Suicide Prevention Quotes

[Daniel E.]

“When you are depressed, you may have a tendency to confuse feeling with facts. Your feelings of hopelessness and total despair are just symptoms of depressive illness, not facts. If you think you are hopeless, you will naturally feel this way. Your feelings only trace the illogical pattern of your thinking. Only an expert, who has treated hundreds of depressed individuals, would be in a position to give a meaningful prognosis for recovery. Your suicidal urge merely indicates the need for treatment. Thus, your conviction that you are "hopeless" nearly always proves you are not. Therapy, not suicide, is indicated. Although generalizations can be misleading, I let the following rule of thumb guide me: Patients who feel hopeless never actually are hopeless. The conviction of hopelessness is one of the most curious aspects of depressive illness. In fact, the degree of hopelessness experienced by seriously depressed patients who have an excellent prognosis is usually greater than in terminal malignancy patients with a poor prognosis. It is of great importance to expose the illogic that lurks behind your hopelessness as soon as possible in order to prevent an actual suicide attempt. You may feel convinced that you have an insoluble problem in your life. You may feel that you are caught in a trap from which there is no exit. This may lead to extreme frustration and even to the urge to kill yourself as the only escape.”

― David D. Burns, Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy

 

[Daniel E.]

Disparities in Suicide | Suicide Prevention | CDC

People of any age, race, ethnicity, or sex can experience suicide risk, but some groups have substantially higher rates of suicide than others.

www.cdc.gov

Veterans, people who live in rural areas, sexual and gender minorities, middle-aged adults, and tribal populations may disproportionately experience factors linked to suicide. These factors include substance misuse, job or financial problems, relationship problems, physical or mental health problems, and/or easy access to lethal means. Additionally, people who have experienced violence, including adverse childhood experiences (such as physical abuse), bullying, or sexual violence, have a higher suicide risk. Some of these groups may also be impacted by other health disparities. Health disparities are differences in health outcomes and their causes among groups of people.

 

[Daniel E.]

Talking About Life and Finding Solutions to Different Hardships: A Qualitative Study on the Impact of Narrative Enhancement and Cognitive Therapy on Persons With Serious Mental Illness

There is growing evidence that internalized stigma, or self-stigma, is a unique source of distress in the lives of people with severe mental illness. Narrative Enhancement and Cognitive Therapy is a structured group-based intervention aimed specifically ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

The development of new stories that help frame life experiences might elevate some of the insults generated by psychiatric illness and its aftermath, and help make sense, consider the possibility of imagining and/or taking concrete action toward a more full and personally meaningful life.

 

[Daniel E.]

What Movies And Therapy Have In Common

What Movies And Therapy Have In Common Psychology Today blog: Reel Therapy by Jeremy Clyman How successful therapy can be going to the movies In my last post I suggested that the treatment approach implemented by reality-television star Dr. Drew was flawed. Since it is all too frequent and...

forum.psychlinks.ca

"If I had told you two months ago, when we first started working together, that you'd be feeling differently in three months' time, that you'd be feeling the way you're feeling today, what would you have said?"

"I would've said that's impossible. I would've said that you're crazy."

 

[Daniel E.]

Rewriting The Suicide Narrative - Evolution Counseling

Coming to terms with the suicide of a loved one is a difficult task. Bitterness and resentment are the most common emotions, the thought process often some variation of “They didn’t love me enough to stay around, I wasn’t important to them.” The emotional wound is gaping, healing hindered by the...

evolutioncounseling.com

People usually call suicide selfish, but at least people who are selfish want good things for themselves, even if they’re misguided in how to go about getting these things. People who are depressed and suicidal aren’t really in a cognitive space to want good things for themselves, they’re focused instead on figuring out a way to get relief from all the bad things, a dangerous and tragic proposition when at the fundamental level what they see as bad is who and what they are.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Rewriting The Suicide Narrative - Evolution Counseling

Coming to terms with the suicide of a loved one is a difficult task. Bitterness and resentment are the most common emotions, the thought process often some variation of “They didn’t love me enough to stay around, I wasn’t important to them.” The emotional wound is gaping, healing hindered by the...

evolutioncounseling.com

People usually call suicide selfish, but at least people who are selfish want good things for themselves, even if they’re misguided in how to go about getting these things. People who are depressed and suicidal aren’t really in a cognitive space to want good things for themselves, they’re focused instead on figuring out a way to get relief from all the bad things, a dangerous and tragic proposition when at the fundamental level what they see as bad is who and what they are.

Absolutely spot on. Full disclosure: I attempted suicide once and I was thinking about how hopeless my life was and how to escape it. I wasn't thinking about family, friends, children, or grandchildren — just how to escape. When I woke up in hospital with a guard on my room, reality hit. How could I do that to my children and grandchildren? How could I abandon them like that when they obviously still needed my help and advice.

When you're truly actively suicidal, you are not in touch with reality at all.

The other thing that hit me when I woke up was surprise that I was still here alive. It's harder to commit suicide than you might think (fortunately).

 

[Daniel E.]

“The things that save you are as frequently trivial as monumental.”

“Rebuilding of the self in and after depression requires love, insight, work, and, most of all, time.”

“Everything passes away—suffering, pain, blood, hunger, pestilence. The sword will pass away too, but the stars will still remain when the shadows of our presence and our deeds have vanished from the earth. There is no man who does not know that. Why, then, will we not turn our eyes toward the stars? Why?”

“The opposite of depression is not happiness, but vitality, and my life, as I write this, is vital.”

“If everyone has the capacity for some measure of depression under some circumstances, everyone also has the capacity to fight depression to some degree under some circumstances. Often, the fight takes the form of seeking out the treatments that will be most effective in the battle. It involves finding help while you are still strong enough to do so. It involves making the most of the life you have between your most severe episodes. Some horrendously symptom-ridden people are able to achieve real success in life; and some people are utterly destroyed by the mildest forms of the illness.”

“That is, perhaps, the greatest revelation I have had: not that depression is compelling but that the people who suffer from it may become compelling because of it.”

― Andrew Solomon, The Noonday Demon

 

[Daniel E.]

I Was a Suicidal Therapist – TWLOHA

I sat in an office all day telling clients all of the reasons to live, all of the ways to get out of depression, all of the things that made them important and why the world needed them. And I felt like a hypocrite each day, never believing a word I said when it came to myself.

twloha.com

"Sometimes my purpose is to just make it through the day alive. And that’s okay. That’s a valid purpose for anyone."

 

[Daniel E.]

I love Jesus but I want to die: what you need to know about suicide

It's not selfish. It's not because we don't pray. And it doesn't help to tell us to "choose joy." This is what every Christian should know about suicide.

www.beautifulbetween.com

Depression and suicidal thoughts don’t care about how spiritual we are. I’m sure plenty of devout believers and faithful leaders wish it did. I do.

I was in ministry – serving, preaching, leading worship, going on mission trips, leading Bible studies – but still wanting to die. Still hurting. Still hopeless...

Sometimes Christians tell us to “choose joy” or focus on somebody other than ourselves. There is some truth to this: caring for others and learning to cultivate joy are important parts of a healthy life.

But when death seems like the only way out of an internal torture chamber, those things don’t work. What’s worse, they become a way to mask pain. That’s how I could be involved in several ministries and wear a big smile while I wished for death.

Saying things like, “I’m so sorry you’re hurting,” and spending time with people struggling is much more effective than telling them to choose joy. It allows them to be honest, which might wind up saving a life.

 

[Daniel E.]

"You may develop a potent trust in yourself as you begin to glimpse the capacity you have to face the unknown and begin again."

~ Melissa Fritchle, The Gifts of Disillusion

 

[Daniel E.]

“Somehow, like so many people who get depressed, we felt our depressions were more complicated and existentially based than they actually were.”

― Kay Redfield Jamison, An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness

 

[Daniel E.]

“Which of my feelings are real? Which of the me's is me? The wild, impulsive, chaotic, energetic, and crazy one? Or the shy, withdrawn, desperate, suicidal, doomed, and tired one? Probably a bit of both, hopefully much that is neither.”

― Kay Redfield Jamison, An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness

 

[Daniel E.]

Common Questions – Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy

mbct.co.uk

"The discovery that, even when people feel well, the link between negative moods and negative thoughts remains ready to be re-activated, is of enormous importance. It means that sustaining recovery from such depression depends on learning how to keep mild states of depression from spiralling out of control."

 

[Daniel E.]

“At 54, I Don’t Feel As Hopeful”: The Untold Story of Suicide in the U.S.

Those who are 45 and older face the greatest risk of ending their own life, so why do so many feel ignored?

www.goodhousekeeping.com

"Feeling connected is the biggest suicide prevention buffer that we have. If the person feels cared about and understood, they are no longer alone."

~ Dr. John Draper, executive director of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

 

[Daniel E.]

How to decrease Suicide: It’s not what you’d think

We need to talk about suicide. It’s not easy, but it’s necessary. Suicide is the third-leading cause of death for young people ages 15-24. Teen and young adult suicide rates have been ris…

thehill.com

“A rising tide lifts all boats.”

Deaths by suicide increase during financial crises. However, providing social safety nets like a livable minimum wage decreases suicide rates. Currently, nearly 3 in 5 college students face some sort of basic needs insecurity, including housing instability, food insecurity, or lack of access to affordable health care. When these issues are addressed, they will not only affect suicide rates, but will undoubtedly have positive impacts on all of society.

 

[Daniel E.]

[Updated] Starbucks Vet Launches Senior-Focused Behavioral Health Startup Rippl with $32M in Seed Funding

Starbucks Corp. vet Kris Engskov appears on the verge of revealing his latest venture — a senior-focused, home-based behavioral health co.

bhbusiness.com

"Nearly 20% of Americans who commit suicide are seniors. We have more seniors than at any time in US history. Yet, only 3% of psychiatric clinicians specialize in seniors. ERs can’t be the way that we treat mental health. This is the challenge of a generation."

 

[Daniel E.]

“Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.”

—Maya Angelou

 

[Daniel E.]

“When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this: You haven’t.”

—Thomas Edison

 

[Daniel E.]

“Hope is the ability to hear the music of the future. Faith is the courage to dance to it today.” ~ Peter Kuzmic

“Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we’re here we should dance.” ~ unknown

 

[Daniel E.]

“Life is not the way it’s supposed to be, it’s the way it is. The way you cope with it is what makes the difference.”

— Virginia Satir