I wrote this in 2017 but feel it is so important, so I am republishing it. I have been waiting 9 years for the right time to tell my story. There have been times when I felt I was ready, but my kids were not. I have waited to be in a space where […]
Our family has been deeply affected by suicide. Matt and I have 9 children blended together. 3 of them are married and we consider all of them our kids, so we have 12. 11 of them have lost a parent at a young age. 7 children lost their dad to suicide, the other 4 lost […]
I have read many comments on my social media groups of people who take their loved one’s suicide personally. I know it’s easy to do, because I did it, too. I think it is all a part of the grieving process. I learned from years of reading books how the word SHOULD ought to be […]
I didn’t know anyone who had taken their own life. Suicide is one of those words that is not talked about- it has a bad stigma. Again I found myself wondering why do we think of suicide in such a terrible way? Spiritual- I learned when growing up in my church that suicide is murder. […]
There is a real stigma surrounding mental illness and suicide. It is scary to speak about suicide. If I talk about it, will people think less of me and my family? Will others believe me? I have been scared to let others know the family secret. For years I have been asked by many family […]
Nobody wants to be a tattle tale or be someone who can’t be trusted with secrets. But what if it is a really important life-and-death secret? I was 17 and my friend told me he wanted to commit suicide. I was good at secret keeping and had no idea what to do with this information. […]
When I went through the loss of my husband and the healing that goes along with suicide I found a few music artists that I connected strongly with. Kelly Clarkson is one of those. I love her song Piece by Piece. It’s a song that hits close to home. At the beginning of my healing […]
Suicide has a different effect on a family than other causes of death. There is a stigma surrounding suicide and it makes everything so awkward. My family has seen the good bad and ugly of suicide. To tell you the truth, I haven’t seen much good except letting others know and being aware of what […]
Just like so many things right now, the relationship between diabetes and depression isn’t fully understood. I think it’s so interesting the more I have studied mental illness that it’s a disease just like diabetes. My husband had diabetes and we were not embarrassed to tell anyone he had that. He was highly perfectionist and […]
People who take their own lives usually exhibit one or more warning signs, either through what they say or what they do. The more warning signs, the greater the risk. Talk If a person talks about: Killing themselves. Having no reason to live. Being a burden to others. Feeling trapped. Unbearable pain. Behavior A person’s […]
I have been studying suicide and I found a lot of information from the American Foundation for Suicide Preventionvery helpful: What is the best language to use when talking about suicide? The words we choose can sometimes sound harsh or judgmental, even when we don’t mean them to. It is best to follow the lead […]
