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anxiety and suicide

Anxiety, Suicide, & Overdose – Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures

Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain

Anxiety, Suicide, & Overdose

The Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain tragedies will bring awareness and attention to the issue of suicide. But there is a deeper and more problematic issue that will be largely ignored. The CDC put out a report today that suicide is at record setting levels. We know that anxiety among young people is at record setting levels.

And of course, we know that overdoses are at record level year over year. Alcohol remains the number one destroyer of lives.

We simply do not have an effective way of dealing with mental health, substance misuse, emotional health etc.. in today’s culture.

Flawed Protocols

The underlying principles and “protocols” are fundamentally flawed. Our approach does not apply in a technologically saturated society where the basic principles of socializing and interacting are being re-written.

Office based services, “compliance” based services, checking a box and adding another counselor in the school, checking a box and adding another 16 detox beds, checking a box and making sure insurance pays for certain services, checking a box and forming a behavioral health task force and on and on checking boxes…

I’m sure it’s helpful at some level.

Maybe even at a symbolic level. It certainly makes us feel good that we are “doing something”.

Wrong Philosophies

But all the boxes we check are grounded in a philosophy that is simply wrong-headed.

  • The philosophy that someone must “want help in order to get better“. (wrong)
  • The philosophy that someone must “hit bottom” and “be ready“. (wrong)
  • And the philosophy that “you can’t help those that don’t want help“. (wrong)

We expect people to come forward and go to the therapist or go to the rehab or go to the meeting.

Also, we expect people to follow prescribed programs with set parameters and rules.

Come to group 3x a week for 3 hours at a time… period! Do it and you will get better.

Don’t do and you won’t get better. Once you “go back out” and experience more consequences…well maybe then you will follow the rules.

Insurance will only pay for certain services. Insurance will only pay for a narrow scope of services.

Providers in turn will only deliver a narrow scope of services.

WE EXPECT PEOPLE WITH A BRAIN DISORDER THAT MAKES THEM IRRATIONAL TO MAKE THE RATIONAL DECISION TO GO GET HELP FOR THAT SAME BRAIN DISORDER THAT IS MAKING THEM IRRATIONAL.

What the Hell? Seriously?

I don’t have all the answers but I believe that if we changed our orientation around these fundamental “helping” principles we would be able to find creative solutions.

Or we can keep on checking boxes….

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