So Far I’ve Survived 100% of My Days Alive on Earth in this Human Body. My mind that inhabits this body has a ritual refrain of living with chronic suicidal ideations. This idea stops others in their tracks, that I live with the ratio of wanting to die over serious issues, mundane issues, and ridiculous unchecked imaginings that I am more beast than beauty or rotton on the inside. Trying 3 times to die, was hard for my family to endure, and came without any charm. After numerous attempts and several month stays in Psychiatric Units, I eventually gave away the ghosted part of me that was attempting to exit.

I’m sure to many lay people and professionals alike, my yearnings to see what’s on the other side (more completely, beyond the brief glimpses I’ve gleaned) seems ludicrous. It seems to distant relatives like a cry for help. It seems to mental health professionals like a call for a crisis intervention, or a sign of my intent to actually make myself disappear. Not with an act of magic, but with an act of mercy. But this mundane freakdom of finality my mind continues to settle upon is simply wanting to escape from: the suffering, the struggle, the banality, the self doubt, the inner ache, the emotional flashbacks, the nerve pain, the inflammatory conditions that plague me, and the sense of alienation I experience in a regular, everyday sense of unbelonging.

But the truth is I do belong. I belong to a group that is going strong with suffering. A group that is perpetually dealing with developing resiliency to survive the little things, the big things, and all. the. things. in between. The holy days, the holidays, and our escapist ways. The statistics are mixed and a mish-mash, as is with much of science the results come from a kind of cost benefit analysis of institutional research, lobbyist funding, political ideals, and inherent human biases. Science is suppose to be free of these constraints, but we know better by now.

We think we know this; “On an average day in America, 121 people end their lives by suicide. That means that we will lose over 44,000 people this calendar year and create approximately 265,000 immediate family members with questions, confusion, and grief.” But what we don’t know is how many sit silently in their pain and how many stories of suicide are revised and given a new narrative by those loved ones, friends and family members that simply can not accept, understand, or allow for such truths to be told. So many left behind feel so very misguided, in believing they are to blame. Those that say, a suicide in my family? Nope, not today. Denial, Shame and Stigma are still somewhat universally, a real reality facing issue. That is why I spent the day attending the Don’t D.I.E. Summit. I know, it sounds so gleeful and joyful, or not. As a Certified Professional Coach and Human Being, it was still an enlightening and inspiring way to spend my time, and learn so much from others that my heart aura must have grown at least times three. Here is a link to a short video on Coaching Suicide Awareness. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGfSHH1popU www.coachingsuicideawareness.com

The statistics around United States veterans suggest that we lose 22 military personnel who thought they went abroad and faught for the safety of their own friends, families, communities and country. Many feel like they are left behind by their own government and country they worked tirelessly for, to find themselves exhausted on all levels of mind, body and spirit. Rape is still a gigantic and under reported and under investigated problem, both in the US Military and within civilian populations, adding to Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in both aforementioned groups. Up to 54% of suicides in people with PTSD are attributable to PTSD (https://bit.ly/3E5d6nZ).

Acute Suicidal Ideations (The experience of Present and severe or intense ideations, especially those with suicide plans milling around the minds of the afflicted with mental and emotional pain, and often with physical pain as an accompaniment due to inflammatory processes of severe depression and anxiety) are different than the everlasting chronic suicidal ideations can be a bigger sign post of potential dangers ahead. It’s important to learn the warning signs, especially in these times of a drastic increase in mental health issues and an increase in resulting mental illnesses.

This article Changing the Statistics of Suicide written by Shirley Davis in 2020, during the rising height of the Covid19 Pandemic, provides a lot of extensive information in one handy post. The article was posted on cptsdfoundation.org. Here is the direct article link to Changing the Statistics of Suicide: https://bit.ly/3C00jRR

There are many services available. If you are in the USA you can call the 211 information line to access the contact information for resources and services closer to your area. For many teenagers and adolescents talking on the phone can feel intimidating.

Research shows many teens and adolescents would rather text than talk, as they are more familiar with using texting as their main medium of communication. Teens and Adolescence can text the word START and/or the word HELP to 741 741.

What if, like Frank King, we all had the intention and efficacy and protocol to save a life a day. There is no reason why mental health and comedy can not be combined. After all the masks of comedy and tragedy are tied with a ribbon side by side. For some mental health levity check out Frank King’s site and TED Talks.
https://www.thementalhealthcomedian.com/frank-king-speaking/

And finally, this is a link to the DBSA information on Suicide Prevention: https://bit.ly/3BW5EJQ