As we move closer towards the holiday season, something I am reminded of based on the work that I do with my clients is that there is no particular season for struggles. Hard times don’t seem to depend on the calendar or anyone’s schedule. In fact, they don’t care how busy we may be or what we have going on. If they are looking for us, they will find us! This is same way suicidal thoughts work. They don’t discriminate by age, geography, culture, or community. They reach every corner of our world, and they show up in our homes, workplaces, and schools. They even find their way into the minds of the people we would least expect, with no regard for timing or place.
This is a global issue, but also a very personal one for me. I have been exposed to my own as a young person, sat with my clients as I listened, and have lost people very near and dear to my heart. This is why I have committed to addressing this with people and helping them to move from pain to possibilities. Yes, even when that pain feels unbearable, it is possible to shift.
The World Health Organization tells us that we lose someone to suicide every 40 seconds. That means that by the time you finish reading this article, several lives will be impacted by the loss of at least 7 people to suicide. This is not about statistics. It is about all the human beings affected. Families and friends of someone’s child, partner, sibling or loved one.
Are you a champion of this labor of love, too? Have you been touched by suicide? Or suicidal thoughts? Even if you haven’t, you can be part of this movement to learn, understand, and speak differently about this very important and often avoided topic.
My new book Tell Me More: Humanizing Suicidal Thoughts was written as part of this cause. It is meant to help us become more confident with curious compassion while we develop a humanizing approach to face the realities of suicidal thinking. Tell Me More guides to help us talk about what we have been taught to hide and prepares us, at any age, to have the conversations that can save a life.
Why do we need to do this? If we don’t, we will continue to lose people to preventable situations. When we can understand suicidal thoughts for what they are, their true function and purpose, we eliminate the shame that heightens the risks and open the door for something far more powerful, conversations of hope.
I have designed this book and the related customized training with the intention to unite and shift us as a global community to break the stigmas surrounding suicidal thoughts, creating a psychologically safer world for honest, life-saving conversations. This is where I need your help and support in not only getting the word and book out there, but also making the connections to leaders, communities, and organizations that can directly benefit and be part of creating this life-saving shift. The more people that set eyes, ears, and hearts on how to navigate difficult conversations, even the toughest ones, the greater the impact through establishing a common way of thinking and speaking about what once was unmentionable.
So, as a fellow parent, teacher, leader, friend, colleague, and simply as someone who cares, please share Tell Me More with everyone you know. Bring it into our homes, our schools, and our communities. Let’s prepare ourselves, and each other, for the moments that matter most and be committed to not losing one more. Together, we can absolutely make a difference. I thank you in advance for helping to create a more humanized world, one conversation at a time.
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