domestic violence, mental illness and suicide can be frightening to face in an insular community. People facing mental illness as well as families left behind after a suicide death sometimes describe feeling isolated, on the margins, or misunderstood by their Jewish communities. This experience is not unique to the Jewish community. It likely crosses the boundaries of other communities with a history of marginalization. There is fear of “airing our dirty laundry” and being judged by “outsiders.” Still, in this group, we spoke more openly about our experiences of struggle, sadness, fear, loss, and moving forward than, I’d venture to guess, close friends of many years might speak about these issues. We kept noticing, and saying, that it seemed like we’d been best friends for years. Truly, we had just met. What created a space of safety? I’d venture to guess that, at least in part, it’s love. Love, as defined in the dictionary as “an intense feeling of deep affection.” But, also, love as defined in an excerpt from this poem by Marge Piercy, called “To Have Without Holding”: love with the hands wide open, love with the doors banging on their hinges, the cupboard unlocked, the wind roaring and whimpering in the rooms rustling the sheets and snapping the blinds that thwack like rubber bands in an open palm. It hurts to love wide open It hurts to thwart the reflexes There isn’t research to support love, but there is research to support the idea that “connectedness” serves as a protective factor, and that feeling a sense of “belongingness” helps people feel that they want to live. Loving consciously, conscientiously,
concretely, and constructively. Imagine the life-saving
power of doing so. Local rap artist
battles suicide with music A local rap artist is taking on the tough issue with his talents -- a song playing on DC-area radio stations. WUSA9 played the song for activists with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The reactions were emotional. The artist is from Gaithersburg and goes by Logic. His real name is Bobby Tarantino. He was interviewed about the song on the Genius Video Series called “Verified.” RELATED: Preventing teenage suicide & depression “Hopefully I am never there, but I know a lot of people who have,” Tarantino is heard saying. The song’s called 1-800-273-8255. That’s the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. “I’ve been on the low, I’ve been taking my time. I feel like I’m out of my line,” are the first few lines of the song. Then the first chorus goes, “I don’t want to be alive…I just want to die, I don’t want to be alive.” The three women listened to the entire song. Leigh Boswell said she was holding back tears. Ali Walker told WUSA9, “That deep, emotional pain that people are feeling, that’s really tough to listen to as somebody who has lost someone to suicide.” “That’s a very difficult thing to hear and acknowledge," said Ellen Shannon. Shannon’s the Area Director for the National Capital Area Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. In Virginia, which is where she works, the AFSP says suicide is the second-leading cause of death for people ages 15-34. “My daughter’s had two suicides at her school, I live in Loudoun County – Stonebridge High School, in the last six months,” said Boswell. Boswell organized last year’s Walk to Fight Suicide in Fairfax, Va.
The song starts off as dark and difficult to hear, but then it takes a turn. “I want you to be alive,” the lyrics say, “You don’t gotta die today.” “As difficult as it is to listen to, it ends on a positive and hopeful message and one that resonates with me and I hope resonates with a lot of people: is that there is a lot of help out there available…unfortunately I lost my friend but hopefully if we work together, a lot of people will hold onto their loved ones,” said Walker. What can be done? Click here for upcoming AFSP events in the National Capital area. The AFSP works with the National
Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Shannon says since the song
came out, the volume of calls to the lifeline have
increased. This
Instagrammer is battling mental health issues one post at a
time Fox has struggled with depression her whole life and grew up feeling like there was an unavoidable stigma around it. "I knew what depression was when I was younger so I wasn't too in the dark about what was going on in my head," she says. "I think that knowledge and education is key." She believes that giving children the language to discuss mental health at an early age is important. Fox herself did not seek professional help until she was older since she felt like she couldn't talk about it. "I notice the most common problem is that girls feel like they have nobody to speak to, they have no one they can relate to. The feeling of solitude is a common struggle." A relationship with a physically abusive boyfriend was when things hit rock bottom and prompted Fox to chronicle her struggles through a personal documentary titled Conversations with Friends. "I refer to the film as my "coming out" party for my depression," Fox says. The film ultimately ignited a larger conversation about depression when she found her inbox full of stories similar to hers. "Girls from all over the world requested advice, mentorship, and guidance through their own mental illnesses. I felt the need to create a platform for girls so they know they're not alone." Sad Girls Club's Instagram now has a following of over fifteen thousand with members from around the world. Right now, Sad Girls Club hosts impromptu meet-ups and chalks "positive affirmative" graffiti around New York City. But the Brooklyn-based filmmaker wants to expand the movement into other parts of the country and eventually all over the world. "I'm working to spread SadGirlsClub IRL events across the country." That includes a Kickstarter campaign to launch a "Millennial Mental Health Tour" that aims to visit 5 major cities to conduct workshops and panels geared at helping women talk about and cope with mental health issues. Fox is dedicated and wants to help as
many women as possible, but she also understands that it's a
long journey and encourages girls all around the world with
limited or no access mental health care to form their own
support groups. "Create your own Sad Girls Club with your
close friends to have a support system. Even if it's only
two of you, having that foundation to fall back on can help
you feel less alone supported," she says. And of course, she
and the Sad Girls Club account are always there. "I know
it's easier said than done but please know you're not
alone." What is Stigma?
The Facts Like most diseases of the body, mental illness has many causes – from genetics to other biological, environmental and social / cultural factors. And just as with most diseases, mental illnesses are no one’s fault. The unusual behaviors associated with some illnesses are symptoms of the disease – not the cause. But most importantly, mental illnesses are treatable through medication and psychosocial therapies – allowing those who live with them the opportunity to lead full and productive lives. FICTION: People living with a mental illness are often violent. FACT: Actually, the vast majority of people living with mental health conditions are no more violent than anyone else. People with mental illness are much more likely to be the victims of crime. FICTION: Mental illness is a sign of weakness. FACT: A mental illness is not caused by personal weakness — nor can it be cured by positive thinking or willpower — proper treatment is needed. FICTION: Only military personnel who have been in combat can be diagnosed with PTSD. FACT: While PTSD is prevalent in men and women who have seen combat, experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event can trigger PTSD, including violent personal assaults such as rape or robbery, natural or human-caused disasters, or accidents. FICTION: People with a mental illness will never get better. FACT: For some people, a mental illness may be a lifelong condition, like diabetes. But as with diabetes, proper treatment enables many people with a mental illness to lead fulfilling and productive lives. FICTION: Children aren’t diagnosed wtih mental illness. FACT: Millions of children are affected by depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses. As a matter of fact, 1 in 10 children live with a diagnosable mental illness. Getting treatment is essential. FICTION: “Mental illness can’t affect me!” FACT: Mental illness can affect
anyone. While some illnesses have a genetic risk, mental
illness can affect people of all ages, races and income
levels, whether or not there is a family
history. Newburg Oregon
Girl Got A Clever Tattoo To Get The Conversation Going About
Depression Miles was diagnosed with depression last year, and she told BuzzFeed that she sought help after hearing her college professor’s story of dealing with depression. In a class I had with her, she opened up about her own struggles that she has faced with her own mental illness. After getting help herself, Miles decided she wanted to do something to get a conversation started about the disorder. Last week, she got a tattoo that at first appears to read “I’m fine.” But when you look at it from her perspective from above, it reads “Save me.” The picture was accompanied by some of her thoughts on depression. The post reads in part: Last year, I was diagnosed with depression. And in all honesty, I believe it was a problem for quite a while before that, but I think it just got worse to the point of hardly functioning. It ends with a quote attributed to Robin Williams: I think that saddest people always ty their hardest to make people happy because they know what it's like to feel absolutely worthless and they don't want anyone else to feel like that. - Robin Williams Since sharing the picture on Facebook last Sunday, the post went viral with over 290,000 likes and around 250,000 shares at the time of this writing. The comments — roughly 27,000 of them — have been overwhelmingly positive. Since sharing the picture on Facebook last Sunday, the post went viral with over 290,000 likes and around 250,000 shares at the time of this writing. The comments — roughly 27,000 of them — have been overwhelmingly positive. Miles has since followed up with another post saying she’s glad to get the message out there, and hopes the conversation will continue. She went on to tell BuzzFeed about her ultimate goal. “The stigma needs to end. And I know that this post won’t end it, but I sure hope and want to be a part of the fight against it.” If you or someone you know has depression, the National Network of Depression Centers can be a good resource for help. Need more buzz like this in your life?
Sign up for the BuzzFeed Today newsletter! Joy Turns to
Pain When You Flip Over These Clever Suicide-Prevention Ads
Real message is upside down I know what
will wipe out mental health stigma Parents are motivated to seek help and are risking the fallout of reaching out because the risk of losing their child outweighs their fear of living with shame. Then there is the awareness, rising suicide rates, media coverage and the opiate epidemic which has cut across all racial and socioeconomic groups including politicians. All of this works in tandem together to raise awareness and educate millions. But that’s just part of it. It’s not the secret sauce The one thing that has been the most influential is you. Yes, you are the secret sauce. You will be the ones wiping out stigma. How? I can sit here and write all day but I’m a minority in this game. With no audience, no one to help me carry the message, it would die right here collecting server dust. Those of us who have lost a loved one or are currently struggling with mental illness can’t do it alone. It’s our friends who run along beside us, holding us up and encouraging us in our darkest hour that are making a difference. It’s a group effort and you are our cheerleaders–the catalyst that is sparking change. It’s an effort of love and compassion which restores my faith in humanity You have decided to stand up for something. You’ve decided that you are not ashamed to post any of this on your social media profiles. You have guts. For that I am grateful. Because we are starting to see real conversation and real change. People everywhere are speaking out and you are amplifying that message and emphasizing the importance of family because you’ve seen the results of doing nothing and staying silent. People not supporting depression or addiction as an illness have already started to look old, stodgy, uninformed and close minded. I believe in less than two years, it will be ‘uncool’ to talk about mental illness or addiction as moral failings. If there is one thing people don’t like, they don’t like to look bad. Or stupid. That alone will incentivize people to change their minds. Now you have the secret. It’s
you, the carriers of these messages. Hope, help for
teens with mental illness 90% of teens who commit suicide had underlying mental illness, according to NAMI. About half of all instances of mental illness begin by age 14, according to NAMI. Graham Moore, the Academy Award winner for Best Adapted Screenplay, said in his acceptance speech Sunday that he contemplated suicide at age 16. He urged kids who feel weird, different, or like they don't belong to stick it out: "Stay weird, stay different," he said, Oscar in hand. "And then when it's your turn, and you are standing on this stage, please pass the same message to the next person who comes along." It was a moment of national awareness for teen suicide, the third-leading cause of death among youths ages 10-24. Moore later told reporters he had depression as a teen. Just a couple days before the Academy Awards, a 9-year-old Detroit boy hanged himself after getting into an argument with his family. Three years ago, there were headlines about a 7-year-old Detroit boy who killed himself after being bullied. Suicide is most common among people with mental illness. The National Alliance on Mental Illness reports that 90% of youths who died by suicide had an underlying mental illness. To address that, and to offer help to kids who are suffering and their families, the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and a coalition of other organizations plans to host a conference at 1 p.m. Sunday about teen mental health at West Bloomfield High School. Wren Beaulieu-Hack of West Bloomfield is among the organizers of the conference. She said she will never forget the agony of watching her 6-year-old daughter fight through mood swings, bouts of extreme sadness, and explosive tantrums. Wren Beaulieu-Hack of West Bloomfield is chairwoman Wren Beaulieu-Hack of West Bloomfield is chairwoman of the youth professional council of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit. (Photo: Joel Q. Hack) "By the time she was 9 or 10 years old, she was saying, 'Mommy, I want to die. I don't know why, I just want to die,' " she said. "This is a 9-year-old child. This isn't a child who's aware of anything other than an overwhelming desire. "When your child says, 'I just want to die, Mommy,' you can't say, 'Let's go get a lollipop and it'll be all better, honey." Beaulieu-Hack's little girl, Maggie, eventually was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but was terrified to tell anyone; she worried that she'd be shunned at school or treated differently. She tried to hide her illness, but by the time she came home at the end of the school day, she would practically explode with pent-up emotion, Beaulieu-Hack said. "She was in her junior year in high school before she told a single friend," she said. "The reality is our kids are hiding, and they shouldn't have to. And nor should the families have to hide. The parents are hiding." Beaulieu-Hack, chairwoman of the youth professional council of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, is trying to ensure that no one needs to hide anymore. She wants those who are struggling and dealing with the shame of a mental health condition — which affect 20% of teens, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness — to know there is help. There are people who understand. Among those who do is Ross Szabo, CEO of the Human Power Project and author of "Behind Happy Faces: Talking about Mental Health and Teen Mental Illness." He was diagnosed at age 16 with bipolar disorder, and plans to speak at the conference. Ross Szabo, CEO of the Human Power Project and author of “Behind Happy Faces: Talking about Mental Health and Teen Mental Illness" is to speak at a conference at West Bloomfield High School March 1. (Photo: Ben Zeiber) "We treat mental health conferences like conferences for other people," he told the Free Press in a phone interview last week. "When what we're seeing more and more now is that mental health can affect so many different aspects of your life. I wish it was possible to treat mental health conferences like they're conferences for all people. They're really for everybody." Szabo developed a mental health curriculum for schools and colleges that teaches coping mechanisms, gives students a vocabulary to describe how they're feeling and helps them know what to do if a friend needs help. "I think the most important thing is to make mental health approachable," he said. "We need to remove the stigma, let students know they can talk about whatever they're going through, giving them a vocabulary so when they're talking about what they're going through they can talk about it with the right words." Those who attend the conference will get information, as well as resources that can help families as they work to address mental health issues. Those resources are vital as services and medications often are not covered by health insurance. "My daughter has never been covered by insurance — prescriptions or the care or hospitalization," Beaulieu-Hack said. "There were months I was spending $800 for prescriptions just for her. An awareness many people don't have is the immense cost." Beyond that, Szabo says, is the emotional toll. "We don't talk about emotions, period," Szabo said. "We don't talk about emotional situations, period, and we don't think mental illnesses are treatable. We create an environment where someone does feel a lot of shame and embarrassment, and they may feel weak for not being able to control what they're going through. Contact Kristen Jordan Shamus: 313-222-5997 or kshamus@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @kristenshamus. A community conference on teen mental health, called "The Dark Secret of Teen Mental Illness," is open to the public and begins at 1 p.m. Sunday at West Bloomfield High School, 4925 Orchard Lake Road, West Bloomfield. Preregistration is a $5 donation to Common Ground Sanctuary, or $10 at the door. Register online at jewishdetroit.org/events. Get help If you are, or someone you know is, considering suicide or need help right away, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 or call 911. Warning signs of mental illness Every form of mental illness has its own symptoms but the National Alliance on Mental Illness, www.nami.org, reports that some common signs in adults and teens can include:
For young children, because they're still learning how to identify and talk about thoughts and emotions, their most obvious symptoms are behavioral, and may include:
Source: www.freep.com/story/life/family/2015/02/27/teen-mental-health-conference/24152679/
Between the
Lines: Suicide’s Shameful Stigma If there is an antidote for suicide, we have yet to find it. But we can be fairly certain that sneers of “get over it” are as helpful as shouting at a drowning person to swim. An antidote is exactly what the U.S. needs, as the suicide rate in this nation is on a steady rise. Since 2003, the suicide rate in America has grown by 4.2 percent annually. Overall, 5,100 people in Massachusetts killed themselves between 2003 and 2012, according to the Winter 2015 Suicides and Self-inflicted Injuries in Massachusetts Data Summary produced by the Department of Public Health. In 2012, there were 624 suicides in the state. This elevated the suicide rate from 6.6 deaths per 100,000 people in 2003 to 9.4 deaths. Suicide isn’t just a problem in the U.S. According to the World Health Organization, it is the third leading cause of death worldwide. Despite this growing health concern, care and services for suicidal people and their loved ones are seriously lacking. This probably has a lot to do with the social stigma attached to having suicidal thoughts and seeking help from loved ones or professionals. The social shame associated with suicide keeps many quiet, the WHO and state health department noted. In fact, suicides in this nation and worldwide are underreported because people will try to disguise their deaths as accidents — like a single car crash or asphyxiation — and loved ones are often too embarrassed, guilty, or ashamed to admit that a death was a suicide. This needs to stop before we lose more bright, creative, caring people to self-harm. The U.S. and the world can no longer treat suicide as a taboo subject. Having suicidal thoughts does not make a person weak. Many people, at some point in their lives, consider suicide. But discussing suicidal ideation may seem horrifying. Fear of rejection, of not being taken seriously, or of being carted off to a mental hospital against one’s will conspire to keep suicidal thoughts a nightmare of one. The first thing the state and the nation can do to crack the stigma that keeps people from seeking help is to decriminalize suicide. Calling suicide and attempted suicide a crime reinforces the stigma that suicide, and suicidal people, are dangerous and need to be punished. That’s the message being sent from the top, and until that changes, cultural attitudes about mental health and suicide are going to be slow to shift. The next thing the state and the nation will need to do to quash this preventable and painful scourge is to start funding community mental health services. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is the government’s arm in the field of suicide prevention, and it has been dialing back programs that address suicide. In 2014, for example, SAMHSA requested $50 million for suicide prevention programs — $8 million less than what they asked for in 2012, according to the TIME article “Inside the National Suicide Hotline: Preventing the Next Tragedy.” But increased funding must be spent wisely, and when it comes to current suicide prevention, it’s mostly trial and error to see what works, with little ability to collect data on effectiveness. As the research community will acknowledge, figuring out whether an anti-suicide strategy works is difficult. Unless the suicidal person comes back to where she received services and says, “You saved my life,” there’s no way of knowing. Right now, the country’s most visible form of suicide prevention is the National Suicide Prevention Hotline, which provides a person to talk to 24/7 at (800) 273-8255. As someone who has needed to avail myself of the hotline’s services before, I can tell you that the people who pick up the phone are well-meaning but, at least in my experience, woefully unprepared to provide assistance. The last time I called the hotline, about three years ago, it was to get advice on how to help a suicidal friend, but the operator refused to believe I wasn’t suicidal. She asked me over and over again whether this “friend” I was calling for was really myself. My friend was on the edge and I couldn’t wrangle any help from the hotline, which was disappointing. I hung up and called the Springfield police to conduct a wellness check on my friend. I’m not sure how that played out. My friend is still alive, but that night was the last time I spoke with her. I’m pretty sure that night was also the first night she reached out to anyone for help with her suicidal thoughts. But she needed help long before that and never got it because she was too afraid admitting her problem would get her locked up in a mental institution away from her children. A single mother should not feel like her only options are killing herself or suffering in silence. An alternative to the Natinoal Phone Helpline was developed in August of 2013. It is a national, confidential, 24/7 Crisis Text Line number 741741 for everyone, but especially youth in crisis whose main form of communication is not talking but texting. Suicide is wiping out large swaths of our population. The time to sweep mental illness and suicidal thoughts out of our hearts and minds is over. Suicide should be discussed openly and without fear — it is the only way to take power away from this twisted killer. Politicians can show real leadership in this by ridding the nation of the stigma and decriminalizing suicide.• Kristin Palpini can be contacted at
editor@valleyadvocate.com. Newburg Oregon
Girl Got A Clever Tattoo To Get The Conversation Going About
Depression Miles was diagnosed with depression last year, and she told BuzzFeed that she sought help after hearing her college professor’s story of dealing with depression. In a class I had with her, she opened up about her own struggles that she has faced with her own mental illness. After getting help herself, Miles decided she wanted to do something to get a conversation started about the disorder. Last week, she got a tattoo that at first appears to read “I’m fine.” But when you look at it from her perspective from above, it reads “Save me.” The picture was accompanied by some of her thoughts on depression. The post reads in part: Last year, I was diagnosed with depression. And in all honesty, I believe it was a problem for quite a while before that, but I think it just got worse to the point of hardly functioning. It ends with a quote attributed to Robin Williams: I think that saddest people always ty their hardest to make people happy because they know what it's like to feel absolutely worthless and they don't want anyone else to feel like that. - Robin Williams Since sharing the picture on Facebook last Sunday, the post went viral with over 290,000 likes and around 250,000 shares at the time of this writing. The comments — roughly 27,000 of them — have been overwhelmingly positive. Since sharing the picture on Facebook last Sunday, the post went viral with over 290,000 likes and around 250,000 shares at the time of this writing. The comments — roughly 27,000 of them — have been overwhelmingly positive. Miles has since followed up with another post saying she’s glad to get the message out there, and hopes the conversation will continue. She went on to tell BuzzFeed about her ultimate goal. “The stigma needs to end. And I know that this post won’t end it, but I sure hope and want to be a part of the fight against it.” If you or someone you know has depression, the National Network of Depression Centers can be a good resource for help. Need more buzz like this in your life?
Sign up for the BuzzFeed Today newsletter! I know what
will wipe out mental health stigma Parents are motivated to seek help and are risking the fallout of reaching out because the risk of losing their child outweighs their fear of living with shame. Then there is the awareness, rising suicide rates, media coverage and the opiate epidemic which has cut across all racial and socioeconomic groups including politicians. All of this works in tandem together to raise awareness and educate millions. But that’s just part of it. It’s not the secret sauce The one thing that has been the most influential is you. Yes, you are the secret sauce. You will be the ones wiping out stigma. How? I can sit here and write all day but I’m a minority in this game. With no audience, no one to help me carry the message, it would die right here collecting server dust. Those of us who have lost a loved one or are currently struggling with mental illness can’t do it alone. It’s our friends who run along beside us, holding us up and encouraging us in our darkest hour that are making a difference. It’s a group effort and you are our cheerleaders–the catalyst that is sparking change. It’s an effort of love and compassion which restores my faith in humanity You have decided to stand up for something. You’ve decided that you are not ashamed to post any of this on your social media profiles. You have guts. For that I am grateful. Because we are starting to see real conversation and real change. People everywhere are speaking out and you are amplifying that message and emphasizing the importance of family because you’ve seen the results of doing nothing and staying silent. People not supporting depression or addiction as an illness have already started to look old, stodgy, uninformed and close minded. I believe in less than two years, it will be ‘uncool’ to talk about mental illness or addiction as moral failings. If there is one thing people don’t like, they don’t like to look bad. Or stupid. That alone will incentivize people to change their minds. Now you have the secret. It’s
you, the carriers of these messages. Hope, help for
teens with mental illness 90% of teens who commit suicide had underlying mental illness, according to NAMI. About half of all instances of mental illness begin by age 14, according to NAMI. Graham Moore, the Academy Award winner for Best Adapted Screenplay, said in his acceptance speech Sunday that he contemplated suicide at age 16. He urged kids who feel weird, different, or like they don't belong to stick it out: "Stay weird, stay different," he said, Oscar in hand. "And then when it's your turn, and you are standing on this stage, please pass the same message to the next person who comes along." It was a moment of national awareness for teen suicide, the third-leading cause of death among youths ages 10-24. Moore later told reporters he had depression as a teen. Just a couple days before the Academy Awards, a 9-year-old Detroit boy hanged himself after getting into an argument with his family. Three years ago, there were headlines about a 7-year-old Detroit boy who killed himself after being bullied. Suicide is most common among people with mental illness. The National Alliance on Mental Illness reports that 90% of youths who died by suicide had an underlying mental illness. To address that, and to offer help to kids who are suffering and their families, the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and a coalition of other organizations plans to host a conference at 1 p.m. Sunday about teen mental health at West Bloomfield High School. Wren Beaulieu-Hack of West Bloomfield is among the organizers of the conference. She said she will never forget the agony of watching her 6-year-old daughter fight through mood swings, bouts of extreme sadness, and explosive tantrums. Wren Beaulieu-Hack of West Bloomfield is chairwoman Wren Beaulieu-Hack of West Bloomfield is chairwoman of the youth professional council of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit. (Photo: Joel Q. Hack) "By the time she was 9 or 10 years old, she was saying, 'Mommy, I want to die. I don't know why, I just want to die,' " she said. "This is a 9-year-old child. This isn't a child who's aware of anything other than an overwhelming desire. "When your child says, 'I just want to die, Mommy,' you can't say, 'Let's go get a lollipop and it'll be all better, honey." Beaulieu-Hack's little girl, Maggie, eventually was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but was terrified to tell anyone; she worried that she'd be shunned at school or treated differently. She tried to hide her illness, but by the time she came home at the end of the school day, she would practically explode with pent-up emotion, Beaulieu-Hack said. "She was in her junior year in high school before she told a single friend," she said. "The reality is our kids are hiding, and they shouldn't have to. And nor should the families have to hide. The parents are hiding." Beaulieu-Hack, chairwoman of the youth professional council of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, is trying to ensure that no one needs to hide anymore. She wants those who are struggling and dealing with the shame of a mental health condition — which affect 20% of teens, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness — to know there is help. There are people who understand. Among those who do is Ross Szabo, CEO of the Human Power Project and author of "Behind Happy Faces: Talking about Mental Health and Teen Mental Illness." He was diagnosed at age 16 with bipolar disorder, and plans to speak at the conference. Ross Szabo, CEO of the Human Power Project and author of “Behind Happy Faces: Talking about Mental Health and Teen Mental Illness" is to speak at a conference at West Bloomfield High School March 1. (Photo: Ben Zeiber) "We treat mental health conferences like conferences for other people," he told the Free Press in a phone interview last week. "When what we're seeing more and more now is that mental health can affect so many different aspects of your life. I wish it was possible to treat mental health conferences like they're conferences for all people. They're really for everybody." Szabo developed a mental health curriculum for schools and colleges that teaches coping mechanisms, gives students a vocabulary to describe how they're feeling and helps them know what to do if a friend needs help. "I think the most important thing is to make mental health approachable," he said. "We need to remove the stigma, let students know they can talk about whatever they're going through, giving them a vocabulary so when they're talking about what they're going through they can talk about it with the right words." Those who attend the conference will get information, as well as resources that can help families as they work to address mental health issues. Those resources are vital as services and medications often are not covered by health insurance. "My daughter has never been covered by insurance — prescriptions or the care or hospitalization," Beaulieu-Hack said. "There were months I was spending $800 for prescriptions just for her. An awareness many people don't have is the immense cost." Beyond that, Szabo says, is the emotional toll. "We don't talk about emotions, period," Szabo said. "We don't talk about emotional situations, period, and we don't think mental illnesses are treatable. We create an environment where someone does feel a lot of shame and embarrassment, and they may feel weak for not being able to control what they're going through. Contact Kristen Jordan Shamus: 313-222-5997 or kshamus@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @kristenshamus. A community conference on teen mental health, called "The Dark Secret of Teen Mental Illness," is open to the public and begins at 1 p.m. Sunday at West Bloomfield High School, 4925 Orchard Lake Road, West Bloomfield. Preregistration is a $5 donation to Common Ground Sanctuary, or $10 at the door. Register online at jewishdetroit.org/events. Get help If you are, or someone you know is, considering suicide or need help right away, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 or call 911. Warning signs of mental illness Every form of mental illness has its own symptoms but the National Alliance on Mental Illness, www.nami.org, reports that some common signs in adults and teens can include:
For young children, because they're still learning how to identify and talk about thoughts and emotions, their most obvious symptoms are behavioral, and may include:
Source: www.freep.com/story/life/family/2015/02/27/teen-mental-health-conference/24152679/
Between the
Lines: Suicide’s Shameful Stigma If there is an antidote for suicide, we have yet to find it. But we can be fairly certain that sneers of “get over it” are as helpful as shouting at a drowning person to swim. An antidote is exactly what the U.S. needs, as the suicide rate in this nation is on a steady rise. Since 2003, the suicide rate in America has grown by 4.2 percent annually. Overall, 5,100 people in Massachusetts killed themselves between 2003 and 2012, according to the Winter 2015 Suicides and Self-inflicted Injuries in Massachusetts Data Summary produced by the Department of Public Health. In 2012, there were 624 suicides in the state. This elevated the suicide rate from 6.6 deaths per 100,000 people in 2003 to 9.4 deaths. Suicide isn’t just a problem in the U.S. According to the World Health Organization, it is the third leading cause of death worldwide. Despite this growing health concern, care and services for suicidal people and their loved ones are seriously lacking. This probably has a lot to do with the social stigma attached to having suicidal thoughts and seeking help from loved ones or professionals. The social shame associated with suicide keeps many quiet, the WHO and state health department noted. In fact, suicides in this nation and worldwide are underreported because people will try to disguise their deaths as accidents — like a single car crash or asphyxiation — and loved ones are often too embarrassed, guilty, or ashamed to admit that a death was a suicide. This needs to stop before we lose more bright, creative, caring people to self-harm. The U.S. and the world can no longer treat suicide as a taboo subject. Having suicidal thoughts does not make a person weak. Many people, at some point in their lives, consider suicide. But discussing suicidal ideation may seem horrifying. Fear of rejection, of not being taken seriously, or of being carted off to a mental hospital against one’s will conspire to keep suicidal thoughts a nightmare of one. The first thing the state and the nation can do to crack the stigma that keeps people from seeking help is to decriminalize suicide. Calling suicide and attempted suicide a crime reinforces the stigma that suicide, and suicidal people, are dangerous and need to be punished. That’s the message being sent from the top, and until that changes, cultural attitudes about mental health and suicide are going to be slow to shift. The next thing the state and the nation will need to do to quash this preventable and painful scourge is to start funding community mental health services. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is the government’s arm in the field of suicide prevention, and it has been dialing back programs that address suicide. In 2014, for example, SAMHSA requested $50 million for suicide prevention programs — $8 million less than what they asked for in 2012, according to the TIME article “Inside the National Suicide Hotline: Preventing the Next Tragedy.” But increased funding must be spent wisely, and when it comes to current suicide prevention, it’s mostly trial and error to see what works, with little ability to collect data on effectiveness. As the research community will acknowledge, figuring out whether an anti-suicide strategy works is difficult. Unless the suicidal person comes back to where she received services and says, “You saved my life,” there’s no way of knowing. Right now, the country’s most visible form of suicide prevention is the National Suicide Prevention Hotline, which provides a person to talk to 24/7 at (800) 273-8255. As someone who has needed to avail myself of the hotline’s services before, I can tell you that the people who pick up the phone are well-meaning but, at least in my experience, woefully unprepared to provide assistance. The last time I called the hotline, about three years ago, it was to get advice on how to help a suicidal friend, but the operator refused to believe I wasn’t suicidal. She asked me over and over again whether this “friend” I was calling for was really myself. My friend was on the edge and I couldn’t wrangle any help from the hotline, which was disappointing. I hung up and called the Springfield police to conduct a wellness check on my friend. I’m not sure how that played out. My friend is still alive, but that night was the last time I spoke with her. I’m pretty sure that night was also the first night she reached out to anyone for help with her suicidal thoughts. But she needed help long before that and never got it because she was too afraid admitting her problem would get her locked up in a mental institution away from her children. A single mother should not feel like her only options are killing herself or suffering in silence. Suicide is wiping out large swaths of our population. The time to sweep mental illness and suicidal thoughts out of our hearts and minds is over. Suicide should be discussed openly and without fear — it is the only way to take power away from this twisted killer. Politicians can show real leadership in this by ridding the nation of the stigma and decriminalizing suicide.• Kristin Palpini can be contacted at editor@valleyadvocate.com Source: valleyadvocate.com/2016/03/29/suicides-shameful-stigma/
Using school
bathrooms to promote mental health Therein is our campaign. Put a message in front of them. While out campaign slogans are printed
and include the national suicide helpline phone number and
the Crisis
Text Line number 741741, a
visit to https://www.healthyplace.com/insight/quotes/quotes-on-mental-illness-stigma/
will give you over 100 sayiings with meaningful images in
four color. Some are more adult oriented, but a number are
ideal to speak to different age levels of our students. What
you might do is note where you attach a particular imaage
and incourage students to take one home that is very meaning
for you. (or keep it in their note book, locker, mirror at
home as a reminder that they are more than their
issues. Costs
of Stereotypes There is a "huge cost to belief in overinflated claims about gender differences -- costs in interpersonal relationships [and] in the workplace," she says. For instance, self-esteem issues are usually mentioned for teen girls, not teen boys, Hyde notes. "We could overlook the boys with self-esteem problems because we're so focused on girls' problems," she says. Likewise, Hyde says she doesn't want to see girls' math ability downplayed because people mistakenly believe that boys are better at math. Tendency to Typecast The media often play up gender differences, and people often do the same thing, Hyde notes. "Humans have a tendency to categorize," she says. "We want to categorize people into males and females, blacks and whites, gays and straights. That's a powerful tendency. "Beliefs in gender differences are very comfortable to people," she says. "It's convenient. Your marriage is in trouble, you go to the therapist, you're having communication problems, it's because she communicates differently than I do," she says. "Well, the research doesn't actually show huge gender differences in communication," Hyde continues. "It's not about one person being a man and one a woman. It's about trying to communicate better, which is hard work." Suicide does not end the chances of
life getting worse. Suicide eliminates |
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