Walking 18-miles to Save a Life

I'm walking 18-miles tonight at The Overnight because

* Someone dies by suicide every 16 minutes in the US
* There is one suicide attempt every minute
* 33,000 die by suicide each year
* Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death among teens and young adults
* Depression is the leading cause of suicide
* More than 19 million suffer from depression in the US
* The best way to prevent suicide is through early detection diagnosis & treatment

If you haven't already: Donate to www.theovernight.org
Look up The Afterw@rd-COSIA Team.

All funds will got to support the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, a 501(c)3 organization. This year's Overnight donations will go to support the following:

* 18 new research studies advancing our understanding of suicide and ways to prevent it
* help establish 5 new AFSP chapters across the country
* help recruit thousands of grassroots volunteers to advocate for suicide prevention
* help distribute new educational film for high school students to teach them bout depression
* help the local IL chapter with regional suicide prevention programs

I'm taking my first step towards a life well lived and helping others do the same.

The Afterw@rd

Too Late To Learn?

National Public Radio recently interviewed Todd Snider on the release of his new album, The Excitement Plan, where he uses therapeutic humor to manage the bipolar swings.

The songs touch the heart of the struggle of what it means to be bipolar. There is one song that wishes his therapist could be more specific than "do the best you can do." Another song that finds the comedy of errors of landing in jail as a "political prisoner" for a drug possession. Yet another song highlights that you can run a Doc "No-hitter" Ellis, where one can do good when running highly wrong. Indeed, none of these songs are about following conventional wisdom.

While I can't say I agree with the appropriateness of all the songs' content, I do agree with the approach. The songs are real. They also reflect his personal walk of discovery. Drugs and alcohol are often used to medicate the swings when we can't control or grasp how low we can go.

I can understand and empathize with Snider's struggle. You would figure that at 40-something you would know better, to do things right. Instead, we often feel like we're in a constant 20-something hamster wheel learning mode. It's like reading a 15 year old journal entry and seeing the same drama that just happened yesterday. The hard fact to face is that the only common denominator is you. It is so nice to have people coming out of the closet with their struggles. It let's us know that we are not alone, that those we love are not alone in their struggles.

However, it's empowering to think that if we embrace that which is therapeutic, that which is supportive, that which brings us solace, and do that which allows us to feel our best, we might just be on to something that allows us to be the best we can be not despite the illness but because of it.

Todd's songs are actually kind of catchy too. Do check him out.

The Afterw@rd

Embracing Creativity and Breaking Cycles

Simon Doonan, New York Observer writer and Creative Director of Barney's in New York, was not your typical son in a home full of crazy. We would not have expected anything less from a family where suicide, schizophrenia and other mental illness have left their mark. However, to me this is a truly inspiring story of how one man transcended and embraced his surroundings. Check out his book Beautiful People which is now a BBC sitcom about growing up in a family full of crazy. This is about laughing instead of crying, about leaping instead of crawling and living life the way it's meant to be lived. This is in celebration of all fathers and grandfathers on this wonderful Father's Day holiday. Here's to embracing the beautiful people in our own lives and those no longer with us.

Enjoy the links.

Happy Father's Day
The Afterw@rd

David Carradine Did What?

Straight from the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention website:

Research has shown that graphic, sensationalized or romanticized descriptions of suicide deaths in the news media can contribute to suicide contagion, popularly referred to as “copycat” suicides. Media reports on suicide can also be a source of misinformation; for example, when suicide is attributed in a single event such as the loss of a job or a relationship, with no mention of underlying factors such as the individual’s depression, substance abuse, or lack of access to treatment for these conditions.

Don't newscasters know this? Yet the last 48 hours I keep hearing David Carradine did this, he did that. The rope was found here and there and everywhere.

Now it turns out that his might not have even been a suicide. But the information is now out there. Wannabe copycats were paying attention. Who will be held accountable? We all know that no one really reads the corrections.

Interestingly enough I just learned about Suzy's Law a.k.a H.R. 853. This is a legislation currently working its way through Congress which will make it a crime for folks to help someone commit suicide on-line. Right now those who egg on telling others to kill themselves are protected by freedom of speech but have no moral or ethical grounding. Suzy's law is something to think about.

This is especially true in this world where the 24-hour news cycle reigns.

Responsible coverage of suicide, in contrast, can educate wide audiences about the likely causes of suicide, its warning signs, trends in suicide rates, recent treatment advances and other ways suicide can be prevented. Stories about well-known figures who have successfully sought treatment for depression, alcoholism and other conditions that convey suicide risk can also be a powerful impetus for readers to address such issues in their own lives.

If folks were only more respectful...maybe more people would actually seek the help they really need.

The Afterw@rd

Understanding Depression as a Disease

Check this video out. I think the tide is turning to recognition. It's refreshing and so awesome that people are coming out.



The Afterw@rd