[…] hit me: This job is not for me; I’m failing really fast. I tried to fight the thoughts, but I felt like I was drowning. I attempted suicide twice that night. I got lucky. A car pulled up, and it was another cop. He talked me down. I went home because I couldn’t go […]
[…] ever met. Lee was my best friend and creative partner who struggled with bipolar disorder and depression. After he and another member of my congregation died from suicide, I became heavily involved in mental health advocacy. Many members did not know of their struggles with depression, but for me, it was the very personal […]
[…] This ALS Ice Bucket Challenge-style movement is based on a 2012 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) report that cited the loss of 22 veterans each day to suicide. Last month, the VA Office of Suicide Prevention released a new report using more comprehensive data which updates the loss to suicide to an average of […]
[…] purpose.” On Sept. 8, 2017, my heart was not just broken — it was obliterated. On that day, I learned that my former partner, Alan, died by suicide. At 23 years old, Alan was one of 3,089 young men who took their lives that year. Before that call, I did not fully understand how […]
[…] own life, I was thirteen years old, and I was left with both physical and mental scars. Years later, living in a body that has survived many suicide attempts, my heart battles between giving up and coping with the pain of a complex history. Processing trauma becomes even more complex when battling comorbid diagnoses. […]
[…] Rights Campaign tracked 38 violent killings of trans people in the U.S. This does not include the high number of transgender people who lose their lives to suicide every year. Transgender people are nine times more likely than the general U.S. population to attempt suicide. We may not all be in the same amount […]
My great-grandmother lost her husband, both sons and both grandsons to depression and suicide. And she almost lost me. Grandma Fishel was my constant supporter during my tumultuous youth and adolescence. Her home became my refuge, my safe space away from the house I lived in and the school I attended — places where […]
Each day 22 veterans die by suicide. Tom Mahany has gone on two hunger strikes to raise awareness for the issues our military members are facing.
Arlington, Va., March 13, 2019 — Landmark legislation was introduced in the U.S. Senate today to help reduce veteran suicides and improve mental health outcomes by implementing changes at the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) to increase access to mental health care, expand diagnostic research and authorize new programs to combat veteran suicides. […]
On August 5th, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act, S. 785, bipartisan legislation focused on efforts to reduce veteran suicide and improve mental health outcomes through improved access to care, better diagnostic tools and increased oversight of VA programs.
NAMI HelpLine is available M-F, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m. ET. Call 800-950-6264,
text “helpline” to 62640, or chat online. In a crisis, call or text 988 (24/7).
