How to Responsibly Talk About Death from Suicide
I do not have a lot of time today to address the two high-profile death from suicides that we have had this past week with Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, but I wanted to address how you can help people who live with mental illness and are reading your Facebook posts, tweets, and Instagram right now: Please do NOT say the following things: She killed herself. He chose to die. They committed suicide. She chose to end her suffering. He had a successful suicide. They completed
The Bridgewatch Angels: Saving Lives Every Day
An average of two people a day come the the Golden Gate Bridge to die by suicide. The Bridge District Police work tirelessly, every day, to prevent as many of those deaths as possible, but there is an uptick of people coming to the bridge on the holidays. The Bridgewatch Angels, led by Lt. Mia Munayer, is a group that walks the Golden Gate Bridge on holidays, checking on people and watching for signs of people who may be there to die by suicide. Two years ago was my first tim
Who Is At Risk When Watching “13 Reasons Why?”
Content Warning: Talk of death by suicide. If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts or needs help, please call The National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255. In the wake of youth binge watching Netflix’s show “13 Reasons Why,” mental health advocates, parents, and schools are worried that teens are getting the wrong messages about death by suicide and that the show glorifies death by suicide. The overall plot of the show is that a teen dies by suicid
Bridgewatch Angels: Deterring Suicide on the Golden Gate Bridge
We moved to the San Francisco Bay area about two years ago. One of the things I love about living here is to see the Golden Gate Bridge from atop a hill in Berkeley. One of the scariest things to me about living here is the Golden Gate Bridge because I know that there is a 98.7% success rate of death by suicide. The Golden Gate Bridge is the number one destination in the world where people come to die by suicide. According to Bridgewatch Angels founder Mia Munayer (Lieutenant
When Suicidal Thoughts are a Part of Daily Life
[Trigger warning for talking about suicidal thoughts. I would also like to remind people to read the whole blog post and know that I am under the care of an amazing psychologist who knows all of this. I am not at risk for suicide (which is what this post is raising awareness about.) I am taking a risk and being vulnerable in order to help others and raise awareness. I hope that it can be respected that I am able to take care of myself and assess my own situation, with the hel
5 Things Wrong With The Focus on Lewy Body Dementia as Robin Williams' "Reason" for Death By Suicide
I just saw this headline today: "Robin Williams driven to suicide by Lewy Body Dementia." I have so many issues with this and I wanted to share a few of the problems this headline brings up in our culture today. [Image: Rev. Katie Katie and her Mom working on an art project made to be accessible for the stage of Lewy Body Dementia Carol had at the time, in 2011.] Many of you may know that my Mom has been living with Lewy Body Dementia for eight years now and I live with menta
