Tag: health & fitness

After listening to many people describe their experiences with suicidal intensity, I and others have come to think about the clash between the will to live and the desire to escape unimaginable emotional pain as an “epic battle” between fierce forces. On one side is the warrior fighting to live, continuing to make future plans and persevering toward health and vitality. At the same time the pain this warrior is battling can be all-consuming.

In this interview we hear from one man about his “epic battle for recovery” and how he bolstered the strength of his inner warrior who fought valiantly for a passion for living. Gabe Howard is not just managing his bipolar condition and hanging on the edge, he is living well. In other words mental illness and mental well-being are two different dimensions.

About Gabe Howard
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www.gabehoward.com
In 2003, Gabe was formally diagnosed with bipolar disorder and anxiety and was committed to a psychiatric hospital. He weighed 550 pounds and had been living with mania for the better part of a year. He felt so hopeless that he rented an apartment so he could carry out his plan for suicide. AND at the same time he commenced treatment in the fight for his life.

Once his recovery was in motion, Gabe honed his writing and speaking skills and became an activist. Today he is fighting a new battle — one to end discrimination and prejudice for other people like him who are living with mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, bipolar and schizophrenia. He is an award-winning writer contributing to The Mighty and the NAMI Advocate and publishing My Mental Illness is an Asshole and Other Observations. In addition, he produces two podcasts: the Psych Central Podcast and A Bipolar, a Schizophrenic and a Podcast. For more information on this and every episode go to https://www.sallyspencerthomas.com/hope-illuminated-podcast/28

I first became aware of the power of humor in wellness through my involvement with Cactus Inc. and our Man Therapy initiative. In this program, we used humorous outward facing media to draw men into the website portal and then self-assess for depression, anxiety, anger and substance use issues. When we evaluated the program, the humor was the #1 thing the guys told us they liked because it helped put them at ease.

Having a sense of humor is a sign of emotional well-being. Here are five ways humor helps our wellness:

Stress-relief: When we laugh we increase our endorphins and decrease our stress-related hormone cortisol. These responses help us relax.

Connect: Humor pulls down social barriers and helps us overcome conflict.

Distraction: Humor can take our mind off our problems. A good coping strategy when you are feeling blue is to put on your favorite stand-up comedian or funny movie.

Perspective: When we can laugh at ourselves, we can often find the funny in our distress and put our woes into perspective.

Positivity: Humor gives us positive feelings like hopefulness and amusement that can counter-act dysphoric moods.

In this interview I get the opportunity to chat with the “Mental Health Comedian” Frank King. Frank has used his sense of humor to help open up conversations about depression and suicide from classrooms to corporate conference rooms. Join me as we put on our “giggle goggles” together and learn more about how laughing helps heal us.

About Frank King
Frank King
Frank King, The Mental Health Comedian, was a writer for The Tonight Show for 20 years.

Depression and suicide run his family. He’s thought about killing himself more times than he can count. He’s lived with Major Depressive Disorder and Chronic Suicidality turning that long dark journey of the soul into 5 TEDx Talks, and sharing his lifesaving insights with corporation, association and college audiences.

Coming out, as it were, and standing in his truth, and doing it with humor.

He believes that where there is humor there is hope, where there is laughter there is life, nobody dies laughing. For more information on this and every episode go to https://www.sallyspencerthomas.com/hope-illuminated-podcast/27

While only 2% of suicides are murder-suicides, the narrative of this tragedy dominates public consciousness. Due to the fact that the circumstances are horrific, and the media reports on these stories more frequently and with more details than most other community tragedies, it’s not surprising that we feel overwhelmed. What is often not discussed is the unimaginable grief and trauma left behind in the families of the perpetrators. In my interview with Sue Klebold, mother of Columbine shooter Dylan Klebold, we learn more about why she spent many years in hiding and what she is doing now so that other families don’t have to experience what hers did.

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About Sue Klebold
Sue Klebold is the mother of Dylan Klebold, one of the two shooters at Columbine High School in 1999 who killed 13 people and injured more than twenty others before taking their own lives. Since the tragedy, Sue has worked to understand the crucial intersection between mental health problems and violence. From her book, A Mother’s Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy (Crown, 2016) she is donating all author profits to mental health and suicide prevention organizations. She is a member of the Loss and Healing Council of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), and a member of the Consumer Survivor Subcommittee of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. For more information on this and every episode go to https://www.sallyspencerthomas.com/hope-illuminated-podcast/26

“I don’t expect my friends to understand what I’ve been through. When I’m around Veterans, like-minded Veterans, I don’t have to explain myself. They already know.” ~Male Veteran

In this podcast, Master Sergeant Christopher D. Jachimiec shares the tragedy of losing his brother Adam to suicide. We explore our shared grief experiences as sibling survivors of suicide loss and the making meaning process. Out of catastrophe we have options — to get buried under, to gloss over or to go through. Chris found his higher purpose was “honoring the dash” — our lives are not about the start date or end date, but what happens in between.

During the interview, Chris shares so many resources (many listed below), key steps in the journey of healing, and lessons learned from Viktor Frankl.

Pictures of Chris and Adam growing up.
Pictures of Chris and Adam growing up.

ABOUT MASTER SERGEANT CHRISTOPHER D. JACHIMIEC
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Master Sergeant Christopher D. Jachimiec is the Section Chief, Quality Assurance for the 99th Communications Squadron, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. He serves as the principal advisor to the commander on cyberspace policy, evaluations and compliance for 130 assigned individuals and provides guidance on cyberspace efforts to six wings and over 52 tenant organizations. He leads 20 Wing Inspection Team members who ensure established directives and public law is being adhered to. He advises and mentors organizations and teams on continuous process improvement and problem solving methods.

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Sergeant Jachimiec was born in Palos Park, Illinois in 1980 and graduated from Muskego High School in Muskego, Wisconsin in 1999. He entered the Air Force in September 1999. His background includes various duties in the Security Forces and Radio Frequency Transmission Systems career fields along with service in the First Sergeant Special Duty Identifier. His stateside assignments include Creech and Nellis Air Force Bases and his overseas assignments include Osan Air Base and Ramstein Air Base. His deployment experience includes tours to Al Jaber Air Base, Kuwait and Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan in support of Operation SOUTHERN WATCH and Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. Additionally, Sergeant Jachimiec was one of thirty Airmen selected to augment the United States Secret Service during the 2012 Presidential Campaign, is a certified Master Resilience Trainer and leads peer support groups in the local community. For more information on this and every episode go to https://www.sallyspencerthomas.com/hope-illuminated-podcast/25

When we talk about suicide bereavement, we often think about the grief part of the response, but sometimes we forget that the experience of losing a loved one to suicide is also traumatic. When a parent loses a child to suicide, the complications of traumatic grief are frequently unparalleled. For many, their core beliefs about the world and themselves are shattered and the pieces take a while to pull back together — like “someone pulled the pin on the grenade and threw it into the (emotional) center of the family.”

The order of how life is supposed to go is disrupted, and it takes a long time to make sense out of what happened. People often stumble around in their suicide grief state while other things start to fall apart around them. Families can sometimes also find resilience and even transformation during their recovery pathway.

What about the people who surround the parents bereaved by suicide — the first responders, the coroners, the funeral home directors, the healthcare providers? Sometimes these people are also so shocked they don’t know how to support the family. Sometimes these people are also fellow grievers.

In this interview we follow the journey of Dr. Sharon McDonnell. In 1990 she lost her brother to suicide, and she found herself on a ‘mission to move mountains.” Today she is a world leader in suicide bereavement research. Her dissertation was entitled, “Identifying the Experiences of Parents Bereaved by Suicide or Undetermined Death.” Listen to the lessons she has learned along the way.

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About Dr. Sharon McDonnell
Dr Sharon McDonnell is the Managing Director of Suicide Bereavement UK and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Manchester (UoM). She has specialized in suicide bereavement research for 18 years and is considered to be one of the leading researchers in this field in the UK.

Prior to setting up Suicide Bereavement UK, Sharon was employed by the University of Manchester. During this time her research team developed PABBS (Postvention: Assisting those Bereaved by Suicide) evidence-based suicide bereavement training, which was informed by a 3yr study funded by government and first of its kind internationally.

Sharon’s team is currently conducting a national suicide bereavement survey, which is being conducted at the UoM in collaboration with Support After Suicide Partnership. Over 7,000 people have completed it, making it the largest suicide bereavement survey internationally. A report will be launched 25th Sept 2019 at Suicide Bereavement UK’s 8th international suicide bereavement conference. The findings will be of national and international importance.

sharon.mcdonnell@suicidebereavementuk.com

Twitter: @SJMcDonn For more information on this and every episode go to https://www.sallyspencerthomas.com/hope-illuminated-podcast/24

In this podcast I interview Sebastian Slovin, author of “Ashes in the Ocean: A Son’s Story of Living though and Learning from his Father’s suicide. We touch upon themes of survival, stigma and safe space and how he was able to grow up in the shadow of suicide and piece together a narrative and a life worth living. Sebastian shares to other men, “Not feeling does not work” in the grief healing journey. He talks openly and honestly about how peer and professional support — even spiritual connections — can make a big difference in letting men know they are not alone in their bereavement by suicide.

About Sebastian Slovin
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As a young boy, Sebastian Slovin lost his father to suicide, which would deeply inspire his path in life. Later, he had the opportunity to travel extensively as a professional bodyboarder. He holds a BA in Environmental Policy from San Diego State University and an MA in Leadership Studies from the University of San Diego. Sebastian’s recent memoir, Ashes in the Ocean, is about living through and learning from his father’s suicide. Since releasing his book Sebastian has been sharing his story to a wide range of audiences. He has also been featured on a variety of media including National Public Radio, Fox 5 News, the San Diego Union Tribune, and numerous podcasts. . For more information on this and every episode go to https://www.sallyspencerthomas.com/hope-illuminated-podcast/23

Mental health crises occur when our ability to cope is overwhelmed by the internal and external stressors in our life. Sometimes crises are related to inner experiences like worsening depression, mania, psychosis or other symptoms of a mental health condition. Sometimes they are in reaction to an external stressor like trauma, divorce or intense grief. Often times it’s many things coming together in a point in time. For whatever reason, in that moment, people often feel unable to resolve the situation with the resources they have and feel out of control and hopeless.

Here’s one thing you should know: Crisis can happen to anyone.

One common symptom of people in this temporarily heightened state of emotional distress is agitation where people have trouble sleeping or thinking straight. One way people try to cope with these uncomfortable feelings are by self-medicating by consuming alcohol or drugs. Others may isolate and shut down. Still others may seem to be much more irritable that usual and they may find themselves reacting violently. When the emotional intensity becomes so unbearably painful, people think about suicide.

Crisis services are our safety nets. The people who offer support here are our angels behind the curtain.

As the Crisis Text Line says, “The goal of crisis services is to help someone move from a hot to a cool moment.” People who are trained to help de-escalate emotional crises listen to the callers and help them create a plan to stay safe for now. The crisis support is not only there for the person in crisis, but for the people who are worried about someone.

Today’s podcast will explore the day in the life of a crisis support center — how it works, what to expect if you or someone you care about needs some help getting back on track. My interview with Jennifer Battle explores the social justice roots of the evolution of crisis support services and her deep gratitude for the work she does every day.

About the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
1-800-273-8255

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National Suicide Prevention Lifeline has 159 call centers in 49 states in the US and provides a 24/7, toll-free hotline available to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is independently evaluated by a researchers from Columbia University.

Call volume to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline has grown significantly since the inception of the Lifeline in 2005. Between 2016 and 2017, calls increased 32% and over two million calls were answered. There are a number of factors contributing to the 2017 call volume increase including more awareness of the Lifeline number through social/public health messaging efforts (ex. BeThe1to campaign), the release of Logic’s rap song entitled “1-800-273-8255,” his performance of the song at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards and the 2018 Grammy Awards. When the first season of 13-Reasons Why aired in 2017 this may have also contributed the the influx of calls. Finally the Lifeline number is often highlighted following the deaths of high profile individuals such as musicians Chris Cornell (Soundgarden), Chester Bennington (Linkin Park), Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, and this promotion is likely to contribute to continued call volume increases.

About Crisis Text Line
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Text CONNECT to 741741

The Crisis Text Line has had over 83,421,416 messages exchanged since August 2013. Every person to texts the Crisis Text Line is connected with a Crisis Counselor, often in less than 5 minutes. The Crisis Counselor then engages in active listening and collaborative problem solving to help them develop a plan to cope. All of Crisis Text Line’s Crisis Counselors are volunteers, donating their time to helping people in crisis.

About Jennifer Battle
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Jennifer is a proud social worker and Program Director in the Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program at The Harris Center for Mental Health in Houston, Texas. Jennifer oversees The Harris Center Crisis Line which serves as the crisis line for 34 Texas counties. The Harris Center Crisis Line partners with the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline as well as the national Crisis Text Line.

In collaboration with the Houston Police Department, Houston Fire Department, and Houston Emergency Communications Center, Jennifer supervises the Crisis Call Diversion Program. This team routes people calling in through emergency services who have stated they have a mental health concern away from a law enforcement or EMS response and to a more appropriate level of care through local behavioral health options.

In addition to her work at The Harris Center, Jennifer serves as the President of the Board for the National Association of Crisis Organization Directors (NASCOD) and is the past Co-Chair and current member of the Texas Suicide Prevention Council. She serves on the Steering Committee for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. For more information on this and every episode go to https://www.sallyspencerthomas.com/hope-illuminated-podcast/22

In many societies we are predominantly youth-focused and overlook the healthcare and policy needs of our elders. This ageist perspective often leads to cultural scripts that prevent us from listening better to alleviate suffering and increase reasons for living, and ultimately help us all live well into our golden years.

In the podcast our panel includes two experts a leading researcher of geriatric psychiatry and a co-founder of United Survivors Suicide International who has tremendous experience in many national board positions leveraging the perspectives of people with lived expertise. Together they bring sound research and stories about the resilience of our elders — their life satisfaction and happiness and tactics to ward off the 5 D’s of suicide risk: Depression, Disease, Disability, Disconnection and Deadly means.

Together they passionately advocate for age-friendly health systems and communities, especially more providers with specialties in working with elders. Together let’s shift the attitude and appreciate more for the value our elders, “When we lose an older person, we lose a library.”

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About Heidi Bryan
Heidi is a suicide attempt survivor who also lost her brother to suicide. She has been working in the suicide prevention field since 1998 as an advocate, QPR Master Trainer, speaker, and author. Heidi founded Feeling Blue Suicide Prevention Council in 1998 which is now known as Prevent Suicide Pennsylvania. She served on the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention Suicide Attempt Survivor Task Force, and is currently on the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Consumer Survivor Committee.

About Dr. Yeates Conwell
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Yeates Conwell, M.D. is Professor of Psychiatry at the University of
Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry,where he is Director of the UR
Medical Center¹s Office for Aging Research and Health Services and
Co-Director of the UR Center for the Study and Prevention of Suicide. He
is immediate past president of the American Foundation for Suicide
Prevention and chair of its Scientific Council. Dr. Conwell received his
medical training at the University of Cincinnati and completed his
Psychiatry Residency and a Fellowship in Geriatric Psychiatry at Yale
University School of Medicine. In addition to teaching and service system
development, Dr. Conwell maintains a clinical practice with older adults
and directs an inter-disciplinary program of research in aging, mental
health services, and suicide prevention.. For more information on this and every episode go to https://www.sallyspencerthomas.com/hope-illuminated-podcast/21

When it comes to engaging a wider circle in our suicide prevention and mental health promotion movements, we need to take a page from the playbook of other social justice movements. How do we “make the message stick”? How can we bring the call to action to life? How do we create a tipping point of change?

Successful agents of change are able to connect the dots and “bake in” tactics within a broader system, making suicide prevention and mental health promotion everyone’s priority. They also enroll people into the cause by listening first and then employing culturally responsive efforts that lift up the stories of local people who have lived through the challenges.

Within the world of mental health and suicide, we must seriously reconsider our “business as usual” approach because it’s not working. Social justice issues related to human rights are at the center of the reasons for our short-comings. During this interview I got to spend time chatting with one of the most accomplished social change agents I know: John Mendoza.

About John Mendoza
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In this podcast we hear from an international inspiration, John Mendoza, on how he has mobilized change throughout Australia and beyond. I first met John through our mutual admiration of MATES in Construction many years ago. In 2014 John came to Colorado upon my invitation to speak at our US/Canada/Australia forum on Workplace Mental Health. Most recently, he invited me to keynote at an event on the Sunshine Coast called “Shifting the Dial” where he convened 165 business, political, advocate and lived experience leaders to talk about innovative approaches to tackling the injustice of suicide.

Today, John is the Director of ConNetica, an Australia organization established in 2007 with a mission of connecting people from diverse networks to solve complex problems. ConNetica is known for its suite of training “Lifeboat” programs including “Conversations for Life.” John is the former Chair of the Australian Government’s National Advisory Council on Mental Health and former CEO of the Mental Health Council of Australia. He has been a key advocate for securing billions for Australian mental health plans. For John the calling to do this work goes well beyond the professional as he lost a cherished nephew in 2014 under circumstances that were partly attributable to substandard mental health care.

During our interview John shares some of his highly effective tactics in engaging A-List media partners and in bringing divisive political foes together to move toward a common mission of saving lives. He argues that we need more than a multi-pronged approach to suicide prevention; we need to build a fortress of a strategy and look at the social determinants to despair.

From working with the International Olympic Committee while planning the Sydney games to working with the indigenous people of the Kimberly, John has learned much about empowerment, building capacity and disrupting the status quo.

Also, he like to partner with unreasonable people, so I’m glad to call him my friend and fellow warrior.

for more information on this and every episode go to https://www.sallyspencerthomas.com/hope-illuminated-podcast/20

Early in his career Dr. John Draper had a lightbulb moment when he was on suicide watch for patients while they were being “treated” with isolation and restraints; he thought “we can do better.” Today, John is one of the global leaders transforming crisis care for people on their worst day. He has helped spark an evolution through his leadership of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by using data, standards of excellence and the input of people with lived experience to continually improve care.

One area of focus for John is virtual support. We have a significant gap between mental health treatment and support resources and the need for these services, and technology can help us meet those needs. Virtual support can offer a spectrum of benefits and is desirable due to its efficiency, cost-effectiveness and anonymity. In this podcast John talks about the many new evidence-based technology resources that help us reach people in the way they want when they want it.

For the Lifeline, the future holds great promise for new directions in tele-crisis response as recent legislation for the National Suicide Hotline Improvement Act recently passed. This legislation supports a national feasibility study on the benefits of moving to a three-digit mental health crisis support number (like 911, but for emotional crises) to “supercharge” access.

John closes with a very clear call to action on how best to support people in a suicide crisis — the “3 Cs”: Connection, Collaboration and Choice. Tune in to hear more!

About Dr. John Draper
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Dr. Draper has over 25 years of experience in crisis intervention and suicide prevention work, and is considered one of the nation’s leading experts in crisis contact center practices (hotline, online chat, text services, etc.). Since 2004, Dr. Draper has been the Director of the SAMHSA-funded National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (800-273-TALK), overseeing all aspects of this service. As Exectuive Vice President of National Networks at Vibrant Emotional Health in New York City, Dr. Draper and his team also administer the National Disaster Distress Helpline, the National Football League (NFL) Life Line, and partner with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in their operations of the national Veterans Crisis Line. In addition, Dr. Draper and his team were contracted to develop and launch the Crisis Text Line in 2012. Dr. Draper worked as a psychologist on a Brooklyn-based mobile crisis team in an earlier phase of his career, developed and launched New York City’s first 24/7 crisis hotline in 1996, and has maintained a private psychotherapy practice in New York City since 2000. For more information on this and every episode go to https://www.sallyspencerthomas.com/hope-illuminated-podcast/19