Cornell's President Calling for A National Suicide Dialogue

Young people in general are at a higher risk for completed suicide than adults over 25. Males age 15-24 are at particularly high risk for completed suicide because they usually choose more violent methods than females. You are correct that there is discourse needed on this important matter. We need to end the stigma that is placed upon suicidal feelings. Terms such as "stupid" and "crazy" need to be banished. This issue must be approached with compassion.

Regarding the term "stupid" being used for someone with suicidal intent, the majority of people who have suicidal feelings are actually of higher than average intelligence. Ill advised, yes. Stupid? Hardly.

To put my words into perspective, mood disorders run in my family. I have type II bipolar disorder and a history of para-suicides. One of my cousins had medication resistant depression and committed suicide when she was 41 years old. My son is dealing with clinical depression and anxiety. I know what it is like to be faced with stigma, even from medical professionals. I had one "angel of mercy" tell me that I was "a freak, and will always be a freak." Attitudes such as this are beyond counter-productive.

It is said that being crazy is doing the same thing that doesn't work over and over again in hopes that it will work this time. It is time to stop being crazy.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

negligent

Sorry folks--I use a few different online personas: Bloomingpsycho, Cheesemeister, and Tempestletrope, so it is sometimes a while before I check my comments. I just need to make my sub-personalities into individual functioning beings. Problem is, we'd all probably kill each other.

In darker news, it seems that a friendship I had for about a year has ended. All in all I don't think this friendship was healthy for either party, so its probably a good thing it ended. The sad thing is, this person emailed me about every day and pathetically enough, I miss the attention. FYI, this was not a romantic thing, it was a platonic friendship. 

So I keep checking my inbox and my FB and my blogger, hoping that someone has had something to say.

I guess I need to learn to be a bit more self reliant.

In very trivial news, I have a new pair of shoes which I'm going to take for a test drive.

My son and his father are in Arizona for 10 days. I tend to have trouble being alone, so the losing the friend timing is particularly bad.

Me and the Universe really need to work on this timing thing.

Depression: The Post Script

Before I learned that I actually had type II bipolar disorder, I used to think that what turned out to be hypomanic episodes were the "breakthroughs" that you mention, and that if I'd just keep a positive attitude, I'd be cured of my depression forever.

Turned out that the light at the end of the tunnel was another train--damn!
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost