1,000,000: The number of suicide attempts in a year

In honor of Suicide Prevention Week 2017: Remember the old Reading Rainbow children’s book How Much is a Million? “If one million children climbed onto one another’s shoulders, they would be higher than airplanes fly.” That’s how many people attempt suicide in the United States each year, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

My sister attempted suicide when I was a child. I don’t remember very much about it, but I remember my mother picking me up early from my school dance to take my sister to the emergency room to have her stomach pumped. And, I remember being scared for her, my beloved. She survived and went to counseling, and grew up to marry and have children, thank goodness.

If you have thoughts or feelings about self-harm, you might feel like you have nowhere to turn. Here are some things to know:

You don’t have to act on the feelings. You can choose how to respond or not to respond at all.

Feelings and thoughts about hurting yourself mean you need to take a deep breath, remain calm, and take self-care action. It’s important to know you will not feel this way forever. You haven’t always felt this way; you felt another way before. First, find someone you can talk to - a friend, family member, coworker, therapist, or hotline. Some things to say include that you are feeling like you want to hurt yourself, if you know why you feel that way (and it’s normal if you don’t know why), if you can tell them what you need, if you don’t know what you need. If you’d rather not talk to someone you know, you can call the hotline or chat online.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK (8255)

Online chat at the Suicide Crisis Chat

The Suicide Prevention Lifeline has teamed up with suicide attempt survivors, therapists, crisis centers, families, and others to offer real help that works. Suicide attempt survivors have posted 100 ways to get through the next 5 minutes. Survivors also share longer activities, tried and true self-care tips, when they needs care.

If you have experienced thoughts of harming yourself in the past, or think you might in the future, it’s important to have a safety plan. Safety plans include strategies like prevention strategies, how to recognize warning signs, people you can reach out to, ways to get through immediate thoughts and feelings of self-harm, and how to stay safe in the future.

Recovering from a suicide attempt

If you survived a suicide attempt, you are survivor. Other survivors have shared their stories online, how they made it through their darkest hour, and may inspire you. Sometimes sharing your pain, and helping others, via blogging about it can be therapeutically healing. You can read others’ blog posts and add your own at You Matter.

You do matter

You are important and perfect just as you are. Let me say that again, in case you didn't hear: you are important and perfect just as you are. If you experience any of these warning signs, please reach out. If you don't experience any of these, but you feel worried you might, reach out too; it might just make you feel better.

• If you have tried to hurt or kill yourself, you are more likely to try again

• Having a friend or family member who attempted suicide

• Untreated depression (the number one cause for suicide)

• Unexplained extreme mood changes

• Feeling hopeless, helpless, or unable to picture a future with you in it

• Sleeping too much or too little

• Using drugs or alcohol

• Feeling like others would be better off without you

• Losing interest in activities

• Withdrawing or isolating from others

And if you think you might need help to feel better overall, call or email me to schedule a free phone consultation where you will be listened to and learn counseling might help. 

Thanks for reading, and be well. ~ Robin

Resources and References Used

David Schwartz, “How Much Is a Million?” Harper Collins Publishers, 1985.

“You Matter,” http://www.youmatter.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

John Draper, http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

If you, or someone you know, is in crisis, call 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or chat http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/GetHelp/LifelineChat.aspx

A special thank you to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline for their invaluable resources, for their good work, and their awareness and prevention programs.

Your ideal holiday – You CAN have it and here's how!

Most of us are prone to high – if unrealistic – expectations and stress around the holiday season or about events on the specific holidays we celebrate. If you are someone who fits into this group with me, you might also worry your holiday might be disappointing or painful. Do you know what you are hoping for? Specifically?

It’s likely some aspects of your dream holiday are quite possible, but how will you know when they’ve come true? It’s simple:

Define your day. Make it so. Let it go.

Start by imagining your perfect day of the season. Perhaps it’s a day of self-care: healthy foods and meditation, followed by shopping and a meal with friends, dinner at home, and slippers and tea at night.

Perhaps it’s Christmas day: French toast and juice, stockings, travel to the in-laws’, a hearty meal, and kids sleeping in the car on the way home.

Define your day: If you can imagine it, you can make it (or at least key components of it) so.

Imagine: Close your eyes and breathe calmly for a few minutes. Next, imagine how your day begins, using all your senses. Is the house cool or warm when you awaken? Are you making coffee? What does that smell like? Any sounds? The spoon scraping the bowl of your oatmeal? The music in the background? What happens next? And then what? See yourself going through your ideal day, chronologically as you would in real life. Take your time and involve all your senses as much as possible. This can take five minutes or 105 minutes. There is no “correct” way of doing it and there is no “correct” amount of time.

Or

If you can’t “see” it, maybe you can sketch it. Roughly - or with precision, your choice – sketch out the main parts of your ideal day. You can draw a chronological series of events, the way graphic novels are drawn. Maybe your dog is waking you in the morning. Sketch that.  Is it snowing when you get up? Draw that.

Or

If speaking is more your thing, try a speech to text app on your phone or computer. Or just record your thoughts and ideas about your ideal holiday and how it plays out, to listen to it later. Again, involve all your senses in your description.

Pay attention to how you feel physically and emotionally, in your body and your heart. You will notice pieces that make you feel warm, perhaps smiling while thinking. That’s a cue to you that it’s an important component of your ideal holiday and something to manifest in reality.

Make it so: Include important pieces of what you imagined.

Something that makes me feel a sense of peace is thinking about taking a drive to see Christmas lights in people’s yards. So this would be a component I want to make sure to include when I plan my holiday events. It’s within my power to make this happen = good choice.

Something else that’s part of my ideal day is opening the doors of an advent calendar with my husband. This is also in my control, and I know I need to buy or make an advent calendar before December 1st.

If you find satisfaction telling your children the story of their first holiday or hosting wrapping or baking parties. What can you do, that is in your power, to make this happen?

Let it go: Leave out pieces beyond your control.

Let go of tasks and events that don’t bring you joy, don’t create joy for others, are more work than the potential joy they may deliver, or that just don’t fit in your ideal day. If that means spending a holiday away from family, read “Alone for the holidays,” for help managing and celebrating that.

Let others off the hook. You cannot control them. You can’t change their actions or moods. If you need something from them, and it’s part of your ideal day, you can ask them. But remember, their ideal day is probably not the same as yours.

Following the guidelines above, you can have a holiday closer to your dreams.

Define your day. Make it so. Let it go.

 If your emotions feel too deep or too big, and you think you might want support during this holiday season, contact a therapist who can help you work them through.

What’s your ideal holiday day like? I’d love to hear. Post below and I’ll reply.

And, as always, I'm here. You can reach me in Seattle at Balance InSight, 206-790-7270.

Thanks for reading, and be well. ~ Robin

Where do you hold stress?

Is it in your belly? Your head? Your neck and shoulders?

I tend to hold stress and tension in my belly – almost like a punched muscle.

When you’re stressed you might notice you hunch your shoulders up toward your ears, giving you pain in your neck or upper back.

You might tighten your jaw, grind your teeth, or feel weepy.

The most important thing is that you notice. If you don’t know you are stressed, it’s hard to release it.

Try the activity below – Progressive Muscle Relaxation - to notice and release any stress held in your body. For best results, please:

• Keep exhales longer than inhales, slow and deep
• Scanning is nothing more than going inward and noticing
• When you get to tensing and releasing, repeat each area or muscle group 2 or 3 times.
• Take cleansing breaths after each muscle group, before moving to the next.
• Read it through once and then try it from memory – aim for feeling better, not following steps to perfection.

If you’d rather hear this instead of reading, download Stress Release Progressive Muscle Relaxation.

---

Here we go:

1. Get comfortably seated.
   Sit in a comfortable chair, feet resting gently on the floor.
   Sit up straight without rigidity and take a few slow deep breaths, with exhales longer than inhales.
2. When you’re ready, scan your body slowly.
   Close your eyes slightly, so your lids are just touching.
   Starting at the top of your head and moving slowly and methodically down to your feet, just notice how your body feels.
   Do you notice any areas of pain, prickling, cold, heat? Pressure, constriction, or anything at all?
3. Now pause your scanning and take a few deep breaths again. In and out, with exhales longer than inhales.
4. Next, tense and release muscles, slowly and methodically working feet to head, and breathing slowly throughout, with deep cleansing breaths after each area of your body.
5. Beginning with your feet, scrunch them up, toes either splayed out or curled in, ankles rigid and tight.
6. And release, relax, and visualize warm limp muscles. Repeat at least one more time – tensing and clenching, then releasing.
7. Deep cleansing breaths - again with long exhales.
8. Now, moving up - calves and shins, knees, thighs and glutes. Slowly and with intention, one muscle group or body area at a time, tensing and then releasing, at least two times.
9. Breathing warmth and love in, and pressure, stress, and tension out.
10. Moving up, to your belly and chest, lower back, spine, and upper back.
11. Cleansing breaths and then repeat again.
12. Now shoulders and arms, elbows, wrists, and hands. Repeat each area, with calm breaths in between.
13. Work up to your neck, jaw, forehead, and crown, breathing deeply between each area of your body – repeating again, each area.
14. With your eyes still gently closed, notice the ground under your feet, your back against the chair, and the sounds in the room. Come peacefully back to awareness of your surroundings and open your eyes when you’re ready.

---

If you try this exercise daily - a few days in a row, you’ll start to feel like jello or floaty air when you just think of doing it. If you haven’t the time, just try it whenever you like. Once again, if you’d rather listen instead, download the audio file.

And, as always, I'm here.

If you need more than a relaxation activity, email me to schedule a free telephone consultation, where we can talk about how to reduce stress. You can also reach me in my West Seattle counseling office at Balance InSight, 206-790-7270.

Your turn: where do you hold stress? Post below; I'd love to know.

How to feel better when you're depressed

Have you ever felt so sad you couldn't leave your bed? Make something to eat? Here are some ways to feel better, fast. If you feel you might have depression, try one or several of these.

1. Accept – Recognize your symptoms of insomnia or exhaustion, irritability and withdrawal, isolating, eating too much or having no appetite can be symptoms of depression. Depression is nothing to be ashamed of, in fact it’s quite common. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 8% of people 12 and older suffer from depression. Accept.

2. Move – This one is hard because being depressed means you don’t want to move, don’t want to go anywhere, and maybe don’t want to get out of bed. If you can make yourself move your muscles every so often, even if it’s to walk from your couch to the refrigerator, you will feel better. Move.

3. Eat – Eat small healthy meals or snacks whether you’re hungry or not. Depression commonly affects appetite. Some of us eat comfort food and lots of it, while others would rather eat nothing at all. Eating a small healthy mix like an egg, and apple, and toast puts something good in your stomach, staves off hunger, and helps keep your blood sugar where it needs to be. Eat.

4. Argue – Identify the thought or belief that’s perpetuating your feelings and consciously dispute it. Argue with yourself. If you’re feeling down because you feel other people don’t understand you, tell yourself with resoluteness, “Shawn understands me.” If you’re sad because your partner left and you feel like you’ll never be OK without her, tell yourself, “I miss her but I was OK before her and I will be OK after her.” Argue.

5. Pet – If you have a cat, dog, or other household animal, or have access to visit one, spend time petting them. Research shows that petting an animal releases endorphins, the body’s natural opiates responsible for feeling good. Pet.

6. Seek a qualified therapist to talk to. A good therapist can help you experience relief in as little as 1 session, so long as you dig in and do the work. Many therapists specialize in treating people with depression. Seek.

5 Short Steps to Help Yourself Feel Better

Think back to the past week. Think about the positive, negative, and neutral events that happened. Did you have a bad day? Did you feel abandoned or panicked when the person you turned to wasn’t available? Do you want to feel better when it happens again? Because you will feel let down, disappointed, or abandoned again someday. We can control of our feelings of sadness, abandonment, grief, rage, and anxiety by changing our thoughts with a simple activity called cognitive restructuring.

In 5 steps, you can change what you think to change how you feel.

1. Name the triggering event I had a bad day last week and Susan didn’t help.

2. Name the irrational belief Susan didn’t help because she doesn’t like me anymore.

3. List the feelings caused by the belief Sadness and abandonment.

4. Dispute the irrational belief Susan didn’t help because she was taking care of her sick baby.

5. Name the new effect Feel closer to Susan and secure in our friendship.

Now you try it. Start with something small and simple.

1. Name the triggering event

2. Name the irrational belief

3. List the feelings caused by the belief

4. Dispute the irrational belief

5. Name the new effect

With practice, you can train yourself to manage your thoughts and keep feelings of depression, anxiety, fear, abandonment, and more from getting in the way. Let me know how it goes. Post a comment or email me at robin@balanceinsight.com