We often think of suicide victims as people struggling with depression and anxiety. Over 90% of those that die by suicide have an underlying mental illness, but there is another population at great risk: the chronically ill. Living with chronic illness and for some patients, chronic pain, takes a toll, not only physically, but emotionally [...]
Unfortunately, I will never know whether the medication I put my son on for depression and anxiety played a part in his suicide. He died January 11 of 2016. The day all my nightmares came to life. Jake struggled with mental Illness practically his entire life. We had been dealing with violent outbursts since he was [...]
I have an army behind me. It’s an invisible army. But it’s there. My army is a community of other suicide loss survivors. They get it. All of it. They personally and intimately understand the emotional energy expended fighting through the grief battle. They too have been wounded by the words and actions of [...]
Disneyland at Christmas a beautiful place Full of dreams and joy where you can leave your cares at the door. Where no matter how old you are you can act like a kid and enter a place of fantasy and grace. This year however something is different, something is wrong. The lights down Main Street [...]
Losing a loved one to suicide is often confusing and surreal. A great deal of energy is expended churning through a whirlpool of questions - especially the whys. I’ve heard it countless times from other survivors of suicide loss – why did my loved one do this when they were the first in line [...]
*Trigger Warning* A friend tagged me in a post on a private Christian page showing a video in which a student asks Ravi Zacharias a question: "does suicide send you directly to hell?” I am unsure why my friend tagged me; I assume he thought I would want to discuss Mr. Zacharias’ response. I watched [...]
Unfortunately the posted image was a response that we received to one of our posts on FB. I wanted to share it with you in the hopes of educating others. I was going to respond to this individual but my husband wisely told me not to waste my time and energy, it wasn't worth it. [...]
© Photographee.eu/ Adobe Stock When I was 5 and 6 I was molested by a neighbor for about a year, and when I was 13 I was raped. These events drastically changed my life and affected my worldview. These men were never caught and never convicted. They were free to do this to [...]
I was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma breast cancer in 2012. After fighting for my life, I came to understand the terrible mental toll that I had paid through that season. I wrote the following post to the women in our private Facebook support group, Booby Buddies, in 2014: [...]
I believe losing a child is the most brutal loss there is, but I hope what I have learned from the death of my son can help you in some small way. To the parents reading this who have lost a child, I wish I could hug you and make the pain go away, but [...]
