More First Things

Resources on Suicide – and the way forward

gail louise Learning to Hope, More First Things, On Suicide, On Support, Shame , , , , ,

I’ve written a resource page on Suicide – Look on the menu bar, click Suicide and then Resources on Suicide.  There are links there for anyone who may be at risk for suicide or is a survivor of a suicide attempt.  I hope they can be of help for you.

Especially I want to draw attention to the link for the report The Way Forward: Pathways to hope, recovery and wellness with insights from lived experience (2014 pdf), by the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention’s Suicide Attempt Survivors Task force.   The report is unique in its breath and scope, and unique in that its co-leads were one, a survivor of suicide attempts and mental health advocate, and the other, a psychologist with years of experience working with people in suicidal crisis.

“For far too many years suicide prevention has not engaged the perspectives of those who have lived through suicidal experiences. Because of social stigma and fear, as well as personal shame, a culture of silence prevailed. The Way Forward represents a seminal moment in this field’s history; it is an opportunity to benefit from the lived experience of suicide attempt survivors. Many of its recommendations are derived from evidence-based practices, and several are aspirational. All are grounded in the evidence of recovery and resiliency that is clear in the lives of our Task Force members.”
– from the report.

More “First Things First” – Half the cigarettes in America

gail louise Chronic/SeriousMental_Illness, More First Things, Real Life; Real Challenges , , , ,

AODA/mental health patients smoke half the cigarettes in America. They’re dying from it. Most want to quit. Many have tried. For example: www.HelpUsQuit.org. My story is available here, on my website, and I’ll be writing more about the Center for Tobacco Research and the problems associated with smoking and mental illness shortly. . .

The facts are startling: 50% of people with persistent mental illness smoke compared to 18% of the general population; they consume 40% of all cigarettes smoked. The result is 200,000 deaths of  individuals with mental illness in the US  per year from smoking. The average lost years of life spans 20 -24 years! That is right, people with mental illness who smoke, as a group, live 20 – 24 fewer years than the general non-smoking population.  You can view this and more great information at the Center for Tobacco Research & Intervention, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison.