What I’m Sharing for Survivors (weekly)
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Sharing – Coronavirus, police violence boost risks of rising black youth suicide
In fact, the headline does not represent what is actually happening. Once upon a time, short-sighted commentators considered youth suicide mostly a “white problem”. The reason for that was that the rates for white youth were significantly higher than other groups, but this kind of increase shows just how short-sighted that was. “Calling black youth…
Sharing – Stop Thinking All Active and Passive Suicidal Ideation Are the Same
Regardless of where someone you care about is on the spectrum between passive thoughts, and actively having a plan, you have the power to care, and that caring will create a connection, and the connection is a proven way to prevent suicide.
So go ahead and connect. You never know how much it might help.
Sharing – People harm themselves to cope with big emotions. You can help them heal.
I appreciate that there is someone researching this, and I am also glad that the subject of the article, artist Donalen Rojas Bowers, is sharing her story as well. It’s not an easy thing to talk about, it’s not an easy thing to learn about, and it’s definitely not an easy thing to find out someone you love is self-harming.
None of that unease should matter when compared to understanding and helping kids and adults who feel the need to self-harm because there have no better options available. The only way we find those is to talk about this.
Sharing – Calls are up, but many 988 call centers lack resources to offer in-person help
The hard work is developing the proper resources for people who need help after the immediate crisis. That costs money. Money that a significant number of people in the US will balk at paying because it goes to “other people.” These are the same people who balk at paying taxes for schools when they don’t have kids or at higher insurance premiums, let alone the taxes necessary for things like Medicaid, that pay for people who “made poor health decisions.” So, rather than stand up to that kind of thinking, many politicians at the state and local levels will go along with that. They won’t even attempt to provide funds for mental health services.
Some will even go so far as to say those services are just propping up “weak” people who need to get over those issues.
At the end of the day, while we can point to the number of people who talk about mental health and are supported for talking about it, we cannot say we’ve eliminated the stigma associated with it until we all put our money where our mouth is and provide the help that people need.
Until then, I’m afraid that many people will learn lessons the hard way, that it’s easy to write off funding resources for “other people” until you or someone you love winds up being one of them.
Sherry Song liked this on Facebook.
Sherry Song liked this on Facebook.