Category Archives: Depression

Anxiety, Bipolar 1, Bipolar 2, Depression, Men - Depression & Suicide, Suicidal Ideation & Suicide, Videos

Why we need to talk about male suicide

Steph Slack – TEDx Talks

THE QUESTIONS WE NEED TO ASK ABOUT MALE SUICIDE

Steph believes talking saves lives. Having lost her uncle to suicide and supported close friends through suicidal ideation, her aim is to raise awareness of suicide prevention and help people to feel confident and comfortable in conversations about suicide.

Excerpt from TEDx Talks

What would happen if we all went home and had conversations with the men in our lives about what they’re feeling and thinking? The answer to solving today’s male suicide crisis may be simply listening to the men in our lives.

At some point in your life you’ll probably be touched by male* suicide. It’s now the biggest killer of men under 45 in the UK with 12 men taking their own lives every day.

In her challenging TEDx talk, Steph Slack shares her personal story of how losing her uncle to suicide caused her to question how we react to men who experience suicidal thoughts.

Steph asks: what if we stop seeing having suicidal thoughts as something unusual, change our stereotypical expectations of men and instead, support men who have the courage to be vulnerable with us?

If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts or are in crisis, in the UK Samaritans operate a 24/7 helpline on 116 123 or CALM operate a helpline 5pm to midnight for men on 0800 585858.

https://tedxfolkestone.com/the-questions-we-need-to-ask-about-male-suicide/

Anxiety, Articles, Depression, Men - Depression & Suicide, Suicidal Ideation & Suicide

Why more men than women die by suicide

pic credit: Nik Shiliahin on Unsplash

An article By Helene Schumacher 18th March 2019 on BBC

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190313-why-more-men-kill-themselves-than-women

EXCERPTS “…In the UK, the male suicide rate is its lowest since 1981 – 15.5 deaths per 100,000. But suicide is still the single biggest killer of men under the age of 45. And a marked gender split remains. For UK women, the rate is a third of men’s: 4.9 suicides per 100,000.

It’s the same in many other countries. Compared to women, men are three times more likely to die by suicide in Australia, 3.5 times more likely in the US and more than four times more likely in Russia and Argentina. WHO’s data show that nearly 40% of countries have more than 15 suicide deaths per 100,000 men; only 1.5% show a rate that high for women.”

Men are more likely to die of suicide than women. – This reality bothers me so much,

We, both men and women, together as a community must do something about it.

If you’re a man and you struggle , please join our FB group. It’s a small online community of amazing, compassionate people.

I am also going to start a section on our resource library WorkWithTheBrainYouHave dot com for men, depression, & suicide.

You are not alone 🤗

🌻 Sophie 💗

Anxiety, Depression, Suicidal Ideation & Suicide, Videos

Weight of gold – please watch this documentary

The Weight of Gold Documentary

EXCERPTS

The Weight of Gold is an HBO Sports documentary exploring the mental health challenges that Olympic athletes often face. The film comes during a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has postponed the 2020 Tokyo Games — the first such postponement in Olympic history — and greatly exacerbated mental health issues.

The film seeks to inspire discussion about mental health issues, encourage people to seek help, and highlight the need for readily available support. It features accounts from Olympic athletes who share their own struggles with mental health issues, including Michael Phelps, Apolo Ohno, Shaun White, Lolo Jones, Gracie Gold, Katie Uhlaender, Bode Miller, David Boudia, Jeremy Bloom, Sasha Cohen, and, posthumously, Steven Holcomb and Jeret “Speedy” Peterson (via his mother, Linda Peterson).

Anxiety, Bipolar 1, Books, Depression, Suicidal Ideation & Suicide

SiDNEY SHELDON & Bipolar

“Sidney, you told me that you wanted to be a writer more than anything in the world.”

He suddenly had my attention. “That was yesterday.”

“What about tomorrow?”

I looked at him puzzled. “What?”

“You don’t know what can happen tomorrow. Life is like a novel, isn’t it? It’s filled with suspense. You have no idea what’s going to happen until you turn the page.”

“I know what’s going to happen. Nothing.”

“You don’t really know that, do you?” Everyday is a different page, Sidney, and they can be full of surprises. You’ll never know what’s next until you turn the page.”

I thought about that. He did have a point. Every tomorrow was like the next page of a novel. 

We turned the corner and walked down a deserted street.  “If you really want to commit suicide, Sidney, I understand. But I’d hate to see you close the book too soon and miss all the excitement that could happen to you on the next page — the page you’re going to write.”

Don’t close the book too soon… Was I closing it too soon? Something wonderful could happen tomorrow.  

Either my father was a superb salesman or I wasn’t fully committed to ending my life, because by the end of the next block, I had decided to postpone my plan.

Excerpt from “The Other Side of Me” by Sidney Sheldon

Sidney Sheldon was a very successful American writer and producer. He is consistently cited as one of the top ten best selling fiction writers of all time

NY Times reported, “Variety estimated Mr. Sheldon’s net worth, including his earnings from his film and television ventures, at $3 billion. Mr. Sheldon’s books have been published in 51 languages, making him, by many accounts, the most widely translated author in the world. “

What many don’t know is that Sidney Sheldon almost died of suicide at the age of 17, and was saved because his father (who was supposed to be away) forgot something and had to go back home.

Sidney has Bipolar.

Continue reading SiDNEY SHELDON & Bipolar →
Articles, Depression

18 Ways to prepare for and cope with difficult days of TDR — Treatment-resistant depression

Music 🎶 helps me a lot … “Then, when I am not feeling well and I find it harder to escape, I can use those same songs to connect to happier times and escape my reality even for a few minutes and give myself a break.”…

🌻 Sophie’s Note 📝. I struggle a lot with depression bouts because of my Bipolar 2 … and I find that there are days when meds don’t work, and I just have to push through it.

This article is based on people’s experience living with TRD – Treatment-resistant depression, and I find many of the suggestions helpful. I hope it can help you too …

SOURCE: https://themighty.com/2020/05/18-ways-to-prepare-for-and-cope-with-difficult-days-of-treatment-res/