The minute I saw the preview for A Million Little Things , my heart sank. I sat there for a minute a little bewildered by my body's response. I write about suicide, I talk about suicide, and I counsel other survivors of a suicide loss. Why did this preview knock me off my feet? Why am I upset by a narrative that follows family and friends that have lost a loved one to suicide? Then it dawned on me. I was terrified that they would get it wrong. ...
“What were they Thinking?”
As a survivor of a suicide loss, I have found myself asking, "What were they thinking?" From a rational mindset, it is easy to look at someone's situation and find a number of less permanent solutions than suicide. This often complicates the grief process even more, as we desperately try to understand the mindset of the person we lost to suicide. I recently re-watched the below video of Kevin Hines, suicide attempt survivor and mental health ...
Is Dying with Dignity Suicide?
I recently moved and have spent the past couple days with my head buried in boxes. I took a few minutes this evening to see what was going on outside the confines of my home. It saddened me to see that, Brittany Maynard has ended her life. As I read through the People article, "Terminally Ill Woman Brittany Maynard Has Ended Her Own Life," I couldn't help but think about my dad and his choice to end his own life. I took some time to read ...
Suicide in the Media
Last Week, Becky wrote about "Dying with Dignity" in which she discussed suicide in the media. The story that I've read about most recently was the 29-year old, Brittany Maynard, who is terminally ill, and has decided to end her life on November 1st. It was all over my social media feed and was even discussed last week with my friend Megan, who is also a survivor of suicide. As a survivor, it is difficult not to be impacted by suicide in the ...
Dying With Dignity in the News
The topic of dying with dignity or choosing an "end date" in life has inspired a couple of viral articles this week. This can be troublesome for survivors of suicide. Technically, no one chooses how and when they enter this world, but once they are here, it’s unsettling that anyone would want to pinpoint the timing in which they leave.
I first came across an article about a sports reporter who made a calculated, year-long decision to end his ...