Latest / The iHeart SoCal Show / American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

Transcript

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention · The iHeart SoCal Show

0:00
Speaker 1: Hey, Lisa Fox here. This is our iHeart so Cal Show,
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Speaker 1: or show that puts a.
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Speaker 2: Spotlight on charitable organizations, nonprofits and people giving back, and
0:07
Speaker 2: Boyd and folks pulled together to give back big time.
0:10
Speaker 2: We are fresh off another big concert at iHeartRadio and
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Speaker 2: one of four three MIFM hosted at Marongo Casino Resort
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Speaker 2: and SPA last weekend. And honestly, every intimate concert that
0:20
Speaker 2: we host there we raise money.
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Speaker 1: For the charity for a charity of the artist's choice.
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Speaker 2: So this time we raise our fourteen thousand dollars for
0:28
Speaker 2: Chris Dawtrey, the band Dawtrees Chosen charity. The American Foundation
0:33
Speaker 2: for Suicide Prevention and organization founded back in the eighties
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Speaker 2: with a mission to save lives and bring hope to
0:39
Speaker 2: those affected by a suicide like Chris and his family.
0:43
Speaker 2: So it's also the largest private funder of suicide prevention research.
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Speaker 1: So we want to dive into all of it.
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Speaker 2: Their website, by the way, AFSP dot org. But let's
0:52
Speaker 2: chat with their executive director. She's the executive director of
0:55
Speaker 2: the LA and Central Coast chapter. Jocelyn Skelton. Hi, Jocelyn,
0:59
Speaker 2: how are you?
1:00
Speaker 3: I'm good? Thank you so much for having us and again,
1:03
Speaker 3: thank you for this incredible opportunity. And I mean, we
1:08
Speaker 3: are just so excited about raising a fourteen thousand dollars
1:11
Speaker 3: for our mission.
1:12
Speaker 1: I mean that that can do a lot in the ways.
1:14
Speaker 3: You know.
1:14
Speaker 2: Of course, we're going to talk about how your organization
1:16
Speaker 2: helps people deal with this. I mean, it's a terrible topic,
1:20
Speaker 2: but we have to talk about it because.
1:21
Speaker 1: People who are having feelings need.
1:23
Speaker 2: To know that there is help available and there's so
1:26
Speaker 2: many ways to get this help and how you may
1:28
Speaker 2: be feeling and what your brain is telling you this
1:32
Speaker 2: all we can talk about this and we can.
1:34
Speaker 1: Hopefully help make it better. A there's so many ways
1:38
Speaker 1: to make it better.
1:39
Speaker 3: Yeah, And you know, and I think that that's something
1:41
Speaker 3: you know, suicide is so scary to talk about, or
1:44
Speaker 3: you're even afraid to talk about it because you don't
1:47
Speaker 3: want to plant seeds in somebody's heads. Sure, Yeah, and
1:51
Speaker 3: that's one of the things that our research and our
1:53
Speaker 3: programs you know, really start trying to do is getting
1:57
Speaker 3: out into the community just to teach people how to
2:01
Speaker 3: talk about it, how to recognize it, you know. And
2:04
Speaker 3: those are the things that we're doing in order to
2:07
Speaker 3: really try to prevent, you know, suicides within our communities.
2:11
Speaker 2: Now, the numbers are the stats are still pretty shocking
2:15
Speaker 2: the number of people who attempt to take their lives
2:17
Speaker 2: each year just in America alone, and then and then
2:20
Speaker 2: then the people that actually do it.
2:22
Speaker 1: It's just so off, Like it's gonna.
2:24
Speaker 4: Make me emotional because I just feel so bad that
2:27
Speaker 4: people feel like that's the only answer, you know, So like,
2:30
Speaker 4: how do we how do we where do we start
2:32
Speaker 4: with this? How do we make sure people know that
2:35
Speaker 4: how they feel, we can help them feel better.
2:38
Speaker 1: I mean, I mean that's the goal. Let us try,
2:40
Speaker 1: Let us try. You're not alone in these feelings.
2:43
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know. I think one of the things that
2:46
Speaker 3: American Foundation does so well is our programming, and so
2:52
Speaker 3: that's through Talk Saves Lives, which we have several different
2:56
Speaker 3: Talk Safe Lives that focus on different areas or that's
3:00
Speaker 3: middle schoolers, high school, college age veterans. We even have
3:06
Speaker 3: Hard Hats for Courage program that's focused on construction workers
3:11
Speaker 3: because they have a very high suicide rate. So being
3:15
Speaker 3: able to take that research and see that, oh, you know,
3:20
Speaker 3: men die by suicide three point eight times more often
3:23
Speaker 3: than women, so you know, we need to be able
3:27
Speaker 3: to start thinking about well, then how do we change
3:29
Speaker 3: those conversations to where people want to start talking about it,
3:33
Speaker 3: where men want to open up, where we can get
3:35
Speaker 3: them help and resources in order to you know, change
3:41
Speaker 3: the the yeah, yeah, and get people to start open up.
3:45
Speaker 3: Women tend to talk about a lot of stuff, but
3:48
Speaker 3: we're really noticing in men, Yeah.
3:50
Speaker 1: We are chatty, that's true.
3:51
Speaker 3: And then the same with what's happening right now in
3:55
Speaker 3: our you know, it's the leading cause of death among
3:58
Speaker 3: our young people. And that's where it's like, as a
4:01
Speaker 3: mom of four, it's scary the what's happening with social media,
4:07
Speaker 3: what with the isolation of you know, the changes of technology.
4:14
Speaker 3: You know. That's the other thing is to just really
4:16
Speaker 3: be able to open up that dialogue between parents and children,
4:21
Speaker 3: you know, children and teachers, and just to be able
4:26
Speaker 3: to start recognizing, you know, who do we need to
4:28
Speaker 3: start really kind of pushing out these programs too.
4:32
Speaker 2: Yeah, justin what would you say the signs are? I mean,
4:35
Speaker 2: would say, does it start with depression? How would we
4:38
Speaker 2: recognize if someone's just having a bad day or they're
4:41
Speaker 2: starting to you know, be a little withdrawn no matter
4:44
Speaker 2: what the age. How do we know that they're being
4:46
Speaker 2: serious or how do we know that something serious is
4:48
Speaker 2: happening where somebody might be thinking or starting to go
4:50
Speaker 2: down that path of disappearing or taking their life. How
4:54
Speaker 2: do we know what to look for.
4:56
Speaker 3: It's very so much, but I do think that we
5:01
Speaker 3: do have this intuition when you start talking to somebody
5:05
Speaker 3: and you're starting to see things like, you know, they're
5:08
Speaker 3: getting a lot quieter, they're retreating the you know, a
5:11
Speaker 3: change in someone's mood or behavior. And I think the
5:15
Speaker 3: main thing is is when you start seeing those changes,
5:18
Speaker 3: is not to be afraid to ask them, you know, hey,
5:22
Speaker 3: is something going on? Has something changed in your life?
5:26
Speaker 3: Are you, you know, going through something that I'm not
5:30
Speaker 3: aware of? And I think it's more of like it
5:33
Speaker 3: isn't so much like studying somebody or figuring out like,
5:37
Speaker 3: oh I can tell that they're going through something. It's
5:40
Speaker 3: more just about not being afraid to open up that
5:43
Speaker 3: conversation the second you kind of have an inkling that
5:47
Speaker 3: you know they're they're regressing from our friend group. They're
5:51
Speaker 3: not you know, maybe they're not you know, they were
5:54
Speaker 3: somebody who showed up to work on time every day
5:56
Speaker 3: and then all of a sudden you're noticing that they're
5:59
Speaker 3: not coming in, they're leaving early. There. Yeah, everything something
6:05
Speaker 3: just seems off. And sometimes it can be, you know,
6:08
Speaker 3: something very simple, but other times it can be something
6:11
Speaker 3: very serious. And if we don't start learning how to
6:15
Speaker 3: open up those conversations, we're not going to be able
6:18
Speaker 3: to step in and get the help that that person needs.
6:21
Speaker 3: You know, That's something that I learned in our healing
6:25
Speaker 3: Conversations program that we have is not to be afraid
6:29
Speaker 3: of asking somebody like, are you having suicidal thoughts? And
6:34
Speaker 3: if they were to say yes, to be able to say,
6:37
Speaker 3: have you sought out a plan? And if they say yes,
6:42
Speaker 3: to say, then what can I do to make sure
6:44
Speaker 3: that you're safe? And if that means, you know, going
6:47
Speaker 3: to their house and removing things that you know they've
6:51
Speaker 3: contemplated in using sure, you know, reaching out to the
6:56
Speaker 3: right people, you know, making sure that they're aware of
7:00
Speaker 3: you know, our nine eight eight crisis line you can
7:04
Speaker 3: call for a friend. Those are the things that we
7:06
Speaker 3: just you you can't be afraid to kind of talk
7:09
Speaker 3: about it.
7:10
Speaker 2: But why did I feel like government cuts affected this number?
7:12
Speaker 2: But no, so nine eight eight still works. If you're
7:15
Speaker 2: if you're having feelings and issues wanting to harm yourself,
7:19
Speaker 2: if you can call or text nine eight eight and
7:21
Speaker 2: that is up and running and there's a live person
7:23
Speaker 2: waiting to help you on the other side, then right,
7:25
Speaker 2: it still works.
7:27
Speaker 3: It is something that we work very hard to advocate for.
7:31
Speaker 3: That is part of our public policy that we advocate for.
7:33
Speaker 3: And again, you can call for yourself or a friend
7:37
Speaker 3: and that is not you know, linked with any kind
7:42
Speaker 3: of you know, serious I think some people think, oh,
7:45
Speaker 3: but the police are going to come out, or this
7:46
Speaker 3: is going to happen, or I'm going to you know,
7:48
Speaker 3: this is really about just making sure that we get
7:51
Speaker 3: you to counselors, to people who are you know, know
7:54
Speaker 3: and understand crisis to be able to get you the
7:58
Speaker 3: help that you need in those moments.
8:00
Speaker 2: Got it, So, like you know, four one one and
8:01
Speaker 2: three one one, you call nine eight eight if you're
8:04
Speaker 2: having any thoughts of hurting yourself or or if you
8:07
Speaker 2: know someone who is, Yeah, if you know of someone
8:09
Speaker 2: who is in a bad spot, you can text as well.
8:12
Speaker 3: You can text yeah.
8:13
Speaker 2: So you can call or text nine eight eight or
8:16
Speaker 2: text talk t A l K to seven four one
8:20
Speaker 2: seven four one, And that's still a live person waiting
8:22
Speaker 2: who's waiting for you to be there for you to
8:24
Speaker 2: to help get you through this, this a rough patch,
8:27
Speaker 2: or help you get long term care, better care, get
8:30
Speaker 2: some help to help you feel better, get you the
8:33
Speaker 2: help that you need, and be there for you.
8:36
Speaker 3: Yes.
8:36
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's powerful because sometimes people maybe in a place
8:40
Speaker 2: where they are not ready for a conversation, they don't
8:41
Speaker 2: know who they're talking to. But hey, everyone can send
8:44
Speaker 2: a text to kind of get things going. So you
8:46
Speaker 2: guys would respond right away to a text if someone
8:48
Speaker 2: would to text to nine eight eight, You'll text in
8:51
Speaker 2: my back and be like, hey, how you doing, who's this?
8:54
Speaker 1: What's going on? What can I do? How can I help?
8:56
Speaker 1: It's so huge.
8:57
Speaker 3: Yeah, And you know I dealt with my own mental
9:01
Speaker 3: health issues, and I think sometimes just having somebody there
9:06
Speaker 3: that yeah, is listening or can hear you, just gets
9:10
Speaker 3: you off of that isolation that I think happens when
9:14
Speaker 3: you know, you just get into those deep depression or.
9:19
Speaker 1: Start to spiral.
9:20
Speaker 2: Yeah, just start to spiral, or you know it's your
9:23
Speaker 2: by yourself and now you've got a social media I mean,
9:26
Speaker 2: you get you can just go down a bad rabbit
9:27
Speaker 2: hole and and need to put yourself out or reach
9:31
Speaker 2: out to her friend or you know. Again, as a
9:32
Speaker 2: human being, don't forget to check on people. Don't forget to,
9:35
Speaker 2: like you said, whether you see signs or not. Sometimes
9:37
Speaker 2: if you know someone who lives alone, you know, my
9:39
Speaker 2: mom's getting older. My mom's had a lot of issues,
9:42
Speaker 2: so she's gonna So I literally check in with her
9:44
Speaker 2: every single day to check on her mental health getting older.
9:47
Speaker 2: She goes through a lot of bouts of depression and
9:49
Speaker 2: is lonely. But I check on and she's had a
9:52
Speaker 2: few fifty one to fifty holes over the years, And
9:54
Speaker 2: so I check on her, check on her every day
9:56
Speaker 2: via phone to make sure she's in a good place
9:59
Speaker 2: and that she knows I'm here for her and love her,
10:01
Speaker 2: and I'm going to send her toilet paper tomorrow. Now
10:06
Speaker 2: I'm always setting my mom stuff. Thank you Amazon for
10:09
Speaker 2: that chance to do that.
10:10
Speaker 1: Yes, No, I mean yeah.
10:12
Speaker 3: Checking on, checking checking in on your friends and knowing that, like, truthfully,
10:16
Speaker 3: we're all going through it. I mean, everybody is going
10:19
Speaker 3: through something. But I think it's very very curious to
10:25
Speaker 3: start opening up that dialogue. And I think that that's
10:28
Speaker 3: something that AFSP has done so so well with, especially
10:32
Speaker 3: within the entertainment and media industries. We partner with writers, producers, journalists,
10:38
Speaker 3: content creators, you know, to help with that safe storytelling
10:42
Speaker 3: around suicide. You know, stories are powerful. We know that
10:46
Speaker 3: someone listening, watching, or scrolling, they might be already struggling.
10:51
Speaker 3: So we we really want to help make sure that
10:53
Speaker 3: that messaging is research based, responsible and it's focused on
10:58
Speaker 3: hope and getting help and not harm. Ye. Yeah, and
11:02
Speaker 3: so that is something that we really really kind of
11:04
Speaker 3: push within our programming. And then the same with you know,
11:09
Speaker 3: the ways to get involved, you know, locally within your
11:12
Speaker 3: communities with our walks. You know, we have an out
11:15
Speaker 3: of the Darkness walk that you know is incredible and
11:18
Speaker 3: all these people come together and they're able to tell
11:21
Speaker 3: their stories of you know, some of them are survival,
11:25
Speaker 3: some of them are grief, but it's you know, you're
11:27
Speaker 3: building this beautiful community of people, and sometimes it's that
11:32
Speaker 3: community that you need.
11:34
Speaker 2: The space to be honest and direct and open and
11:37
Speaker 2: then feel the love back, you know, I'm sure at
11:39
Speaker 2: these walks. Do you do most of your walks in
11:41
Speaker 2: the September for suicide Prevention Awareness months or do you
11:44
Speaker 2: do your round.
11:46
Speaker 3: Yeah, So September we're very much focused on our programming
11:52
Speaker 3: and so we do a very heavy programming and then
11:54
Speaker 3: right at the end of September, beginning of October and
11:58
Speaker 3: a little bit into November and we start our walks
12:01
Speaker 3: and so we go into walk season right then, and
12:05
Speaker 3: we have walks in Santa Monica, yeah, okay, and then
12:10
Speaker 3: at the coast line, Ventura and Santa Barbara. But again,
12:15
Speaker 3: you know with throughout the nation. You know, we have
12:19
Speaker 3: local representation of our chapters throughout every fifty states.
12:24
Speaker 1: Sure, wow, that's so big.
12:26
Speaker 2: That's and you know, it's sad that it's needed, but
12:28
Speaker 2: we should be grateful that you know that that it's everywhere.
12:32
Speaker 1: The help is everywhere.
12:33
Speaker 2: The help and the hope is everywhere for people who
12:35
Speaker 2: are in a dark place, going through something and in
12:39
Speaker 2: a bad way and to know that they can call
12:41
Speaker 2: or text this number.
12:43
Speaker 1: Nine eight is nationwide.
12:44
Speaker 2: So no matter where you are to this podcast, yeah,
12:47
Speaker 2: nine eight eight, wherever you are in this country, you
12:50
Speaker 2: can call it.
12:50
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, do you have to find people within
12:52
Speaker 3: your area and if there isn't anybody, then they'll get
12:55
Speaker 3: you to the national lines to make sure somebody is there. So,
12:58
Speaker 3: I mean, it's it's a really great place. Attorney's ready
13:01
Speaker 3: to reach out to somebody when you needed.
13:04
Speaker 1: Yeah.
13:04
Speaker 2: Johnson talk about how this organization started back in the eighties,
13:07
Speaker 2: the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Talk about how it
13:10
Speaker 2: started because from what I understand, it was just from
13:13
Speaker 2: parents are a handful of people who all sadly had
13:16
Speaker 2: the same thing in common. They lost someone to suicide,
13:19
Speaker 2: but they all wanted to come together to change that
13:22
Speaker 2: right and help others going through it, to others affected
13:25
Speaker 2: by it.
13:26
Speaker 3: Yeah, So it began in nineteen eighty seven a small
13:29
Speaker 3: group of families who had lost loved ones to suicide.
13:33
Speaker 3: They came together with researchers who were just I mean
13:37
Speaker 3: deeply concerned about rising suicide rates, especially among our young people.
13:42
Speaker 3: And at that time, there was no national organization focused
13:46
Speaker 3: on suicide prevention. And they believe that the voices of
13:50
Speaker 3: lost survivors, paired with that scientific research, you know, could
13:55
Speaker 3: help us better understand suicide and ultimately prevent it. And
14:01
Speaker 3: that vision, you know, grew into what AFSP is today,
14:04
Speaker 3: and it is the largest private funder of suicide prevention
14:07
Speaker 3: research in the United States. Look at that with local
14:11
Speaker 3: chapters in all fifty states, and you know that power,
14:15
Speaker 3: that powerful combination of heart and science remains at the
14:21
Speaker 3: core of everything that we do.
14:23
Speaker 2: Yeah, let's touch on this research part and why it's
14:25
Speaker 2: so important. Talk about what you guys have found and
14:28
Speaker 2: what you want to what you're trying to put out
14:30
Speaker 2: there in terms of the research.
14:31
Speaker 3: Yeah. So, you know, we know about fifty thousand Americans
14:35
Speaker 3: die by suicide a year. That's about where it is.
14:38
Speaker 1: But Jocelyn, wait, let that sing in for a second.
14:41
Speaker 1: Let that sink in.
14:42
Speaker 2: Fifty plus thousand people in America every year take their
14:47
Speaker 2: own life.
14:48
Speaker 1: Ah. That is crushing. That is so sad.
14:51
Speaker 3: What's even what's even garrier to me is that one
14:54
Speaker 3: point five million suicide attempts were reported.
15:00
Speaker 2: Those are just the ones that we that we know
15:01
Speaker 2: of them. Maybe there's more that we don't know about.
15:04
Speaker 1: Ah. Just I just what do we do about people
15:07
Speaker 1: feeling so bad? What do we do? What do we
15:09
Speaker 1: do about that?
15:10
Speaker 3: Yeah? And so I do think that that dialogue of
15:13
Speaker 3: you know, I think about growing up and we didn't
15:15
Speaker 3: really talk about mental health, you know, it was I
15:18
Speaker 3: was you were always just kind of told buck up,
15:20
Speaker 3: put your pants on and get back out there. You know. Yeah,
15:23
Speaker 3: And I think now that we're looking at the brain
15:27
Speaker 3: more as you know, a same organ as our lungs
15:31
Speaker 3: and our heart, and it's you know, if there's something
15:34
Speaker 3: going on in there, much like we treat a cold,
15:37
Speaker 3: you know, we need to get to the doctor. We
15:39
Speaker 3: need to get to the bottom of it because there's help.
15:43
Speaker 3: And you know, we need to be able to set
15:45
Speaker 3: up boundaries. We need to be able to figure out
15:48
Speaker 3: things in our lives that might be agitating. We might
15:52
Speaker 3: you know, need that help through a doctor to kind
15:55
Speaker 3: of help us diagnose what we're going through so we
15:57
Speaker 3: don't feel alone, so that we don't feel isolated. You know,
16:01
Speaker 3: those are the things and I think, you know, I
16:04
Speaker 3: I'm a as a you know, mom of four. One
16:08
Speaker 3: of the things I swore by was I was going
16:11
Speaker 3: to talk to my kids about everything, and I was
16:13
Speaker 3: going to talk about the good, bad and ugly and
16:15
Speaker 3: when Mom's having a bad day. Sometimes mom has a
16:17
Speaker 3: bad day and it's okay to not be okay. And
16:22
Speaker 3: I think that through those like Talk Saves Lives programs
16:26
Speaker 3: to be able to just really get that out there
16:30
Speaker 3: within our school districts, to where kids, you know, start
16:34
Speaker 3: opening up, that start talking about anxiety or thoughts of
16:38
Speaker 3: depression or you know, not feeling like they're in their
16:41
Speaker 3: right skin. You know, it's all normal things for you
16:45
Speaker 3: to go through, but sometimes again, like I said, it
16:47
Speaker 3: can just be so isolating. And so those those are
16:52
Speaker 3: the programs and the conversations that we're just working hard
16:55
Speaker 3: to get out there. And you know, just last year,
16:59
Speaker 3: you know, we were able to just within our community,
17:02
Speaker 3: reach fourteen thousand, five hundred community members locally and delivered
17:07
Speaker 3: over one hundred and twenty one programs and we are
17:10
Speaker 3: continuing to expand throughout the community to continue that to
17:16
Speaker 3: a site prevention education.
17:17
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was gonna say, Johnson, are you teaming up
17:19
Speaker 2: with schools then? Or if there's someone listening to this program,
17:22
Speaker 2: can they reach out to your organization and you know,
17:26
Speaker 2: use use your guidelines to have these conversations in their school.
17:30
Speaker 2: Can they team up with you, can they get advice
17:32
Speaker 2: or you know, I mean if there's a teacher of
17:33
Speaker 2: someone listening or yeah, so yeah, how does that part work?
17:36
Speaker 4: Yeah?
17:36
Speaker 3: So these obviously, if you're in an LA area, you
17:41
Speaker 3: can reach out to AFSP dot org backslash LA but
17:46
Speaker 3: go to AFSP dot org and just find your local
17:50
Speaker 3: organization or chapter there and they can start helping you.
17:54
Speaker 3: But yeah, so our programs are free. Not only will
17:57
Speaker 3: we go out and do talk safe lives, but there
18:00
Speaker 3: has been times where, you know, if an organization has
18:04
Speaker 3: unfortunately lost somebody to suicide, we can come out and
18:08
Speaker 3: do healing conversations and do loss and support programs as well.
18:15
Speaker 3: But our main thing is to kind of get out
18:17
Speaker 3: there before it happens. And a lot of you know,
18:20
Speaker 3: construction companies are noticing the rises as well, and so
18:24
Speaker 3: they're having us come out and speak to their employees
18:29
Speaker 3: and their workers. But you can start finding that what is.
18:34
Speaker 1: The tide of construction?
18:35
Speaker 2: You say, what is the tide of construction and the
18:37
Speaker 2: higher rate of suicide with construction workers.
18:39
Speaker 1: I've never heard that before.
18:41
Speaker 3: You know, I think that there's a couple of different
18:43
Speaker 3: things when it comes to construction. One, you know, sometimes
18:47
Speaker 3: it's it can be volatile in when you have work
18:51
Speaker 3: and when you don't, it kind of changes which ties.
18:55
Speaker 3: You can also end up having to take a job
18:57
Speaker 3: that might be away from your family, or you're in
19:00
Speaker 3: a hotel for long periods of time. Injuries can really
19:05
Speaker 3: cause two different things, and just you know, being in
19:09
Speaker 3: physical pain and then even you know, there's a mental
19:11
Speaker 3: pain there too. And so I look at some of
19:15
Speaker 3: my friends and family members. My family has an electrical
19:20
Speaker 3: contracting company, you know, and I think about the rise
19:25
Speaker 3: of we we could have one year and we've got
19:28
Speaker 3: twenty guys employed, and we could have one year where
19:31
Speaker 3: we have five, you know, and that that change of
19:34
Speaker 3: the seasons when it comes to you know, the industry
19:37
Speaker 3: is booming versus oh, the industry has taken a little
19:41
Speaker 3: bit of a hit. Yeah, yeah, And so you know,
19:45
Speaker 3: those are those are things that are hard. I also
19:47
Speaker 3: think that it is a very male dominant, you know, profession,
19:51
Speaker 3: and so I just don't think that those conversations are
19:54
Speaker 3: being helped out there. You know.
19:56
Speaker 2: Yeah, we have this conversation every November, Jocelyn. I always
20:01
Speaker 2: have that organization November on the station, and the whole
20:05
Speaker 2: thing is about using the month of November to focus
20:08
Speaker 2: on men's health. And not to be sexist here, but
20:10
Speaker 2: it's about the movement that men need to step up
20:14
Speaker 2: for their own health, health care, their their own health issues.
20:18
Speaker 2: So be more outspoken, make those gods strong, doctor's appointments
20:21
Speaker 2: in terms of the top four ways that are taking
20:25
Speaker 2: our favorite men away from us. You know, it's prostate
20:27
Speaker 2: cancer to sticular cancer, mental health, and suicide prevention, and
20:31
Speaker 2: that men need to be more vocal to not be
20:33
Speaker 2: afraid to take control and advocate for their own health
20:38
Speaker 2: issues so that the people that love them know that
20:41
Speaker 2: they will be here longer. So we got to start
20:43
Speaker 2: the conversation, say we got to make these appointments. How
20:46
Speaker 2: are you feeling? You know, suicide rate is so high,
20:49
Speaker 2: higher in men. How do we get them talking? How
20:51
Speaker 2: do we open up? How do we soften up, open up,
20:53
Speaker 2: open up our heart and open up a conversation and
20:56
Speaker 2: say what can I do to make it better? And
20:59
Speaker 2: not to be a medication pusher, but people also need
21:03
Speaker 2: to know that if there is someone like you said,
21:05
Speaker 2: going on with your brain, that doctors can help you
21:08
Speaker 2: with that and a little tweaking medication or a little
21:11
Speaker 2: maybe your serotonin is low, Maybe you need a little
21:13
Speaker 2: adjustment with your serotonin.
21:14
Speaker 1: In your brain.
21:15
Speaker 2: Maybe your brain needs a little help and doctors can
21:18
Speaker 2: help with that, and that could be the game changer.
21:20
Speaker 2: With depression and the way you feel, you know, it's
21:23
Speaker 2: like stop blaming yourself. Maybe a doctor could could could
21:27
Speaker 2: help turn everything around. And it's just a phone call away,
21:31
Speaker 2: and it could start with reaching out to you guys,
21:34
Speaker 2: asking for help. I'm not feeling right, I'm feeling off,
21:37
Speaker 2: I'm feeling weird. I'm in a weird place and I
21:39
Speaker 2: just cannot snap out of whatever. It's been months. You know,
21:42
Speaker 2: I need I need help. And that's where you can
21:44
Speaker 2: text nine to eight eight or text talk t a
21:48
Speaker 2: l K to seven four one, seven four one. You
21:51
Speaker 2: can go to their website. It's the American Foundation for
21:53
Speaker 2: Suicide Prevention. Go to a f sp dot org. Read
21:58
Speaker 2: about your programs, call the number, text the number, and
22:03
Speaker 2: just just start get the wills turning right.
22:05
Speaker 1: Just try to turn the page in your life.
22:07
Speaker 2: You're hear you people that love you, You matter, and
22:10
Speaker 2: these are things that we need to make sure people know.
22:13
Speaker 3: Yeah, and so many people are going through it. You
22:17
Speaker 3: are not alone.
22:18
Speaker 2: Then I gotta say this too. You know, we talked
22:20
Speaker 2: at the top about Chris Stautrey. Now when it did
22:22
Speaker 2: Chris Stautry connect with you guys. You know he's been
22:24
Speaker 2: and I'm not here to tell Chris's story, but he's
22:27
Speaker 2: been very vocal about it. And now his latest album
22:30
Speaker 2: is released two back to back EPs, and he sings
22:34
Speaker 2: and writes a lot about losing his stepdaughter to suicide
22:38
Speaker 2: a few years ago at the age of twenty five.
22:41
Speaker 2: So he pours his heart and all his justugh, just
22:45
Speaker 2: trying to grasp it and understand it and then deal
22:49
Speaker 2: with the grief after losing someone that you love so much,
22:52
Speaker 2: that you're so close to to this terrible thing called suicide.
22:56
Speaker 2: But so grateful Chris connected with with you guys, and
22:59
Speaker 2: so many fans onlies who are going through this know
23:01
Speaker 2: that they can connect with the American Foundation for SUS
23:04
Speaker 2: that prevention and get help getting through this.
23:08
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, we have many people reach out to
23:12
Speaker 3: us because we do have an incredible loss and healing
23:16
Speaker 3: program as well. You know, one of the things that
23:19
Speaker 3: I've always found so beautiful about that program is when
23:22
Speaker 3: you do reach out, they try to find somebody who
23:26
Speaker 3: has gone through something similar. So if you lost a mother,
23:30
Speaker 3: if you lost a stepdaughter, a daughter, they actually try
23:35
Speaker 3: to connect you with somebody who has gone through something
23:40
Speaker 3: exactly the same or very similar in losing a parent
23:43
Speaker 3: or a child. Sure, because I think sometimes just having
23:47
Speaker 3: somebody else there that gets it. You know, it's losing
23:52
Speaker 3: a child versus losing a sibling versus losing a parent.
23:57
Speaker 3: They're all very different levels of grief. Not that one
24:02
Speaker 3: is worse than their other, they are all.
24:05
Speaker 1: Terrible different type.
24:08
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's just a different type. And so when you're
24:10
Speaker 3: there and you can talk to somebody who has gone
24:14
Speaker 3: through the same loss. Again, like I said, there is
24:17
Speaker 3: power in community. And I think that that's one thing
24:20
Speaker 3: that AFSP has done such a great job of is
24:24
Speaker 3: really trying to bring those communities together to where you
24:29
Speaker 3: can start to figure out how to heal. Yeah, and
24:33
Speaker 3: and and healing doesn't mean that it's you don't feel it,
24:36
Speaker 3: because it's I don't think that ever goes away.
24:39
Speaker 2: That's how you start the process of maybe even just
24:42
Speaker 2: processing what happened and how to handle.
24:46
Speaker 3: It, processing of honoring even you know sometimes you know,
24:52
Speaker 3: AFSP gives people that opportunity to honor their loved ones
24:58
Speaker 3: and highlight them in beautiful ways. Man are out of
25:04
Speaker 3: the darkness. Walk the men and the women who have
25:08
Speaker 3: come out and have shared their stories of their loved ones.
25:12
Speaker 3: It is just an absolutely beautiful day of just healing
25:18
Speaker 3: and again that power of community is just so impactful.
25:23
Speaker 2: Yeah, and just being there for each other. Being there
25:25
Speaker 2: for each other is everything. And you know, the last
25:29
Speaker 2: time I did a show about this, it was after
25:32
Speaker 2: Chester Bennington took his life and that was such a
25:35
Speaker 2: Some of people loved his music and we're fans for
25:37
Speaker 2: so so long, and for him to do that was like, oh.
25:41
Speaker 1: Wait, why why?
25:43
Speaker 3: Yeah?
25:44
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's just whether it's someone you know or you
25:47
Speaker 2: don't know, but knowing this community is here for you
25:49
Speaker 2: and that people other people are going through this very
25:52
Speaker 2: real loss and we just want to do what we
25:54
Speaker 2: can to open up the door, open up the conversation.
25:57
Speaker 2: And that's what organization is all about.
25:58
Speaker 1: Again. You can reach out to.
25:59
Speaker 2: That if you want to work with them and have
26:02
Speaker 2: them come out and help do a talk at your
26:04
Speaker 2: school or your church, whatever group you feel.
26:07
Speaker 1: This conversation is necessary.
26:09
Speaker 2: It's also just about not being afraid, right like you said,
26:12
Speaker 2: Johnson said, not to be afraid to broach it, not
26:16
Speaker 2: to be afraid to share with people that there are tools,
26:19
Speaker 2: there are ways that we can help you, help you
26:21
Speaker 2: feel better and give you an outlet people to talk
26:23
Speaker 2: to you. They're waiting for you at the ninety eight
26:26
Speaker 2: the phone number nine to eight you can call or text.
26:28
Speaker 1: You can text talk to.
26:30
Speaker 2: Seven four one seven four one, that's talk t alk
26:33
Speaker 2: to seven four one seven for one. Or go to
26:36
Speaker 2: their website, the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention and see
26:39
Speaker 2: about all their programs, like John's been saying, all the
26:42
Speaker 2: ways that they can help. I love the area where
26:45
Speaker 2: you have people sharing their stories right that the Real
26:48
Speaker 2: Stories Blog so.
26:50
Speaker 1: Compelling what people have to share. You are not alone.
26:53
Speaker 2: And if you feel like you have a friend or
26:56
Speaker 2: know someone or a coworker who's going through something that
26:58
Speaker 2: seems you know, a little dark, a little heavy, they're retreating,
27:02
Speaker 2: they're regressing, maybe give it you know what, and reach
27:06
Speaker 2: out and say, hey.
27:07
Speaker 1: How you doing, what's going on? Can I help it? Anyway?
27:10
Speaker 1: All this help line is out there.
27:13
Speaker 3: Yeah, and we you know, we have those prevention programs again,
27:15
Speaker 3: like I said that Talk Safe Lives that you know,
27:18
Speaker 3: Highlight Veterans, Highlight Teams, our LATINX Community, LGBTQ plus we
27:25
Speaker 3: have all those different programs in order to kind of
27:28
Speaker 3: just get out in front of people, you know, before
27:31
Speaker 3: it becomes a crisis. And that's really where what we
27:34
Speaker 3: are focused on all.
27:36
Speaker 2: Right, Jon Joson Skelton, thank you so much for for
27:39
Speaker 2: all that you and your team there does again all
27:41
Speaker 2: the information the American Foundation for Suiticide Prevention right through
27:44
Speaker 2: on their.
27:45
Speaker 1: Website a f SP dot org.
27:47
Speaker 2: I appreciate you and thank you for caring so much
27:49
Speaker 2: about people and wanting to make a difference in this
27:52
Speaker 2: and making sure people know that help and hope is
27:55
Speaker 2: just a text phone call away, right yeah, j Aucen,
28:00
Speaker 2: thank you so much, so much for having us