May is Mental Health Awareness Month across the nation and it holds a special place in our hearts here at Sheppard Law. If you've followed us for any amount of time, you know that Tubbs is my service dog. What you may not know is that she is my psychiatric service dog as well as a medical service dog. We were previously published in Louisiana Association for Justice (a trial lawyer magazine) twice on the topic of service dogs, therapy dogs, emotional support dogs, and facility dogs.
I have always been an open book about my mental health struggles because I firmly believe it helps break the stigma that surrounds it. I've lost dear friends to suicide. I have PTSD, depression, and anxiety but you may not know that I have also suffered from suicidal ideation. Yes, you read that right. It took me years to get help but I am glad that I did.
Your funny, goofy, personable local Slidell business lawyer has sobbed on the phone after being told her therapist she had to go to the hospital. I've had psych evaluations, been placed in a room with nothing but a bed, prescribed medication, and safety plans. And do you know what the "sad" part was? The entire time that was happening all I was concerned about was work. Not myself, but work. It took a while but it forced me to reevaluate what I had been doing and allowed me to make changes.
Today I wanted to share resources for anyone who may be struggling, has a loved one struggling, or a co-worker struggling. I've said it before and I'll say it again: the bravest thing you can do is ask for help and share your story.
A suicide is completed every 94 seconds in the United States. From the time you press the button on your Keurig machine until it's ready, someone has killed themselves. Think about that.
Suicide is the second cause of death among 10-14 year olds according to the Louisiana Department of Health. LDH also reported that there are 100-200 suicide attempts for kids 15-24 years old for every death; for the elderly, there are 4 attempts for each death by suicide. Read that again.
Suicide Loss Survivors are 25% more likely to die by suicide as well. 1 in 18 people have been affected by suicide. That means if you look on your Facebook page out of the 20 folks who like your post or picture, one of them has been affected. But we don't hear about that do we? It's kept quiet and secret further stigmatizing people from getting help.
Suicide National and Regional Resources
Covington Behavioral Health has defined it as, "Suicidal ideation is a serious condition that leads an individual to have intrusive and pervasive thoughts about suicide or death. These suicidal thoughts can range in severity, from simply thinking about death to actually imagining and planning a suicide attempt. Suicidal ideation does not always lead to an actual suicide attempt, but it should never be taken lightly and should be treated as soon as it begins."
Remember that suicidal ideation is often a symptom of an underlying condition and recovery from that condition may be a long-term process in which residential care may just be one step in that long-term process.
This may be TMI but for me, I thought about running my car into a tree, cutting my face, and imagining a gun to my head. I never knew just a quick, passing thought about running in a tree was an issue. IT IS. I also was preoccupied with death (my death, pet death, friends dying), stopped showering daily, quit exercising for four months, and would often stare into space (dissociate) and feel numb. But I was functional- I went to work, got dressed, made jokes.
Behavioral symptoms:
Physical symptoms:
Cognitive symptoms:
Psychosocial symptoms:
These symptoms were taken verbatim for Covington Behavioral Health's website.
While PTSD is prevalent in law enforcement officers and first responders, it does not discriminate against housewives, children, or "Lifetime Movie"-esque events. It can occur after an assault, a car accident, natural disasters, or any other type of trauma. I previously posted about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder outlining the warning signs, symptoms, and resources here.
Below are some PTSD resources locally and nationally.
I am walking on Saturday, May 22 with Habitat Young Professionals Northshore to help break the stigma surrounding mental health and brain disorders at NAMI Walks at the Safe Haven Campus in Mandeville. We welcome everyone who needs a team to join our team for free and learn more about HYP Northshore. We will have a t shirt for you if you register ahead of Saturday and email your shirt size to hypnorthshore@gmail.com.
It is FREE to walk and registration is 8-9 am with the walk starting at 9 am. If you donate $100+ to NAMI you receive a t-shirt.
Register for NAMI WALKS ST. TAMMANY HERE
Want to get started with a paid personal or business consultation with Amber & Tubbs? You can shoot us an email to start a conversation or reach out to our Assistant Brielle via phone or text at 985-265-7069 to schedule or get pricing information.
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