LIVE AMA DISCUSSION WITH DR. JENNIFER CRUMLISH
In this thread, we will host a live forum AMA with Dr. Jennifer Crumlish!
This is a special event to honor Suicide Prevention Day. Learn more about @DrJenniferCrumlish and this event here.
We are glad you are here! Everyone is welcome to participate! Make sure to review the guidelines for posting a question below. Due to the sensitivity of this topic, any questions which fall outside these guidelines will be removed by a moderator.
---------> How to participate: At 4:00 PM ET you may start posting your questions! Dr. Crumlish will reply in the order they are posted.
Question Asking Guidelines -
Dr. Crumlish is able to answer your questions regarding:
1) Basic facts and information about suicide research
2) Reducing isolation around suicide
3) How to support someone who has lost a loved one to suicide & how you can help yourself if you've lost someone to suicide
4) Reducing Stigma around suicide
Questions pertaining to the below topics are not permitted.
1) How to manage suicidal users at 7 Cups.
2) If you are suicidal and need support
* If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts, please reach out to the appropriate channels for help. 7 Cups is not a crisis hotline. The best thing our community can do to support you is to refer you to get help through the appropriate channels for help: 1-800-273-8255 or www.suicide.org*
Hi Soul Surfer
There is so much stigma around suicide, that I think people don't think about it being similar to other illnesses. So I would encourage family members to think about it from the perspective of, if someone died in an accident, maybe one that they caused, it would feel embarrassing to a family member, but you still loved the person and miss them and feel sad. Also, it's important to find out that you're not alone and that many people are survivors. It's easy to blame people who end their lives by suicide, but remembering the amount of pain someone must be in to do so, can sometimes help a family member feel more compassionate about it and more willing to get help for their grief.
that car accident analogy is really helpful
Thank you for your reply, that's a great way to think about it and approach it especially at a time when loved ones would not only be overwhelmed with feelings of intense grief but the fear that others may judge their loved one for having ended their life. I guess trying to prepare yourself in advance as to how you might explain it to people and also prepare yourself for a range of responses can help too.
Hey everyone, thanks for hanging in there while I disappeared!
Thanks for your prompt replies Dr. Crumlish. I am really enjoying this AMA. So enlightening.
You made it back woohoo!
Pre-selected question submitted by the community prior to the chat:
Why are help resources for suicide easily reachable in some countries and nonexistent in others?
I think some countries are just more open to treating and accepting mental health issues as health issues and in other countries there is a lot more stigma about mental health problems. That being said, this is a bit off topic, but in third world countries, people diagnosed with schizophrenia are often cared for and accepted by family members while in first world countries, the support is more limited and there is more stigma about the problem. So it really depends on the culture in each country
Pre-selected question submitted by the community prior to the chat:
With all the help online and in the different countries with suicide hotlines/suicide awareness, is this reducing suicides around the world or not affecting the statistic of suicides per year? is it helping or making a difference?
I think the more access people have to support, like this awesome community! and to better care, and more education, we will see a difference in the rates. But it is an uphill battle-as you all know, we tend to label and be negative about people's issues. I'm going to go back to the schizophrenia example from an earlier post-for example we, in our society, say someone is "schizophrenic" - I think it's much more respectful to say someone who has schizophrenia. Because having schizophrenia is only one part of who that person is. But it really takes a village to educate people and get them to think about the way we talk about problems and the way we *blame* people for having issues. But the more we can all be open about our struggles, the better it will be for our societies.
I've seen that theme in our support feed: you may have an illness, but you are not your illness. it doesn't define you as a person.
@KrinkTheMellowUnicorn
That's a really good point. One's mental health diagnosis does not define them (though that's easier said than done). That's why, when I train interns, I push them to not use phrases such as "They're Borderline" or "They're Bipolar" and so forth and instead encourage using phrases such as "They are a person diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder" or "They are a person diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder." This also helps reduce stigma IMO
Pre-selected question submitted by the community prior to the chat:
Can suicide be attributed solely to causes other than mental illness?
This is also a great question-I think it's too common to assume that someone who has suicidal thoughts is "just depressed" and that is the only reason why someone can be feeling suicidal. Suicidal thoughts are actually pretty common, but for many people it can be a fleeting experience and for others it can start feeling like it is taking over. For some people it's totally situational, something awful happens and then they start having these thoughts, but they are reacting to a situation, not having a mental health issue.
Thank you so much for doing this! I am loving this AMA!
What are some of the most common or most harmful misconceptions/stigmas surrounding the topic of suicide? Furthermore, what kinds of solutions are there to battle these misconceptions/stigmas?
Great question! Some of the most common misperceptions are really the belief that the person wanted to do it and no one could have stopped them. There are definitely people who are so distressed that they isolate themselves and end up in trouble and can't get help, but the majority of people who survive an attempt say that in the middle of doing so realized they didn't want to be dead, they wanted to escape the emotional suffering they were experiencing. There are plenty of ways that people telegraph or even outright say that they are thinking about it, but it's such a distressing thing to hear that someone hearing it may just say, "oh you don't really mean that." So asking if someone is ok and really finding out can help a lot.
Pre-selected question from the community:
Will telling my testimony of my own mental health/suicide personal struggles help other people & reduce stigma?
Yes, I think telling people about your experience can be very helpful. that's why AAS has a lived experience division (and currently runs an annual contest where people submit writings about their experience).
That being said, not everyone is very sensitive to hearing about other people's struggles, so it also helps to recognize that not everyone responds sensitively or that some people are not ready to hear your story because of their own problems, not yours.
That is true!
is there a way we can help out or learn more about AAS or do you have any good websites that could help like somebdoy thats interested in what you do?
Yes, here's the website info for AAS: www.suicidology.org
Another good resource is www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org
Pre-selected question submitted by the community prior to the chat:
My only younger sibling Vanessa at 25 committed suicide through an overdose even though she was getting help with a doctor,meds and psychologist.. why wasnt her treatment enough to help her get well?
I'm so sorry about the loss of your sister. It sounds like she was involved with a lot of treatment which likely makes it even more upsetting to think that even with all of that, she ended her life. I don't know the details of her situation, so I can only make a few comments: we know that some people with suicidal thoughts and feelings end up feeling like they are a burden to others or they think that they are a problem for everyone else-that can sometimes lead them to think that suicide is the best thing to do. Others feel like they will never be able to resolve their problems or get better or feel so hopeless despite treatment that they want to escape their pain and can't think of any other way out. Mental health is quite imperfect and we're still, unfortunately, trying to figure out the best ways to help everyone and we have a long way to go. I'm so sorry for your loss and hope you are getting the support you deserve.
how did you become interested in this subject? and if you could tell anything to college students thats wanting to go into this after this discussion do you have any pointers?
I became interested because I was a volunteer on the DC Hotline and that was the first place I came across talking to people with this issue. Also, before I got an F my first semester of chemistry in high school, I had some fantasies about becoming an ER doc and doing crisis work. When I switched my focus to psychology, I became interested in working with people who were suicidal because it's an area a lot of mental health professionals have a lot of fears about and I wanted to make it easier for clinicians to work with patients and have tools to help. If you're in college and interested in this topic, definitely take some psychology courses to get a feel for what we do!