December 12, 2024 • 31 mins
- Mission statement - Save Lives and Bring Hope to Those Affected by Suicide
- Founded in 1987, with chapters in all 50 states, Washington DC, and Puerto Rico
- Four pillars - Research, Education, Advocacy, Loss & Healing
- https://afsp.org/chapter/western-pennsylvania
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
And welcome in. This is a public affairs program shedding
the light on the interest, issues and concerns of the
greater Pittsburgh. Every good morning. My name is Johnny heart. Well.
Today we're going to be talking to Doug Bishop of
the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the Western Pennsylvania Chapter. Doug,
it's very nice to meet you. Thank you for coming in.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Yeah, good morning, joannain't glad to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
This is a weighty, weighty subject, but with this time
of year, I think it's a topic that needs to
be addressed. You know, we talk about, you know, the
hustle and bustle. You could interchange the stress and anxiety
of the holiday season and instead of you know, the
most wonderful time of the year, it can also be
this most stressful. It can be the most lonely time
(00:45):
of the year. And this is a this is a
great time to bring up the topic. I mean, it's
a it's a tough topic to talk about, but it's
a vital issue that needs to be addressed. Don't you agree?
Speaker 2 (00:55):
I completely agree. It can be a very tough time
of year for a lot of people.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
All Right, So tell us your background and how long
you've been with the organization.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
I got involved when I lost my son Alex to
suicide in January of twenty fourteen. Tough, tough time, really
difficult time, and I think that why I got involved
was I wanted to help other people that were going
through the similar grief process that I was going through,
(01:26):
and obviously I wanted to do what I could to
prevent other people from taking their lives.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
I'm sorry for your lost Yeah, thank you very much,
But you know it's you know, it's the individuals, the
loved ones that I get left behind that not only
do we try to prevent suicide, but we also want
to help those who have maybe gone through a loss
correct and what to do, because it can be very
lonely and frustrating. It can be, and especially this time
(01:52):
of year. I think this time of year, if you've
had a loss, it's hard to get out the Christmas
tree or cook things, Thanksgiving dinner, or celebrate New Year's
you're just not feeling it. So, yeah, that's a good
time of year to talk about this. Does it get better, Absolutely,
it gets better. It doesn't go away.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
I won't say that, but my description when I talk
to people about it is in the very beginning, you're
just in pain, your entire body, not not just between
the ears. Everything hurts, and eventually, over time it just
shrinks and shrinks and shrinks to a point where it's manageable.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Did it get better for you joining an organization like this?
Speaker 2 (02:39):
I think that it made it a lot better for me.
May not work for everybody, but I've also learned along
the way. I went to a conference actually this past
summer for long term survivors of a suicide loss. So
since I'm about ten almost eleven years out, you know,
it was great for me to attend something like that,
(03:00):
and one of the things I learned there is how
important it is to be around other people that are
experiencing the same thing. So for me to be involved
in AFSP, it's been a godsend. It's been really helpful
beyond description. So you're not alone exactly, You're not alone,
And that's exactly what I felt when I went to
(03:21):
the walk, the first walk that I did for the
Out of the Darkness walk down at Highmark Stadium, I
didn't feel alone. There were probably that day, probably a
thousand plus other people.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
There, So that was what was the expectation and what
was the result of participating in the work.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
I had no idea what to expect, to be honest
with you, I knew about the walk soon after we
lost Alex. I just wasn't ready to do it. And
I just got a nudge from a friend that said, hey,
do you know about this? And I'm like, yeah, I
don't know that I want to do it, but I
(03:59):
signed up to do it anyway, thought okay, well maybe
now I'm ready. And I signed up to do it,
and they asked for some fundraising, so I'm like, okay,
I guess I'll try to fit raise some funds. So
long story short, I didn't know what to put down
as far as a dollar amount. I put down twenty
one hundred dollars because Alex turned twenty one.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Oh okay, and.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
I hit the goal in twenty four hours, and it
was I was just amazed. From the friends, family, business
people that I work with, fellow employees, just everybody just
just reached out and it just felt fantastic. And then
to show up at the walk and see, you know,
(04:42):
one thy fifteen hundred other people going through something very similar.
It was an eye opener for sure. It's an eye opener.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Yeah, it's also you know, a pleasant experience of to
see that many people, but it can be very daunting
to realize that there are so many people that are
going through that terrible situation.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
It was both it felt good because you knew there
was other people there, there were other people there going
through something very similar, but it was astonishing how many
people were there, and it didn't realize how big a
problem suicide loss is. It's the eleventh cause of death
in the United States and in Pennsylvania.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Okay, I was going to ask you how big of
an issue is it here in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
We don't have the statistics necessarily here in Pittsburgh. I
can tell you maybe Allegheny County. It's less here than
in some rural areas, because what we're finding out is
the rural areas the small county is up in the
northern point of the state. The problem there is they're isolated.
They're not that many people around, so you don't have
(05:52):
other people, which is important. You also have tends to
have more access to firearms, which is another issue, and
they don't have the healthcare that we have in Alleghany County.
Then for fortunate to have UPMC and others here in
the area to help people get through some of that
mental health anguish.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Is there a stigma involved with that?
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Oh, there's a huge stigma people's I think it's gotten better,
particularly since the pandemic. I think that sense of loneliness
that people had during that pandemic, where you know, you
couldn't leave your house and you were kind of stuck isolated,
I think that changed it a little bit and people
began to talk about it more, and I think that's
(06:33):
extremely important to talk about it.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
So after you participated in the walk, how quickly did
you then participate in.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
The chapter in the chapter? I participated in the walk
in September of twenty fourteen, and they the chapter at
that point, and we still do to this day. Have
an event called the Survivors of Suicide Lost Day and
it's always the Saturday before Thanksgiving. So I attended that
(07:03):
year and that event was even more impressive to me
as far as what the organization was capable of doing.
But it also felt made me feel even less alone
and a lot of what I was thinking and feeling
was very normal and that made a big, big difference.
(07:24):
And so at the end of that a day, they
had asked for people that wanted to volunteer, and I
put my hands straight up in the air and said,
I'm in.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
I can imagine there's almost two camps. I can imagine
someone like you feeling like this, this is a healing,
part of the healing process. But I can also imagine
that there would be individuals who who want to deny everything.
They just they don't want to be reminded of that situation.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Yes, there are those that don't want to be reminded
of it and they don't want to talk about it.
But I think in order to heal and get through
the grief, you have to talk about it. When I
talk with other people, my one little phrase is if
you don't walk through your grief, and you just walk
around your grief, you're going to walk in circles for
(08:15):
a long time.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
You know, as a father of three, I couldn't imagine
losing one of my children. It's got to be the
most horrific.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Thing that It's the most horrific thing you can But.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
You know, I always said, you don't know what it's
like to be a parent until you have a child.
You don't know what it's like to lose a parent
until you lose a parent, and I can imagine that.
It's really difficult for people to understand what it's like
to lose someone, a loved one through suicide. And it's
very difficult to like, we're talking about it, but I
couldn't imagine what you went through.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
I can't even describe it. It's the worst, worst thing
you can imagine. It's really very, very difficult. They describe
the grief as complex or complicated grief because it's grief
like no other. And when we do the survivors of
suicide loss events, we just did one a few weeks
ago here. One of the things I do now is
(09:10):
we do a breakout group during that day where I
talk with other parents who have lost their children, and
unfortunately I always had the largest group. Really yeah, it's
we talked about it being the eleventh leading cause of
death in the US in the age groups from I
think it's fourteen up to thirty four, I'm sorry, from
(09:33):
ten all the way up to thirty four. It's the
third leading cause of death. That's ah in Pennsylvania, which
I don't think a lot of people realize that.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
What what do you do How can you can you
how do you prevent those those kind of situations? I
mean being here helps. Yeah, breaking the stigma.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Breaking the stigma is huge, It's huge. So I think
one of the name of one of our educational programs
is talk Saves Lives, and so I think think talking
about it can help save lives. It reduces the stigma.
And a lot of times people still don't want to
talk about it, and they really don't want to talk
(10:10):
about it when it's affecting them. They don't know how
to talk about it. They don't know how to bring
up the subject that they're not feeling well mentally and
they're thinking about taking their lives, and so we have
to talk about it. And if you know somebody that's
feeling that way, ask them flat out it seems like
(10:31):
you're not doing well, are you thinking about ending your life?
And that's not a trigger to them, It actually starts
the conversation and then maybe you can help save a life.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Okay, So what are some what are some signs of
maybe somebody being suicidal?
Speaker 2 (10:47):
A lot of them are things like isolation. You just
they're not as talkative. You see things like if you're
if a student you see grades dropping. If they're involved
in extracurricular activities, their participations not there, they're not spending
(11:08):
time with friends, they sleep a lot, they just seem
out of sorts. When you start seeing things like they're
giving away some of their personal items that mean a
lot to them, that can be a one. Really that's
a real big sign there. So, yeah, there's lots we
(11:29):
discuss all those in a lot of the programs were put.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
Is there a reluctance to bring up the subject of
suicide with somebody like that? Because you don't want to
bring up the subject. You don't want to even think
that that's a possibility.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
We don't want to bring it up because of the stigma.
I think we don't want to bring it up because
it's just a mental health problem. And I don't like
the word mental health anymore. I like just calling it
a health problem. Because if you looked at somebody and
you notice that they were grasping their chest, you would say,
is your heart pounding? You feel like you're having a
(12:03):
heart attack. But you wouldn't ask somebody if they're thinking
about taking their life if they had a mental health problem.
Why stigma? We don't want to talk about it. It's
not easy to talk about and you don't want to
hear the answer sometimes.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
Right right now, I know the we're talking with Doug Bishop,
executive board member and treasurer of the American Foundation for
Suicide Prevention. The chapter's mission statement is save lives and
bring hope to those affected to buy suicide. And you
mentioned in this synopsis that you gave me there's four pillars. Research, education, advocacy,
(12:39):
loss and healing. Let's talk about each one.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Research research AFSP is the number one private funder of
suicide prevention research. Annually, they're giving out millions of dollars
in grants to different organizations UPMC one right here in Pittsburgh.
Multiple researchers at UPMC have received grands money from a
FSP to do their research. So that's that's a big
(13:05):
Are you seeing the fruits of that that research starting
to Yeah, little little little things. We've put on some
of what we call research connections, So we've actually invited
some of these folks that have received grant money to
talk about their research. So as a if you're a
donator to a FSP at our walks or for whatever reason,
(13:26):
you can come and listen to where your money is
being spent, what the research is all about. So, yeah,
there's some fascinating things that are coming up, like what well,
the most recent one we had, we there was a
study done on lack of sleep, particularly for youth, and
how that it can affect mental health, and it was
determined that typically the question is why are they the
(13:50):
older kids in high school going to school so early
in the day and yet the kindergarteners and elementary kids
are going to school later because the older kids need
to sleep and they're not get there, not.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Getting the att they're not getting it. Well, that's not
a new problem.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
No, that's not a new problem, but it actually does
affect their mental health.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
It does.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
The lack of sleep creates a lot of anxiety, and
anxiety's evil twin is depression, so they kind of go
hand in hand. So that study, actually, there's some schools
in the area that have changed that and now the
high schoolers are going in later and the kindergarteners that
elementary kids are going in earlier.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Is there any kind of research when it comes to
schools and what they should do and what kind of
advocacy they should have When you know, we're dealing with
with so many kids because the lack of sleep is
just one of the problems with that that they're dealing
with in depression. And you know, they're going through the
same emotional things that we all go through, but they
(14:54):
they may not have the the the they're not old
enough to have the tools to deal with those kinds
of weedy issues. Right.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Well, there was a law past several years back that
now requires mental health to be discussed in the health
classes in school, and part of that, we're involved with
that in some of our education programs. We have one
that we presented years ago called More Than Sad that
was for that middle class and even a little bit
(15:22):
into the high school years, to just begin the conversations
about what mental health is, why it's important to talk
about it, why it's important to deal with it if
you're struggling on and on. So I think that's a
great place to start, and the fact that they're even
talking about it now at school is important.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
We're talking about the four pillars of suicide prevention. We
talked about research, You mentioned education and More than Sad,
but it's not just high school students, it's college students.
It's adults. It's you know, it's a suicide, is a
you know, there there's no age limit.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
There is no age limit, there is no limit in race, color, creed, male, female,
It just uh yeah, it has no fans. So yeah,
educational programs we mentioned more than SAD. We have another
one for the college aged kids called It's Real, and
it's a little bit you know, more involved than the
(16:19):
one that's for the middle school kids.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Way.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
It talks more about the stress of being in college
and because it's a lot more stressful and that stress
just creates you know, can can create some mental health issues.
So it basically talks more about talking to your friends,
encouraging to.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
As a college student, you're on your own, correct, It's
it's generally when more college students are experimenting with alcohol
and other substances, which can only make those kind of
issues even.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
It can compound them. Yeah. Yeah, so we deal with
some of those topics as well. But the big messages
talk about it. Talk to your friends, talk to your counselors,
talk to your parents. Please.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
But it's not easy to talk about it.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
So it is not it is not it's still difficult.
That's still the stigma and we're just doing our best
to break it.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
The other has it improved.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
We did see the suicide right, suicide rates drop pre pandemic,
and then the pandemic kind of stalled that process. But
I think we're starting to see them drop back down
a bit. But it's still too early. We're not seeing
all the data yet from CDC. It just takes time
to pull that down.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
Difficult was the pandemic.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Typically you don't see a big rise during a pandemic.
Historically that's not the case. It occurs later, like a
year or two afterwards. You start to see that fall
off because you don't immediately get depressed and immediately want
to take your life. It's you know, it just it
(18:00):
takes longer to fester in you, I guess is the
answer there.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Again, we're talking about the four pillars of suicide prevention.
We talked about research and education. Let's bring up the
topic of advocacy.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Advocacy we send people to Washington, d c. And here
we send them to Harrisburg. All the different chapters. There
are fifty states with fifty chapters, plus I think there's
around seventy four chapters across the country. Puerto Rico, Washington,
d C. As well. They're all sending folks to their
state capitals as well, talking to congressmen, talking to senators,
(18:39):
trying to get laws changed. The biggest thing that we've
been involved with recently is to try to get the
ninety eight eight number out there, and we're happy to
see that that's occurred. For those that may not know
what that is, nine eight eight is the new nine
to one one for mental health issues. So we can
(19:00):
call it a suicide lifeline if you will. So if
you're reaching you know, if you reach out to nine
eight eight because you're struggling, you'll get an answer immediately.
You can text as well. They've got a nine eight
eight or seven four to one that seven four to one.
It's the left hand side of your keyboard on your phone.
You type that and just type in help or whatever
(19:22):
you want and you'll get an immediate response. So those
things are meaningful. Those things can help people. Also, the
law that was changed here in Pennsylvania that required discussion
in health classes was another thing that we were involved
with years ago.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Now, you mentioned how talking is a major factor in
prevention of suicide. So when you go to Washington, DC,
and you talk to the political leaders. Are they listening.
Do they understand the gravity of the problem of suicide.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
They do. We're seeing some things change, but it's never
quick enough.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Pushing the rock as system to get up the hill
is going back down. It can be very difficult.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
It can be difficult. They hear us, They definitely do.
I think talking to the folks that we send, they're
all lived experience. They've either had struggles themselves or they
laugh somebody, so they can express it well and they
can see. I think the politicians see on people's faces,
you know what what it feels like, and so yeah,
(20:25):
they care, They definitely do. It's just, uh, you can't
get everything changed overnight.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
Okay, we're making progress.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
We're making progress slow, but.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
Is there still if somebody is listening, now, what can
they do to help your cause with advocacy.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
With advocacy, I think the biggest thing, you know, talk
to your local people and just keep you know, pushing
it from there. It can't hurt, you know, if you
talk to your local congressmen and let them know how
important it is for you for them to change some laws.
I think one of the other laws would love to
see changed I wouldn't say it's a specific law, but
(21:02):
just an issue is the access to mental.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Health or what about the access of guns, because you know,
guns is a kind of a volatile subject, and I
know that your chapter isn't you know, you're not asking
to ban guns, but you recognize that that is part
of the problem.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Gun safety would be the issue that we have a
lot of times we have here of you know, the
somebody grabbed the gun because it wasn't locked up, you know,
and the gun was loaded. Well, you should always have
your gun locked up. You should always have the ammunition
separate from the gun so that these kind of things
(21:44):
have less opportunity to occur. Many times, the gun's sitting
there and somebody's thinking about taking their life. It's pretty
simple for them.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
So if there are signs out there you need to
think about, you know, say, gun safety is vital.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
If there's signs out there that you've got a loved
one in your home that you're concerned about, please remove
the gun from your house temporarily.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
If they don't know what to do, can they call
nine eight eight and ask for advice.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
I'm sure they will get advice from nine eight eight.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
Absolutely, the final pillar is lost and healing, which I
think is vital to so so tell us about that.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
That's one that I'm a little bit more involved in
on my volunteer work. We just had our Survivors of
Suicide Lost Day, which is always the Saturday before Thanksgiving,
So we just had it a couple of weeks ago,
and I'm involved in that event. And one of the
things that I get a lot of healing from is
(22:44):
sharing my story with people, and I lead a breakout
group in the afternoon of that event, and I talk
to other parents who have lost their children. So to me,
that's a very powerful event. That event is what got
me involved with yourzation. Really. The other event that I
am involved with is something called healing Conversations. So if
(23:08):
someone has lost someone and they want to talk one
on one with somebody that's experienced something similar, they can
reach out to the National Organization AFSP dot org and
look for Healing Conversations on their website and just put
in a request. That request will get routed based on
zip code, and if you're in our our chapter's zip
(23:30):
code list, you'll hit our committee and we'll sort it
out to whoever makes the most sense. To talk to.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
We talked a little bit about the stigma of suicide
and if somebody has had a loved one, they lost
a loved one and because of the stigma, they're reluctant
to reach out to you know, nine eight eight, or
to you. And so if somebody is brave enough to
make that first step, well, how do you do? How
do you how do you talk to somebody? What do
(23:59):
you say?
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Basically? Thank you? I think it's important that you reached out.
We're glad you're here. We hope that we can help
you through this. You know, we've all been we're all
lived experience. Unfortunately. Yeah, we always say it's welcome to
the club that nobody wants to be a member of.
But yeah, I think just living through it yourself is
(24:24):
a big help for somebody on the other side. I
know that the folks that I've talked to, they're always
so appreciative. After the talk, they said, you don't know
how much that means to me. It really was helpful,
just to know that somebody else is feeling the same feelings.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
The Out of Darkness Walk had a substantial effect on
you that made you participate in the chapter that was
the first start, Yes, and when is that walk?
Speaker 2 (24:52):
That walk? We have actually five community walks. That's our
biggest walk. That typically happens the first few weeks of Pittsburgh.
It'll be weeks I'm sorry, for a few weeks of
September in Pittsburgh. And it's grown substantially from when I
first participated this past year. As of right now, we
(25:18):
appear to be the number ninth walk in the country
of over four hundred walks for AFSP Out of the
Darkness Walks. So we're real pleased with that. That shows
from Pittsburgh. Right, it was a small, a small, medium
sized market, but we're up there competing with all the
large markets too, So thank you Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
That would be nice that we wouldn't have to have
the walk.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Yeah, it goes both ways, right, I'd rather have nobody
show up because there's nobody losing their lives outside.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
But it is a problem. But it is a problem.
So you said, there's there's five different walks. Are they
staggered throughout the year.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
They're generally in the fall, generally September and October. There's
Washington County, Cambria County, Lawrence County, and Erie county right
now are the ones that we have the walks in
the fall.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
All right, So if somebody wants more information on the walks,
if they want to participate it or be volunteer.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
With Yeah, AFSP dot org slash Western Pennsylvania. That is
our website. It'll list all the dates on all the
different walks we have.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
And do you have different campus walks as well?
Speaker 2 (26:22):
We do. We have campus walks in the spring. This
comping spring, we're set up for nine campus walks, so yeah,
that'll keep us plenty of pasita springtime.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
And those campus walks not only do you raise funds,
but it also raise awareness.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
That one's yeah, we don't raise quite as much money
because it's students, but it's about awareness at the college
campus and so it does a lot more than just
raise funds. It puts the word out there, and we
can connect with the psychologists and the counciling departments on
various campuses too, so they have resources as well.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
All right, we only have a couple of minutes left.
If you could kind of kind of explain your participation,
why you participate, or you know, and maybe explain if
somebody who's dealing with a loved one that is dealing
with the depression or something and that there they need advice.
What do you have to say to.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
Them, As we've just been kind of repeating, I think
talk about it. Talk to your family about it, talk
to your friends about it. If you need to talk
to a therapist, it's not a sign of weakness. It's
a sign of strength to be able to talk to
somebody about it. So a lot of us guys don't
(27:37):
want to talk about it, and we feel like we're,
you know, weak for talking to a therapist. It's not
a sign.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
Younger generations are a little more apt to do.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
They are, they are, and thank goodness.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
Yeah, you and I may have come from the generation
where we don't talk about it. We don't talk, we don't,
we don't we don't want to display our emotions, we
don't want to tell you know, we're not feeling this.
And then you hold it in it It just makes it. It
accimates the problem.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
It does. And one of the other campaigns that we
have is a little video campaign, probably for the twenty
to thirty year old groups called Seize the Awkward, and
it's just basically, you know, you're sitting on the couch
with your buddy. You're watching the football game, you're rooting
further your your favorite team, and your buddy's just sort
of sitting there and you know something is not right.
(28:28):
So you seize the awkward moment and just ask your friend, hey,
you just seem kind of down and not like your
normal self. Is everything okay? And that starts a conversation
and a lot of guys, well, we don't want to
do that, but I would encourage you to do that
because there's a lot more males dying from suicide than females,
(28:53):
and I think a lot of that is we don't talk.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
Now, there's kind of two things that we need to
address for those who you know, we want to address,
you know, suicide prevention, the people who are feeling depressed,
especially this time of year where you know it's the
hustle and bustle, it's also the the stress and the
anxiety of the holiday season. And then you also have
the people who have experienced loss. And so let's let's address, Uh,
(29:18):
if somebody who's maybe feeling depressed, what do you recommend.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
If you're feeling depressed. I think you look at it
and say, is it just this time? Of year, this
bothering me? Or is there something more than that? And
if there's something more than that, reach out, reach out
can help. I think it's just a matter of you know,
talking to a therapist, talking to a psychiatrist. Maybe a
little medication will help balance things out. It's typically just chemistical.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
And if somebody has experienced a loss.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
Reach out to us. You reach out to AFSP dot org,
ask for a healing conversation, come to our Suicide.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
Loss surve Day, Maybe participate in an out of darkness.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
Maybe participating in the darkness walk.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
All right, so once again, the website again.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
A FSP dot org is the main national website. A
FSP dot org slash Western Pennsylvania would be our website.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
Here locally, Doug, it's a it's it's very brave of
you to talk about it. It's a you know, there's
the stigma, but you you break that stigma by talking
about it. It's a it's a topic that needs to
be addressed. And I I I I'm glad that you
came in and addressed this directly.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
I'm glad you had me do that. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
Again. The website again, a FSP.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
Dot org slash Western Pennsylvania.
Speaker 1 (30:38):
Doug Bishop of American Foundation of Suicide Prevention, Happy holidays
and thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (30:43):
Thank you, Sam for you.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
If you have any comments, concerns, or an idea for
our future program, please email us from this radio station's website.
I'm Johnny hert Well. Thank you so much for listening
Speaker 2 (31:03):
To ext
And welcome in. This is a public affairs program shedding
the light on the interest, issues and concerns of the
greater Pittsburgh. Every good morning. My name is Johnny heart. Well.
Today we're going to be talking to Doug Bishop of
the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the Western Pennsylvania Chapter. Doug,
it's very nice to meet you. Thank you for coming in.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Yeah, good morning, joannain't glad to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
This is a weighty, weighty subject, but with this time
of year, I think it's a topic that needs to
be addressed. You know, we talk about, you know, the
hustle and bustle. You could interchange the stress and anxiety
of the holiday season and instead of you know, the
most wonderful time of the year, it can also be
this most stressful. It can be the most lonely time
(00:45):
of the year. And this is a this is a
great time to bring up the topic. I mean, it's
a it's a tough topic to talk about, but it's
a vital issue that needs to be addressed. Don't you agree?
Speaker 2 (00:55):
I completely agree. It can be a very tough time
of year for a lot of people.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
All Right, So tell us your background and how long
you've been with the organization.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
I got involved when I lost my son Alex to
suicide in January of twenty fourteen. Tough, tough time, really
difficult time, and I think that why I got involved
was I wanted to help other people that were going
through the similar grief process that I was going through,
(01:26):
and obviously I wanted to do what I could to
prevent other people from taking their lives.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
I'm sorry for your lost Yeah, thank you very much,
But you know it's you know, it's the individuals, the
loved ones that I get left behind that not only
do we try to prevent suicide, but we also want
to help those who have maybe gone through a loss
correct and what to do, because it can be very
lonely and frustrating. It can be, and especially this time
(01:52):
of year. I think this time of year, if you've
had a loss, it's hard to get out the Christmas
tree or cook things, Thanksgiving dinner, or celebrate New Year's
you're just not feeling it. So, yeah, that's a good
time of year to talk about this. Does it get better, Absolutely,
it gets better. It doesn't go away.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
I won't say that, but my description when I talk
to people about it is in the very beginning, you're
just in pain, your entire body, not not just between
the ears. Everything hurts, and eventually, over time it just
shrinks and shrinks and shrinks to a point where it's manageable.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Did it get better for you joining an organization like this?
Speaker 2 (02:39):
I think that it made it a lot better for me.
May not work for everybody, but I've also learned along
the way. I went to a conference actually this past
summer for long term survivors of a suicide loss. So
since I'm about ten almost eleven years out, you know,
it was great for me to attend something like that,
(03:00):
and one of the things I learned there is how
important it is to be around other people that are
experiencing the same thing. So for me to be involved
in AFSP, it's been a godsend. It's been really helpful
beyond description. So you're not alone exactly, You're not alone,
And that's exactly what I felt when I went to
(03:21):
the walk, the first walk that I did for the
Out of the Darkness walk down at Highmark Stadium, I
didn't feel alone. There were probably that day, probably a
thousand plus other people.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
There, So that was what was the expectation and what
was the result of participating in the work.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
I had no idea what to expect, to be honest
with you, I knew about the walk soon after we
lost Alex. I just wasn't ready to do it. And
I just got a nudge from a friend that said, hey,
do you know about this? And I'm like, yeah, I
don't know that I want to do it, but I
(03:59):
signed up to do it anyway, thought okay, well maybe
now I'm ready. And I signed up to do it,
and they asked for some fundraising, so I'm like, okay,
I guess I'll try to fit raise some funds. So
long story short, I didn't know what to put down
as far as a dollar amount. I put down twenty
one hundred dollars because Alex turned twenty one.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Oh okay, and.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
I hit the goal in twenty four hours, and it
was I was just amazed. From the friends, family, business
people that I work with, fellow employees, just everybody just
just reached out and it just felt fantastic. And then
to show up at the walk and see, you know,
(04:42):
one thy fifteen hundred other people going through something very similar.
It was an eye opener for sure. It's an eye opener.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Yeah, it's also you know, a pleasant experience of to
see that many people, but it can be very daunting
to realize that there are so many people that are
going through that terrible situation.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
It was both it felt good because you knew there
was other people there, there were other people there going
through something very similar, but it was astonishing how many
people were there, and it didn't realize how big a
problem suicide loss is. It's the eleventh cause of death
in the United States and in Pennsylvania.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Okay, I was going to ask you how big of
an issue is it here in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
We don't have the statistics necessarily here in Pittsburgh. I
can tell you maybe Allegheny County. It's less here than
in some rural areas, because what we're finding out is
the rural areas the small county is up in the
northern point of the state. The problem there is they're isolated.
They're not that many people around, so you don't have
(05:52):
other people, which is important. You also have tends to
have more access to firearms, which is another issue, and
they don't have the healthcare that we have in Alleghany County.
Then for fortunate to have UPMC and others here in
the area to help people get through some of that
mental health anguish.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Is there a stigma involved with that?
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Oh, there's a huge stigma people's I think it's gotten better,
particularly since the pandemic. I think that sense of loneliness
that people had during that pandemic, where you know, you
couldn't leave your house and you were kind of stuck isolated,
I think that changed it a little bit and people
began to talk about it more, and I think that's
(06:33):
extremely important to talk about it.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
So after you participated in the walk, how quickly did
you then participate in.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
The chapter in the chapter? I participated in the walk
in September of twenty fourteen, and they the chapter at
that point, and we still do to this day. Have
an event called the Survivors of Suicide Lost Day and
it's always the Saturday before Thanksgiving. So I attended that
(07:03):
year and that event was even more impressive to me
as far as what the organization was capable of doing.
But it also felt made me feel even less alone
and a lot of what I was thinking and feeling
was very normal and that made a big, big difference.
(07:24):
And so at the end of that a day, they
had asked for people that wanted to volunteer, and I
put my hands straight up in the air and said,
I'm in.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
I can imagine there's almost two camps. I can imagine
someone like you feeling like this, this is a healing,
part of the healing process. But I can also imagine
that there would be individuals who who want to deny everything.
They just they don't want to be reminded of that situation.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Yes, there are those that don't want to be reminded
of it and they don't want to talk about it.
But I think in order to heal and get through
the grief, you have to talk about it. When I
talk with other people, my one little phrase is if
you don't walk through your grief, and you just walk
around your grief, you're going to walk in circles for
(08:15):
a long time.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
You know, as a father of three, I couldn't imagine
losing one of my children. It's got to be the
most horrific.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Thing that It's the most horrific thing you can But.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
You know, I always said, you don't know what it's
like to be a parent until you have a child.
You don't know what it's like to lose a parent
until you lose a parent, and I can imagine that.
It's really difficult for people to understand what it's like
to lose someone, a loved one through suicide. And it's
very difficult to like, we're talking about it, but I
couldn't imagine what you went through.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
I can't even describe it. It's the worst, worst thing
you can imagine. It's really very, very difficult. They describe
the grief as complex or complicated grief because it's grief
like no other. And when we do the survivors of
suicide loss events, we just did one a few weeks
ago here. One of the things I do now is
(09:10):
we do a breakout group during that day where I
talk with other parents who have lost their children, and
unfortunately I always had the largest group. Really yeah, it's
we talked about it being the eleventh leading cause of
death in the US in the age groups from I
think it's fourteen up to thirty four, I'm sorry, from
(09:33):
ten all the way up to thirty four. It's the
third leading cause of death. That's ah in Pennsylvania, which
I don't think a lot of people realize that.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
What what do you do How can you can you
how do you prevent those those kind of situations? I
mean being here helps. Yeah, breaking the stigma.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Breaking the stigma is huge, It's huge. So I think
one of the name of one of our educational programs
is talk Saves Lives, and so I think think talking
about it can help save lives. It reduces the stigma.
And a lot of times people still don't want to
talk about it, and they really don't want to talk
(10:10):
about it when it's affecting them. They don't know how
to talk about it. They don't know how to bring
up the subject that they're not feeling well mentally and
they're thinking about taking their lives, and so we have
to talk about it. And if you know somebody that's
feeling that way, ask them flat out it seems like
(10:31):
you're not doing well, are you thinking about ending your life?
And that's not a trigger to them, It actually starts
the conversation and then maybe you can help save a life.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Okay, So what are some what are some signs of
maybe somebody being suicidal?
Speaker 2 (10:47):
A lot of them are things like isolation. You just
they're not as talkative. You see things like if you're
if a student you see grades dropping. If they're involved
in extracurricular activities, their participations not there, they're not spending
(11:08):
time with friends, they sleep a lot, they just seem
out of sorts. When you start seeing things like they're
giving away some of their personal items that mean a
lot to them, that can be a one. Really that's
a real big sign there. So, yeah, there's lots we
(11:29):
discuss all those in a lot of the programs were put.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
Is there a reluctance to bring up the subject of
suicide with somebody like that? Because you don't want to
bring up the subject. You don't want to even think
that that's a possibility.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
We don't want to bring it up because of the stigma.
I think we don't want to bring it up because
it's just a mental health problem. And I don't like
the word mental health anymore. I like just calling it
a health problem. Because if you looked at somebody and
you notice that they were grasping their chest, you would say,
is your heart pounding? You feel like you're having a
(12:03):
heart attack. But you wouldn't ask somebody if they're thinking
about taking their life if they had a mental health problem.
Why stigma? We don't want to talk about it. It's
not easy to talk about and you don't want to
hear the answer sometimes.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
Right right now, I know the we're talking with Doug Bishop,
executive board member and treasurer of the American Foundation for
Suicide Prevention. The chapter's mission statement is save lives and
bring hope to those affected to buy suicide. And you
mentioned in this synopsis that you gave me there's four pillars. Research, education, advocacy,
(12:39):
loss and healing. Let's talk about each one.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Research research AFSP is the number one private funder of
suicide prevention research. Annually, they're giving out millions of dollars
in grants to different organizations UPMC one right here in Pittsburgh.
Multiple researchers at UPMC have received grands money from a
FSP to do their research. So that's that's a big
(13:05):
Are you seeing the fruits of that that research starting
to Yeah, little little little things. We've put on some
of what we call research connections, So we've actually invited
some of these folks that have received grant money to
talk about their research. So as a if you're a
donator to a FSP at our walks or for whatever reason,
(13:26):
you can come and listen to where your money is
being spent, what the research is all about. So, yeah,
there's some fascinating things that are coming up, like what well,
the most recent one we had, we there was a
study done on lack of sleep, particularly for youth, and
how that it can affect mental health, and it was
determined that typically the question is why are they the
(13:50):
older kids in high school going to school so early
in the day and yet the kindergarteners and elementary kids
are going to school later because the older kids need
to sleep and they're not get there, not.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Getting the att they're not getting it. Well, that's not
a new problem.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
No, that's not a new problem, but it actually does
affect their mental health.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
It does.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
The lack of sleep creates a lot of anxiety, and
anxiety's evil twin is depression, so they kind of go
hand in hand. So that study, actually, there's some schools
in the area that have changed that and now the
high schoolers are going in later and the kindergarteners that
elementary kids are going in earlier.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Is there any kind of research when it comes to
schools and what they should do and what kind of
advocacy they should have When you know, we're dealing with
with so many kids because the lack of sleep is
just one of the problems with that that they're dealing
with in depression. And you know, they're going through the
same emotional things that we all go through, but they
(14:54):
they may not have the the the they're not old
enough to have the tools to deal with those kinds
of weedy issues. Right.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Well, there was a law past several years back that
now requires mental health to be discussed in the health
classes in school, and part of that, we're involved with
that in some of our education programs. We have one
that we presented years ago called More Than Sad that
was for that middle class and even a little bit
(15:22):
into the high school years, to just begin the conversations
about what mental health is, why it's important to talk
about it, why it's important to deal with it if
you're struggling on and on. So I think that's a
great place to start, and the fact that they're even
talking about it now at school is important.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
We're talking about the four pillars of suicide prevention. We
talked about research, You mentioned education and More than Sad,
but it's not just high school students, it's college students.
It's adults. It's you know, it's a suicide, is a
you know, there there's no age limit.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
There is no age limit, there is no limit in race, color, creed, male, female,
It just uh yeah, it has no fans. So yeah,
educational programs we mentioned more than SAD. We have another
one for the college aged kids called It's Real, and
it's a little bit you know, more involved than the
(16:19):
one that's for the middle school kids.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Way.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
It talks more about the stress of being in college
and because it's a lot more stressful and that stress
just creates you know, can can create some mental health issues.
So it basically talks more about talking to your friends,
encouraging to.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
As a college student, you're on your own, correct, It's
it's generally when more college students are experimenting with alcohol
and other substances, which can only make those kind of
issues even.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
It can compound them. Yeah. Yeah, so we deal with
some of those topics as well. But the big messages
talk about it. Talk to your friends, talk to your counselors,
talk to your parents. Please.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
But it's not easy to talk about it.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
So it is not it is not it's still difficult.
That's still the stigma and we're just doing our best
to break it.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
The other has it improved.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
We did see the suicide right, suicide rates drop pre pandemic,
and then the pandemic kind of stalled that process. But
I think we're starting to see them drop back down
a bit. But it's still too early. We're not seeing
all the data yet from CDC. It just takes time
to pull that down.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
Difficult was the pandemic.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Typically you don't see a big rise during a pandemic.
Historically that's not the case. It occurs later, like a
year or two afterwards. You start to see that fall
off because you don't immediately get depressed and immediately want
to take your life. It's you know, it just it
(18:00):
takes longer to fester in you, I guess is the
answer there.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Again, we're talking about the four pillars of suicide prevention.
We talked about research and education. Let's bring up the
topic of advocacy.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Advocacy we send people to Washington, d c. And here
we send them to Harrisburg. All the different chapters. There
are fifty states with fifty chapters, plus I think there's
around seventy four chapters across the country. Puerto Rico, Washington,
d C. As well. They're all sending folks to their
state capitals as well, talking to congressmen, talking to senators,
(18:39):
trying to get laws changed. The biggest thing that we've
been involved with recently is to try to get the
ninety eight eight number out there, and we're happy to
see that that's occurred. For those that may not know
what that is, nine eight eight is the new nine
to one one for mental health issues. So we can
(19:00):
call it a suicide lifeline if you will. So if
you're reaching you know, if you reach out to nine
eight eight because you're struggling, you'll get an answer immediately.
You can text as well. They've got a nine eight
eight or seven four to one that seven four to one.
It's the left hand side of your keyboard on your phone.
You type that and just type in help or whatever
(19:22):
you want and you'll get an immediate response. So those
things are meaningful. Those things can help people. Also, the
law that was changed here in Pennsylvania that required discussion
in health classes was another thing that we were involved
with years ago.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Now, you mentioned how talking is a major factor in
prevention of suicide. So when you go to Washington, DC,
and you talk to the political leaders. Are they listening.
Do they understand the gravity of the problem of suicide.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
They do. We're seeing some things change, but it's never
quick enough.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Pushing the rock as system to get up the hill
is going back down. It can be very difficult.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
It can be difficult. They hear us, They definitely do.
I think talking to the folks that we send, they're
all lived experience. They've either had struggles themselves or they
laugh somebody, so they can express it well and they
can see. I think the politicians see on people's faces,
you know what what it feels like, and so yeah,
(20:25):
they care, They definitely do. It's just, uh, you can't
get everything changed overnight.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
Okay, we're making progress.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
We're making progress slow, but.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
Is there still if somebody is listening, now, what can
they do to help your cause with advocacy.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
With advocacy, I think the biggest thing, you know, talk
to your local people and just keep you know, pushing
it from there. It can't hurt, you know, if you
talk to your local congressmen and let them know how
important it is for you for them to change some laws.
I think one of the other laws would love to
see changed I wouldn't say it's a specific law, but
(21:02):
just an issue is the access to mental.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Health or what about the access of guns, because you know,
guns is a kind of a volatile subject, and I
know that your chapter isn't you know, you're not asking
to ban guns, but you recognize that that is part
of the problem.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Gun safety would be the issue that we have a
lot of times we have here of you know, the
somebody grabbed the gun because it wasn't locked up, you know,
and the gun was loaded. Well, you should always have
your gun locked up. You should always have the ammunition
separate from the gun so that these kind of things
(21:44):
have less opportunity to occur. Many times, the gun's sitting
there and somebody's thinking about taking their life. It's pretty
simple for them.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
So if there are signs out there you need to
think about, you know, say, gun safety is vital.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
If there's signs out there that you've got a loved
one in your home that you're concerned about, please remove
the gun from your house temporarily.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
If they don't know what to do, can they call
nine eight eight and ask for advice.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
I'm sure they will get advice from nine eight eight.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
Absolutely, the final pillar is lost and healing, which I
think is vital to so so tell us about that.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
That's one that I'm a little bit more involved in
on my volunteer work. We just had our Survivors of
Suicide Lost Day, which is always the Saturday before Thanksgiving,
So we just had it a couple of weeks ago,
and I'm involved in that event. And one of the
things that I get a lot of healing from is
(22:44):
sharing my story with people, and I lead a breakout
group in the afternoon of that event, and I talk
to other parents who have lost their children. So to me,
that's a very powerful event. That event is what got
me involved with yourzation. Really. The other event that I
am involved with is something called healing Conversations. So if
(23:08):
someone has lost someone and they want to talk one
on one with somebody that's experienced something similar, they can
reach out to the National Organization AFSP dot org and
look for Healing Conversations on their website and just put
in a request. That request will get routed based on
zip code, and if you're in our our chapter's zip
(23:30):
code list, you'll hit our committee and we'll sort it
out to whoever makes the most sense. To talk to.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
We talked a little bit about the stigma of suicide
and if somebody has had a loved one, they lost
a loved one and because of the stigma, they're reluctant
to reach out to you know, nine eight eight, or
to you. And so if somebody is brave enough to
make that first step, well, how do you do? How
do you how do you talk to somebody? What do
(23:59):
you say?
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Basically? Thank you? I think it's important that you reached out.
We're glad you're here. We hope that we can help
you through this. You know, we've all been we're all
lived experience. Unfortunately. Yeah, we always say it's welcome to
the club that nobody wants to be a member of.
But yeah, I think just living through it yourself is
(24:24):
a big help for somebody on the other side. I
know that the folks that I've talked to, they're always
so appreciative. After the talk, they said, you don't know
how much that means to me. It really was helpful,
just to know that somebody else is feeling the same feelings.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
The Out of Darkness Walk had a substantial effect on
you that made you participate in the chapter that was
the first start, Yes, and when is that walk?
Speaker 2 (24:52):
That walk? We have actually five community walks. That's our
biggest walk. That typically happens the first few weeks of Pittsburgh.
It'll be weeks I'm sorry, for a few weeks of
September in Pittsburgh. And it's grown substantially from when I
first participated this past year. As of right now, we
(25:18):
appear to be the number ninth walk in the country
of over four hundred walks for AFSP Out of the
Darkness Walks. So we're real pleased with that. That shows
from Pittsburgh. Right, it was a small, a small, medium
sized market, but we're up there competing with all the
large markets too, So thank you Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
That would be nice that we wouldn't have to have
the walk.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Yeah, it goes both ways, right, I'd rather have nobody
show up because there's nobody losing their lives outside.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
But it is a problem. But it is a problem.
So you said, there's there's five different walks. Are they
staggered throughout the year.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
They're generally in the fall, generally September and October. There's
Washington County, Cambria County, Lawrence County, and Erie county right
now are the ones that we have the walks in
the fall.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
All right, So if somebody wants more information on the walks,
if they want to participate it or be volunteer.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
With Yeah, AFSP dot org slash Western Pennsylvania. That is
our website. It'll list all the dates on all the
different walks we have.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
And do you have different campus walks as well?
Speaker 2 (26:22):
We do. We have campus walks in the spring. This
comping spring, we're set up for nine campus walks, so yeah,
that'll keep us plenty of pasita springtime.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
And those campus walks not only do you raise funds,
but it also raise awareness.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
That one's yeah, we don't raise quite as much money
because it's students, but it's about awareness at the college
campus and so it does a lot more than just
raise funds. It puts the word out there, and we
can connect with the psychologists and the counciling departments on
various campuses too, so they have resources as well.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
All right, we only have a couple of minutes left.
If you could kind of kind of explain your participation,
why you participate, or you know, and maybe explain if
somebody who's dealing with a loved one that is dealing
with the depression or something and that there they need advice.
What do you have to say to.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
Them, As we've just been kind of repeating, I think
talk about it. Talk to your family about it, talk
to your friends about it. If you need to talk
to a therapist, it's not a sign of weakness. It's
a sign of strength to be able to talk to
somebody about it. So a lot of us guys don't
(27:37):
want to talk about it, and we feel like we're,
you know, weak for talking to a therapist. It's not
a sign.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
Younger generations are a little more apt to do.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
They are, they are, and thank goodness.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
Yeah, you and I may have come from the generation
where we don't talk about it. We don't talk, we don't,
we don't we don't want to display our emotions, we
don't want to tell you know, we're not feeling this.
And then you hold it in it It just makes it. It
accimates the problem.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
It does. And one of the other campaigns that we
have is a little video campaign, probably for the twenty
to thirty year old groups called Seize the Awkward, and
it's just basically, you know, you're sitting on the couch
with your buddy. You're watching the football game, you're rooting
further your your favorite team, and your buddy's just sort
of sitting there and you know something is not right.
(28:28):
So you seize the awkward moment and just ask your friend, hey,
you just seem kind of down and not like your
normal self. Is everything okay? And that starts a conversation
and a lot of guys, well, we don't want to
do that, but I would encourage you to do that
because there's a lot more males dying from suicide than females,
(28:53):
and I think a lot of that is we don't talk.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
Now, there's kind of two things that we need to
address for those who you know, we want to address,
you know, suicide prevention, the people who are feeling depressed,
especially this time of year where you know it's the
hustle and bustle, it's also the the stress and the
anxiety of the holiday season. And then you also have
the people who have experienced loss. And so let's let's address, Uh,
(29:18):
if somebody who's maybe feeling depressed, what do you recommend.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
If you're feeling depressed. I think you look at it
and say, is it just this time? Of year, this
bothering me? Or is there something more than that? And
if there's something more than that, reach out, reach out
can help. I think it's just a matter of you know,
talking to a therapist, talking to a psychiatrist. Maybe a
little medication will help balance things out. It's typically just chemistical.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
And if somebody has experienced a loss.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
Reach out to us. You reach out to AFSP dot org,
ask for a healing conversation, come to our Suicide.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
Loss surve Day, Maybe participate in an out of darkness.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
Maybe participating in the darkness walk.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
All right, so once again, the website again.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
A FSP dot org is the main national website. A
FSP dot org slash Western Pennsylvania would be our website.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
Here locally, Doug, it's a it's it's very brave of
you to talk about it. It's a you know, there's
the stigma, but you you break that stigma by talking
about it. It's a it's a topic that needs to
be addressed. And I I I I'm glad that you
came in and addressed this directly.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
I'm glad you had me do that. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
Again. The website again, a FSP.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
Dot org slash Western Pennsylvania.
Speaker 1 (30:38):
Doug Bishop of American Foundation of Suicide Prevention, Happy holidays
and thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (30:43):
Thank you, Sam for you.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
If you have any comments, concerns, or an idea for
our future program, please email us from this radio station's website.
I'm Johnny hert Well. Thank you so much for listening
Speaker 2 (31:03):
To ext
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