#TakeBackYourLife and live!

Suicide rate up 33% in less than 20 years, yet funding lags behind other top killers

USA Today
Anne Godlasky and Alia E. Dastagir
Dec. 2, 2018

More than 47,000 Americans killed themselves in 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday, contributing to an overall decline in U.S. life expectancy. Since 1999, the suicide rate has climbed 33 percent.

Americans are more than twice as likely to die by their own hands, of their own will, than by someone else's. But while homicides spark vigils and protests, entering into headlines, presidential speeches and police budgets, suicides don't. Still shrouded in stigma, many suicides go unacknowledged save for the celebrities – Robin Williams, Kate Spade, Anthony Bourdain – punctuating the unrelenting rise in suicide deaths with a brief public outcry.

And research suggests our ways of living may be partly to blame, in ways that don't bode well for the future read more here

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When I wanted to die, there was nothing anyone could say or do to change my mind. Our daughter was only 8 months old. The infection I had after giving birth was killing my body. PTSD was killing everything else. 

I knew what PTSD was and what it was doing to my husband, just as much as I knew what it was all doing to me. Hope evaporated. That is why I can assure you, dear reader, that is the only reason people commit suicide. Hope is destroyed.

I remember the nurse saying that I was fighting for my life, but the truth is, I was praying to die. It was not until I came out of the fever long enough to open my eyes, saw my husband holding our baby daughter, and I knew I did not want to leave her.

I was the only one with the power to find hope again. I thought about everything I had been through, all the times I faced death and all the other times when I thought tomorrow wouldn't be any better. And then, then I knew, that after all I had been through, there was no way I was going to be defeated.

We have become a society where "normal" is what we see on TV. Happiness is great pictures on Facebook with people we know surrounded by other people having fun. Only good news is shared as if no one wants anyone to know what is really "normal" for their own lives. We communicate with text messages instead of talking. 

We do not speak out of fear that someone will jump down our throats and "put us in our place" when we are the only ones who surrender power for them to do that to us.

OK, so, here is the best advice I can give. Be YOU! Be true to who you are inside, to your own thoughts and beliefs. Then be free to take control over your own life. Do not give power of your life to anyone else, especially to people you do not really know.

I do not care what other people think of me, or even if they think of me at all. It is my life and I am the only one with the power to enjoy it! I am old now but there was a time when I was much, much younger, foolish enough to think that my happiness was dependent upon other people. Then maturity came and I knew what I would get out of life depended on what I was willing to give it.

So, if you find that someone is not listening to  you, find someone who will. If you find that you are lonely, find other lonely people. If you think you are not important, become important to yourself.

Be true to who you are and how you are will change, instead of the other way around. Most people get bullied at one time or another, but power comes from knowing they really have no power over you. If they do not care about you, then why the hell should anything they think matter to you? They do not belong in your life, so why put them in a position where they can change your life?

When you hear someone say they are raising awareness about suicides, remember, that only helps them. It does not help those fighting to find hope. Be the hope they need to stay here by letting them know you were hurting too, but kicked the crap out of what did not belong in your life so you could #TakeBackYourLife and live! 

This is also how you communicate

How's your mental health? Ending the suicide epidemic begins by caring for ourselves.

USA Today
Barbara Van Dahlen and Talinda Bennington, Opinion contributors
Dec. 1, 2018

My husband died by suicide, having lost sight of the love available to him. But his death won't be in vain if it changes our culture of mental health.

The number of lives lost to suicide is shocking and the impact on survivors is devastating. Indeed, friends and family of those who take their lives often struggle for years trying to make sense of the loss — sometimes blaming themselves for not saving their loved one.

And the children of those who die by suicide are at increased risk for mental health challenges themselves, given the trauma and confusion they experience when a parent seemingly “chooses” to abandon them.

We tend to accept some suicide as unavoidable and inevitable. Many people believe that mental illness, depression and addiction are conditions that cannot be prevented, addressed or effectively treated. But mental health conditions and substance use disorders can be treated even if we can’t always prevent them. People can — and do — heal, recover and live productive lives despite the challenges. It’s time to normalize the need to care for our mental health. Suicide can be prevented.
read more here

Pete Davidson gets emotional about online bullies, being suicidal

USA TODAY
Anika Reed
Dec. 3, 2018

Pete Davidson took to Instagram to address his online bullies in an emotional post that touched on his borderline personality disorder and suicidal thoughts.

In a statement on the social media platform on Monday, Davidson opened up about what the past nine months have been like for him. During that time, Davidson had a whirlwind romance with pop superstar Ariana Grande that ended with a broken engagement.

"I've kept my mouth shut. Never mentioned any names, never said a word about anyone or anything," Davidson said in the post. "I'm trying to understand how when something happens to a guy the whole entire world just trashes him without any facts or frame of reference. Especially in today's climate where everyone loves to be offended and upset it truly is mind boggling."

The "Saturday Night Live" star said that he wants to bring awareness to borderline personality disorder for people like him "who don't want to be on this earth."

"I've been getting online bullied and in public by people for 9 months," he continued. "I've spoken about BPD and being suicidal publicly only in the hopes that it will help bring awareness and help kids like myself who don't want to be on this earth."

Despite any virtual trolls, Davidson vowed to stay strong.

"I just want you guys to know," Davidson said. "No matter how hard the internet or anyone tries to make me kill myself. I won't. I'm upset I even have to say this. To all those holding me down and seeing this for what it is – I see you and I love you."
read more here