Thx to @postuniversity & @goposteagles for hosting @slivingstn & I last nt (➡️slide).
If you’ve followed this page, you know that I make an effort not to repeat topics…& instead to dive deep into nuances of broader topics, so we can really dissect things & try to get better w each day.
While this post may dive deep – it is a litttttttle bit of a repeat to a recent one abt how suicide can & often does happen TO us. So why the desire to dive further? Bc of what Post asked us to present on last nt.
We have a standard “first” presentation on culture change we like to do w any group – could be K-12, College, Office, First Responser, Sports Team/League – before diving into more nuanced topics like suicide prevention.
That said, our contact from Post, Nakia, said: you have a tool for first person suicide prevention…LIFE Saver (3rd slide➡️), & we really want you to present that, bc it’s diff than what they’ve seen/heard abt looking out for signs in others.
Sam & I were faced w a dilemma: how do we teach first person suicide prevention, in only an hour & a half (strict time constraints w students on college campuses, not to mention attention spans ;)), w/o diving into the culture presentation FIRST – doing vulnerable story sharing to show – stress & trauma impact us ALL.
Essentially we had to condense 2 presentations into 1. And we mayyyy have gone a little longer than an hour & a half. BUT – presenting these topics together, the questions & comments Sam & I received after showed that these students got “it.”
While suicide is shown so often in the media as someone CHOOSING self-harm & escape, maybe, just maybe – it’s possible that it sadly chooses us, over the build up of stressful & traumatic events, causing these error msgs: just like plaque builds in the arteries & causes heart attack or stroke…or just like a phone in the sun too long says: “shut down overheated” & turns off.
If we accepted & taught this reality, worldwide, & taught first person prevention tools like LIFE Saver so folks can recognize those thoughts as error msgs & how common they were…& how to find safety, think abt how many lives we’d save.