Dr. Dawn, The Suicide Prevention Pharmacist

International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day occurs on the Saturday before Thanksgiving in the United States – many cities host an event for suicide loss survivors to come together, and more information can be found here:

 

 

Here is some additional information taken directly from the above link: 

 

In 1999, Senator Harry Reid, who lost his father to suicide, introduced a resolution to the United States Senate, leading to the creation of International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day. Also known as Survivor Day, the day was designated by the United States Congress as a day on which those affected by suicide can join together for healing and support. It was determined that Survivor Day would always fall on the Saturday before American Thanksgiving, as the holidays are often a difficult time for suicide loss survivors.

 

In partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) co-sponsored the first annual World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10th, 2003 to focus public attention on suicide prevention efforts and activities. Since then, communities, individuals, practitioners, researchers and other professionals around the globe have responded each year on September 10 by raising awareness of the global burden of suicide, implementing prevention initiatives or campaigns, announcing important research findings, developing region-specific prevention strategies, and widely sharing other suicide prevention-focused activities.

To assist in IASP efforts, the National Council for Suicide Prevention (NCSP) launched the Take 5 to Save Lives campaign. Take 5 encourages everyone to complete several action steps under 5 important themes: LEARN, KNOW, DO, TALK, and SHARE. The launch of the 2022-2025 Take 5 to Save Lives campaign broadens recognition of these important suicide prevention activities and includes even more public awareness events including World Suicide Prevention Day, National Suicide Prevention Month, and National Suicide Prevention Week. 

 The National Council for Suicide Prevention is a coalition of seven national organizations working to prevent suicide. The mission of the NCSP is to advance suicide prevention through leadership, advocacy and a collective voice. During the last year, these organizations have directly impacted the lives of over 2 million people and generated over 100 million media impressions.

The 5 steps are: 

Take a few minutes to LEARN the warning signs, risk factors, and protective factors of suicide. 

KNOW how to find help and support for yourself and others who may be suicidal.

Preventing suicide requires action. Everyone can DO something to get involved in the suicide prevention movement. 

TALKing about suicide does not put the idea of suicide in someone’s head. It can be a lifeline. 

SHARE Take 5 to help spread the word about one of the most important public health issues of our time.

National Suicide Prevention Month:

 

 

 

 

National Suicide Prevention Week: 

 

 

World Suicide Prevention Day: 

 

 

 

 

If you visit these links, you will find a wealth of information about suicide prevention as well as ways you can support the cause.  Your involvement can be as simple as a conversation or as in depth as being on the “front lines”, but the beauty is that any contribution you make can save a life or lives.  Whether you have thought about it or not, suicide touches all of us in some way, and it can also be related to many other issues.  By taking the time to learn and contribute to suicide prevention, you are affecting everyone.  Your role may not save the entire world, but it can save one person’s world, which is so important.  As we go through National Suicide Prevention Month, National Suicide Prevention Week, and World Suicide Prevention Day, my hope is that you are challenged to learn more about suicide prevention.  Then, after learning more, I hope you will consider finding ways to act and spread the message of suicide prevention.  

 

The best part of suicide prevention is that there is hope and that one day there will be no suicides.  Please join me in working towards that day.

I still think about him everyday and wonder what he would be like now.  At this point he would be just weeks away from turning 65, and I have no doubt retirement was going to come soon after that.  He would have loved retirement, but it was not meant to be.

 

Not only did retirement not happen, my dad has missed a lot in my life and in my family.  While I am so thankful that Derek and him got to spend some time together, he was gone less than a year after they first met.  My dad’s funeral was the day of our 1st year dating anniversary.  Dad missed our engagement, missed our wedding.  And perhaps, the hardest thing of all is he missed having his first (and currently only) grandson.  Dexter’s middle name, Hugh, is in honor of my dad, Dan Hugh Scott.

 

And those are some of the big things in my life.  He’s missed having two granddaughters.  He’s missed birthdays.  He’s missed anniversaries.  He’s missed holidays and celebrations.  I think we all get the point here.

 

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that my Overnight walk in New York City was in June and the Long Term Survivors of Suicide Loss Summit was just last week.  My soul needed those things, and God provided. 

 

The grief never, ever goes away, and I think that is true no matter what happens to your loved one.  You carry it with you every single day.  But in the cracks of your broken heart, more light is able to shine through as the days go on.

 

Something that hit me hard at the Summit last weekend was when David Kessler talked about finding meaning.  He said that the meaning was not found in your loved one’s death, but in what YOU do afterwards.  That gave me a tremendous amount of comfort, because my grief at this stage has been trying to figure out why my dad had to die so I could learn some profound life lessons.  That is an incredible price to pay, and I certainly don’t remember signing up for that deal.  I personally feel better thinking that my dad’s death was an event that doesn’t have to have some deep “it happened for a reason” bullshit.  He died, and it hurt badly.  The meaning is what I do as a result of what happened.  

 

So, what have I done?  Over the last 10 years I have done a lot of volunteering and a lot of helping.  I had done some things before Dad died, but I feel like that has increased over the years.  I have served on several boards, and continue to do so.  I donate blood regularly.  I donate my time.  I donate money.  And, while a lot of the time I focus on mental health, honestly all of the issues tie back to mental health anyway.  Some of my newer endeavors have centered around adoption, and we are now in the process of becoming a licensed foster home.  I also started working at NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) a few months ago, so mental health has now become my day job too.  

 

This hasn’t necessarily been a cohesive narrative, however I felt that this was an important day to reflect, and there is SO much to reflect on. 

 

I will also note that if you are struggling in any way, please know that you are not alone.  If you or someone you know is in crisis, you can call 988 for assistance.  You can also text the word HOME to 741741 for help as well.  One of those profound lessons is that life is so precious, and there is no shame in asking for help. 

 

To finish, I will say that today is also my mom’s birthday.  So, for the last 10 years, not only do we mourn Dad but we also celebrate her birthday.  As you can imagine, this is a day of some pretty mixed emotions.  But, as the years go on, I try to celebrate more than I mourn.  Even though we have had this major loss, there is also much to celebrate.  We have our grief and we have our joy.  I miss you Dad and Happy Birthday Mom.  I love you both.

My first reflection is that the whole event was surreal.  As I look back now, it almost feels like it didn’t even happen, but rather that I dreamed it.  Of course, I can’t tell you the last time I stayed up all night (even with a sick kid), so I was already tired from that part.  The walk measured in at 17.3 miles, and to me it was physically and mentally demanding.  There were many times I wanted to stop and go to bed, but luckily there were lots of people around me to help keep me motivated.  I also definitely had some leg and foot pain afterwards, and my feet were swollen for days.  However, I am proud to say I got it done.  I also want to give a special thanks to my good friend from college who walked with me the whole night. 

 

I was also surprised at the actual route of the walk, as I assumed we would spend a lot of time walking around Central Park and away from car traffic.  I was very wrong about that, as we walked around a lot of Manhattan and had to stop a lot (a lot!) at stoplights and intersections.  This made the walk take a lot longer.  We also were not allowed to start until about 30 minutes past the expected beginning, yet we were supposed to finish at the same pre-established time, so that was really stressful for me.  But again, I got it done.

 

Another reflection is that with everything going on around me, I didn’t really spend a lot of time thinking about my dad, although it did come up part of the time.  As I said already, it really all did feel kind of like a dream.

 

Now the question is: will I do it again?  Maybe.  I don’t think it has been long enough since this one to decide, but I will definitely consider it.  And, I do encourage anyone who is interested in trying it at least once to see what the experience is like.  It wasn’t perfect, however I am really proud of my accomplishment.

First of all, I want to say thank you to everyone who donated money towards my fundraising efforts.  There is a 1000 dollar minimum in order to even participate, and I was able to meet and even exceed that minimum.  In addition, I want to thank everyone who has supported me in ways that were not financial.   I appreciate everyone who has supported the cause of suicide prevention. 

 

In terms of the training, I am not even sure when I began, but I believe it was towards the last half of March or early April.  I have done some 10Ks recently, so I knew I could do 6 miles pretty easily, but I didn’t want to assume I could just do it all.  While the exact mileage can vary, The Overnight will be at least 16 miles long.  I started at 9 miles, then did 10 miles the week after that, and 11 miles the week after that.  After those 3 initial weeks I started doing every 2 weeks, and I have done 12 miles, 14 miles, and just finished doing 16 miles.  This experience has included a lot of lessons in foot care and what shoes and socks are going to work.  I have went through a lot of band-aids, tender tape, and Aleve, but I can say at this point I am prepared and feel confident about getting it done.  The walks themselves could also at times be mentally challenging, whether it was thinking about my dad, boredom, or just wanting to quit.  Luckily, though, I know the actual event will give me enough support to finish.

 

I have to say it is a nice feeling to know that I have “done the work” and now it is almost time to go do what I have worked so hard for.  I can’t wait to attend this event, and I look forward to sharing my experiences with you afterwards.

We encourage involvement this coming May, as well as all year round, by utilizing other Faith.Hope.Life. campaign resources aimed at helping faith communities across our nation play an active role in preventing suicide such as:

• Prayer Guide
• Suicide Prevention Competencies for Faith Leaders
  
• How to respond to a member who may be at risk for suicide
• Worship and spiritual resources
• Communications aids such as flyers, bulletin inserts, posters, and other graphical art
• Other resources 

National Commission on Correctional Healthcare: https://www.ncchc.org/

 

National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention: https://theactionalliance.org/

 

SafeSide Prevention: https://safesideprevention.com/

 

American College of Emergency Physicians: https://www.acep.org/

 

National Institute of Mental Health: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/

 

Aetna: https://www.aetna.com/individuals-families.html

 

Education Development Center: https://www.edc.org/

 

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: https://www.va.gov/

 

Coalition on Psychiatric Emergencies: https://www.emfoundation.org/em-resources/coalition-on-psychiatric-emergencies/

 

Suicide Prevention Resource Center: https://www.sprc.org/

 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: https://www.cdc.gov/

 

National Shooting Sports Foundation: https://www.nssf.org/

 

Zero Suicide Institute: https://solutions.edc.org/solutions/zero-suicide-institute

 

Lundbeck: https://www.lundbeck.com/global

 

As you can see from the list, there are over a dozen organizations that are working with AFSP on Project 2025.  I find it inspiring that these groups are working together to provide suicide prevention education and investiagate ways to reduce suicide.  Do you recognize any of these organizations?  I assume that a lot of people have heard of the government organizations, such as the VA and the CDC, but there were definitely a few on the list that I did not recognize.  I encourage everyone to go through this group to see how each organization is working to prevent suicide.

 

I would also note that while Project 2025 is on my radar and includes some big groups, no doubt there are many other projects and initiatives out there with the aim and goal of suicide prevention.  These projects are important too, because every action, no matter how small, makes a difference and adds to a bigger change.  Are you aware of other suicide prevention projects?  If so, I would appreciate hearing about them.  You can comment on this post or email me at healthbyd@gmail.com with the information.

This is taken directly from their website: https://project2025.afsp.org/

 

A nationwide initiative to reduce the annual rate of suicide in the U.S. 20 percent by 2025.

 

Our bold goal. 

 

Despite the fact that more is being done today to prevent suicide than at any other time in history, the rate of suicide continues to rise in the United States. Led by the largest suicide prevention organization in the United States, with guidance from the top minds in the field and dynamic data modeling, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention has determined the programs, policies and interventions that will prevent as many suicides as possible. Project 2025 is the collaborative effort to implement and scale these strategies nationwide.   

 

Together with its board of expert advisors, AFSP has examined:  

Who are we losing to suicide

How we were losing them

Where we are losing them

What we can do to save lives

 

Four critical areas have been identified to save the most lives in the shortest amount of time:  

Firearms

Healthcare Systems

Emergency Departments

Corrections Systems

 

Additional details can be found on the website, however this gives you an overview of the project and the goal.  Now that we are in 2022, 2025 isn’t too far away.  I am hopeful that we will meet this goal and then will move forward with an even bigger goal beyond this one.

 

What are your thoughts on Project 2025?  Do you agree with its goal, or do you think it could be bolder?  Do you agree with the four critical areas that they identified to target?  Do you support the work the project is doing?  What other areas do you think should be included?  Do you think other goals should have been included in Project 2025?  I welcome your comments and feedback.