Shame, Stigma, and Suicidality
Many people feel ashamed of their suicidal thoughts. This shame can be about any number of things, often contradictory: thinking of suicide, being unable to stop thinking of suicide, not acting on...
View ArticleIs a Suicide Attempt a Cry for Help?
“She is not really suicidal. She just wants attention.” “He did not really attempt suicide. It was just a cry for help.” “If she had really wanted to die, she’d be dead.” These are often the reactions...
View ArticleWhat’s Your Pleasure?
If you are depressed, stressed, or grieving, the term “pleasurable activities” may seem oxymoronic – no activity possibly could bring pleasure. Maybe you cannot even remember what gives you pleasure –...
View ArticleWhere Are They Now?: The Fate of Suicide Attempt Survivors
Say someone wants to die so badly that they go to the Golden Gate Bridge to jump off. But then they are stopped from jumping. What happens to them afterward? You might think that, once freed from the...
View ArticleDo You Blame Yourself for Thinking of Suicide?
“I had no idea what I had done to you, although I should have known it in retrospect. So I guess now is a good time to say I am sorry, although it is about 19 years too late.” Those words came from a...
View ArticleHow to Find a Therapist Who Does Not Panic
The wonderful blog attemptsurvivors.com recently published a post, “Wanted, Therapists Who Won’t Panic.” Some therapists do in fact panic when faced with a client who says he or she wants to die by...
View ArticleWait, Who Is A Suicide Survivor Again?
Across the Internet and elsewhere, people apply the term suicide survivor to two different groups of people: 1) people who struggled with suicidal thoughts or attempted suicide, and survived, and 2)...
View ArticleWhy I Came Out of the (Suicide) Closet
What will people think of you? What will people say about you? Some people asked me these questions when I told them I was publishing an essay in the New York Times (“A Suicide Therapist’s Secret...
View ArticleWhen Suicidal Thoughts Do Not Go Away
The popular image of someone who is in danger of suicide goes like this: A person has suicidal thoughts. It’s a crisis. The person gets help, and the crisis resolves within days or weeks. That’s the...
View ArticleWhat is a Suicide Gesture?
Many clinicians and researchers advocate for abandoning the term “suicide gesture,” but its use still persists. Over the last few years, several definitions have been reported: “…A suicide gesture is...
View Article
