In the U.S. alone, there is 1 death by suicide every 11 minutes, and for those age 10-34 it is a leading cause of death. These trends are echoed globally, and we can each do our part and turn the tide.
International Suicide Hotline Numbers
Darkness falls in many forms, preying upon goodness, vulnerability, love, and trust; often taking the shape of spirituality, our one true love, or the long-awaited answer to our prayers. Such false light can be so cunning and persuasive, so practiced and polished, that it lies more convincingly than honest people can tell the truth. It may trick us into trusting, and then fill our hopes with the picture of our dreams, while, as we fall, it tightens up the noose around our heart.
Suicide And The Illusion of Separateness
After experiencing a loss like this, many just want to leave this human world to escape the pain, but this is giving it ultimate power over us, and suicide is an irreversible mistake.
This choice affects us, those around us, and to some degree the universe in its entirety. We are not truly individuals, as is taught through the human illusion of separateness. We are interconnected and one, and that which impacts anything impacts everything, whether we realize it or not. The metaphor and symbolism in the old movie “It’s A Wonderful Life,” renders this in a clear and simple way. Our spirits have individuality, but are also connected to the one great spirit; like waves on the ocean of the universe.
Whether from heartbreak like the story sketched above, chronic physical or emotional pain that we just can’t get away from, dysphoria from a body that doesn’t match our personality, destructive patterns resulting from trauma, desperation generated by chronic physical or sexual abuse, hopelessness deriving from racism, violence, rape, and false imprisonment; or other causes of severe depression; there is always hope, and there are always life-changing choices other than suicide that could be only a shifted thought away.
In the U.S. alone, there is 1 death by suicide every 11 minutes, and for those age 10-34 it is a leading cause of death. These trends are echoed globally, and we can each do our part and turn the tide.
The Girl Next Door
“The Girl Next Door” is an artistic music video created to aid in worldwide suicide prevention. In the video Description, there are links to suicide resources and a list of worldwide emergency and suicide hotline numbers. Please share it and join us on our mission to save lives!
Understanding Depression
Depression is a dark visitor with a proclivity for overstaying its welcome. Like anxiety and other unwelcome guests, depression informs the brain that we are under threat. In fact, all negative emotions shift the brain into Survival Mode, creating the illusion that our life is in danger, and then our brain prompts us to fight, run away, or freeze with fear until the threat is gone. A pair of Harvard researchers, Walter Cannon and Herbert Benson, dubbed these processes “stress response” (Survival Mode) and “relaxation response” (Safe Mode).
When in Survival Mode, our thoughts, words, and actions are limited to those associated with staying alive in the face of mortal danger. This is why states such as anxiety and depression are so tricky. When we begin feeling them, our brain shifts into a process that reinforces and intensifies the emotion (on a physiological level, emotionally and instinctually, we believe we are in danger when we’re not). Within this state of relative urgency, we become unable to access any thoughts, possibilities, or courses of action except those related to escaping danger. Since our brain believes we are under threat, such emotions and instincts as anger, aggression, fear, leaving, and avoidance are intensified; while everything else, like truth, happiness, hope, factual information, and a balanced perspective; is temporarily blocked, until the brain believes the threat has gone away. Therefore, in order to overcome our depression, we must show the brain that we are safe. Most approaches that help relieve depression ultimately demonstrate to our neural net that the perceived peril has passed. When convinced, the brain will switch us back from Survival to Safe Mode and we will regain access to our full range of thought, possibilities, and courses of action. From this broadened perspective, we can deliberately ditch the daunting doldrums.
As we might systemically surmise, if this neurologic process has such a powerful impact on our emotional well being, then it will similarly effect our physical health; since they are hopelessly intertwined in a lifetime relationship. Our bodies come pre-loaded with self healing apps which are turned on and off by the brain based on information it receives from the nervous system. When in Survival Mode (fight, flight, or freeze), our self-healing apps are turned off. If we run into a hungry bear, raging hurricane, or salivating rapist; our bodies temporarily shut down their repair and maintenance systems, diverting all available resources to emergency services (When confronted by such real or imagined threats, our bodies shift their focus from fighting cancer, preventing heart disease, or quelling pneumonia to staying alive in the face of an eminent threat). Negative emotions, such as depression, alert the nervous system to danger (just like the bear, hurricane, or rapist would); signaling the brain to switch on its Survival Mode and turn off everything else; including the body’s natural healing processes.
With this physiology of depression in mind, please click here to learn how to rise above depression naturally.
Suicide Hotline Resources
Photo credit: Anthony Tran
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