Latest / Pittsburgh Sunday Morning / TOPIC: American Foundation for Suicide Prevention's Out of The Darkness Walk

Transcript

TOPIC: American Foundation for Suicide Prevention's Out of The Darkness Walk · Pittsburgh Sunday Morning

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: And welcome in. This is a public affairs program shedding
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: the light on the interests, issues, and concerns of the
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: greater Pittsburgh area. Today's topic is, we're talking with our
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: old friend Doug Bishop of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Good to see you. And I know you just walked
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: into the door. We turned the mic on. You handed
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: me a piece of paper. I guess we're talking about this,
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: aren't we?
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: Yes, I walked in the door. I said, let's do this.
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: And here we are. Let's do this. And I said,
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: I'm ready. Let's do this. Apparently you are.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: You know, obviously we're talking about suicide, which is a
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: heavy topic, but I always enjoy our conversations.
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: I do too.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: It's because it's a topic that needs to be discussed.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: And you do such a great job.
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: So tell us a little bit. American Foundation of Suicide
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: Prevention is a little Sometimes we're going to refer to
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: it as AFSP. But is there a new name? Is
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: there a new... There's like a merger going on.
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: There is a merger going on, which is a rare
• 1:06
  Speaker 3: thing in the nonprofit world.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: But we have worked with another organization called the Jed
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: Foundation that is suicide prevention. And they do a little
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: bit different than AFSP does. AFSP is mostly grassroots organizations.
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: some corporate sponsorships, et cetera, but it's mostly people like
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: you and me digging in our pockets and donating money,
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: and that's fantastic. The Jed Foundation is an organization created
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: by Jed's mom and dad. They lost Jed to suicide,
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: and what they have done is created educational programs, support
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: programs for The kids in college and in high schools.
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: And it basically follows you the entire time while you're attending.
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: So that's more of a fee-for-service kind of a thing.
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: So a college or a university might hire the Jed
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: Foundation to provide support to their students for a term.
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: But if you're a student there, you've got support for
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: the entire time you're there.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: But there's commonality.
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: But there's definitely a commonality. We do education programming as well.
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: They do longer term. We do much shorter versions for
• 2:18
  Speaker 3: the communities. But I think the combination together is, from
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: everything I'm seeing and hearing, I've talked to the president
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: of the Jed Foundation on a town hall meeting, if
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: you will, and incredible.
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: Are they both national organizations?
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: Yeah, both national organizations. They're all across the country, all
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: 50 states. So, yeah, we're going to. Be a powerhouse,
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: if you will.
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: Okay, good, good.
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: They're not quite the size of AFSP, but they're very large.
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: So the combination of the two together will be very
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: interesting to what we can do.
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: But the Jed Foundation does something that maybe you didn't
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: do in the past?
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: Well, their education programs are on a very regular basis
• 3:05
  Speaker 3: for whomever hired them to do the work.
• 3:07
  Speaker 4: Got it.
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: They're there every day. If you're attending, let's just say Pitt.
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: I don't know whether Pitt's got the Jed Foundation or not,
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: but let's just say Pitt. If you're a Pitt student
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: and you're having some struggles, well, you've got the Jed
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: Foundation support right there.
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: Well, the reason why you're here is that you want
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: to promote the Out of Darkness walk and suicide.
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: Yes. October 4th.
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: It's at the formerly named Highmark Stadium, FNB Stadium, and
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: the walk site starts at 9 a.m. Now, you've been
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: doing this walk for years.
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: And so how long have you been doing the walk?
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: My first walk was 2014, about seven or eight months
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: after I lost my son Alex at age 21 to suicide.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: I know this. There's probably a lot of participants who
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: have a a personal story to go along with it.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: Do you mind sharing your story?
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: No, not at all. Yeah, as I said, we lost
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: our son, Alex, at age 21 to suicide in January
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: of 2014.
• 4:09
  Speaker 3: You know, that's now that I'm 12 years plus past that,
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: I can look back and say it's the most difficult
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: thing that I've ever been through. And I can't imagine
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: anything too much more difficult than that. But, you know,
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: here I am 12 years later.
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: You know, I.
• 4:30
  Speaker 3: Am now actually, we didn't discuss this yet, but I
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: am now. the board chair for the Western PA chapter.
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: I was going to ask you about that.
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: I saw that on the website.
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: You looked at our website, didn't you?
• 4:39
  Speaker 4: I was like, whoa.
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: You looked at our website.
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: I didn't know I was friends with the Big Hunt show.
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: That's nice. Well, congratulations. Well, thank you. Thank you.
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: You're such a great advocate, so you certainly deserve it.
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: It's just time.
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: There's so much behind that, but yes, so I did
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: the walk back in, would have been August of 2014,
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: and just felt comfortable in that space. Um, a lot
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: of hope, you know, you see all these other people
• 5:10
  Speaker 3: that you realize you aren't alone. Um, there is hope
• 5:16
  Speaker 3: and it just, uh, it just felt like I need
• 5:19
  Speaker 3: to find out more. So I then attended what is
• 5:22
  Speaker 3: coming up for us a few months after the walk
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: is the, um, international survivors of suicide loss day. That
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: we put on, but every chapter all across the country,
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: in fact, all across the world that has suicide prevention organizations,
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: we have this day for survivors of a loss to suicide.
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: And I went to that event and was like, how
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: do they know all this about me?
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: I haven't even talked to them.
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: And it's just, it's just, they know what goes.
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: On in the mind of somebody that's bereaved. to a
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: suicide loss.
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: And at that point, you're probably, you feel so alone.
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: And then when you go out and you find individuals
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: who've gone through the process, and I don't, I can,
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: I've never, I haven't experienced it, but, you know, I
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: can imagine that, you know, a lot of people feel lonely.
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: And then when they go to these events or, you know,
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: I give you all the credit in the world for
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: talking about it because, you know, you want to break
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: that stigma.
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: Oh, that's a hundred and 25% of what I want
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: to do. It's like everything plus. Yeah, that's the issue.
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: I really wish we didn't even call it mental health.
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: I think it's just health like any other problem. Brain's
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: an organ in your body, et cetera. But yeah, that
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: day that I went to the Survivors of Suicide Lost
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: Day event, that was the one where I just said,
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: I have to be a part of this organization somehow. It's,
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: you know, they know what they're doing. They've impressed me immensely.
• 6:56
  Speaker 3: They understand what I'm going through. And just having that
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: capability to talk to other people that are going through
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: what you're going through, as I said, now 12 years later,
• 7:07
  Speaker 3: I really understand how important that was and is.
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: Let me ask you, since you've been with the organization
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: for over a decade, how has the conversation surrounding suicide
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: and mental health changed over that time that you have
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: been with the organization?
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: We can do it more openly. We have more reception
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: from people. In the very beginning, it was still, shh,
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: don't talk about that. But I think if there's anything
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: to bring out of the pandemic that may have been good,
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: it was that we realized how important we are to
• 7:43
  Speaker 3: each other and how important our own mental health is.
• 7:48
  Speaker 3: And I think that's when I saw a lot change.
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: There was much more openness conversation, communication, discussion, you know,
• 7:57
  Speaker 3: help out there. Um, so I think, I think we're
• 8:00
  Speaker 3: getting there. We've got a ways to go, but yeah,
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: it feels like we're, we're going in the right direction.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: Well, now that you're, you're, you're chair or chair, I'm
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: so impressed to talk with the chair of, uh, what
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: were some of your things that you want to accomplish
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: as chair?
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: Oh, um, just continue to do what we do on
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: a bigger and bolder basis. Um, I, I want to get,
• 8:26
  Speaker 3: you know, our, our big program is talk saves lives.
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: That's the name of the program that we put out
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: there most often. I really want that to be effective.
• 8:35
  Speaker 3: I want people to realize that talking about this is fine.
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: It's okay.
• 8:41
  Speaker 3: Um, and the more that I've been involved and talk
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: with other people, almost everybody, has experienced a suicide loss.
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: I'm not saying everybody. If you're fortunate enough not to have,
• 8:56
  Speaker 3: that's fantastic. I would like to see more of that. But, yeah,
• 9:01
  Speaker 3: everybody's lost somebody. And we've got to change that, especially
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: in the years.
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: Or they may have those feelings.
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: Or they may have those feelings as well.
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: Right. We're there to help with that as well. That's,
• 9:11
  Speaker 3: you know, this is prevention. You know, I get kind
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: of pulled in a little bit more to the what
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: we call post-vention side. where I want to help somebody
• 9:19
  Speaker 3: that's lost somebody. But obviously, we want to prevent this
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: as well.
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: So what are some signs that somebody might be struggling?
• 9:31
  Speaker 3: They're sometimes subtle, but when you see a bunch of
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: them together, that's really the sign. You might see, if
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: it's a young person in school, you might see grade suffering.
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: You might see Detachment.
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: Yeah, detachment. They are not around their friends as much.
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: They're not engaging in family as much. They're not as talkative.
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: They're in their room a lot. That's some initial signs.
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: The ones you see later on where you got to
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: really think, oh, okay, we need to do something here
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: is if you see them like giving away prized possessions,
• 10:13
  Speaker 3: talking about worthlessness, you know, even no reason to live.
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: Don't.
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: Don't take that as just a teen talking about silly thoughts. No,
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: it's prominent.
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: Those are the signs you look for.
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: There's always 988, the suicide crisis line, lifeline.
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: That's always there.
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: If that's the instance going on, that's available right away.
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: So yeah, you just have to Sometimes you have to
• 10:45
  Speaker 3: look a little bit harder and combine all those pieces together,
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: and then you'll see, oh boy, there is something.
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: Going on here.
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: And like you said, talking is so important. You need
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: to ask questions, and don't be afraid to engage.
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: Don't be afraid to engage. And if you are concerned
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: that they are in a potential crisis mode, do not
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: be afraid to ask the question, are you considering... taking
• 11:13
  Speaker 3: your life? Are you contemplating suicide? There's a myth out
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: there that thinks that that might push that to the
• 11:21
  Speaker 3: next level.
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: No.
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: In fact, it does the opposite. Because now they know
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: that somebody hears it and cares about it. And if
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: you can get them to talk about it, That could
• 11:34
  Speaker 3: be the turning point.
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: You know, it's just starting a conversation.
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: You've got to start the conversation.
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: All right. Before I have a ton of questions, but
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: I don't want to get too far without discussing the
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: Out of Darkness Walk to End Suicide. Walk with us
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: October 4th at Highmark Stadium, which is now called FNB Stadium.
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: We can call it the soccer field. Sort of like
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: the football field.
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: Walk, register, donate, connect at the website AFSP.org slash Pittsburgh, correct?
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: Okay. Now, we talked about teens, but let's face it.
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: Suicide isn't just a teenage. There's certain occupations that are
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: worrisome as well.
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: The one industry that would have several occupations in it
• 12:22
  Speaker 3: would be the construction industry. Um, AFSP has discovered that
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: that is the second highest industry with suicide risk.
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: Um, the number one is.
• 12:33
  Speaker 3: Extraction mining, uh, coal miners, et cetera.
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: Because if you already have some depression issues and you're,
• 12:40
  Speaker 3: you know, stuck down in a dark place all day long,
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: I don't think that probably helps much. Um, but the
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: construction industry is very, very, very high. And we have,
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: in fact, uh, I think we did it in May
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: this year. We've done two of these in a row now,
• 12:56
  Speaker 3: the construction hike for hope and some raise some funds there.
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: How'd that go? Very well, very well.
• 13:03
  Speaker 3: We were, I don't know where we landed overall in
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: the country, but I know we were in the top 10.
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: We might even been in the top five as far
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: as funds raised. So we had, you know, a lot
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: of participation, a lot of spreading the word around, you know,
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: more and more of that.
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: Is what we need to do.
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: Who do you find participates in the walk that you
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: have coming up on October 4th?
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: Everyone.
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: What we see most of is a lot of people
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: that have new losses. And a lot of times they
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: want to raise funds as well, like I did. And
• 13:38
  Speaker 3: you put basically a walk team together. And what has
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: just sort of been what happens, we don't force this
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: or even suggest it, but a lot of these walk
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: teams will create their own walk t-shirts and they may have,
• 13:53
  Speaker 3: you know, they're a phrase or their walk team on
• 13:55
  Speaker 3: it or a picture of who they've lost or, you know,
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: some kind of, you know, decoration that reminds them of them.
• 14:03
  Speaker 3: And all of a sudden you see a, you know,
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: a group of a dozen people over here with green,
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: you know, 15 people over here in yellow. And it's just, it's,
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: it's fascinating, but, um, not only just somebody that's lost someone, um,
• 14:18
  Speaker 3: But they get family and friends there to support them
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: as well, and that's important. And, of course, people that
• 14:26
  Speaker 3: are just enthusiastic about the cause and also people that
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: are struggling themselves. What makes this event so powerful? I
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: think a couple of things. I don't think there's any
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: place like this particular event where people can go together.
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: and actually openly discuss suicide. We still don't talk about
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: it a whole lot, but here they can talk about
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: their struggles to a point. I mean, we're not there
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: to do therapy at the walk, or we don't do
• 15:00
  Speaker 3: therapy at all, but we can at least guide them
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: into the right direction. There are many tables there with
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: resources from other organizations as well, as well as our tables.
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: So there's that openness for discussion. It's also a big
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: day of hope. I think that's what most people tell
• 15:22
  Speaker 3: us they get out of it, is hope for the future,
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: hope that they can find their way through the grief
• 15:31
  Speaker 3: or find their way through their own mental health.
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: And this is an opportunity to break that stigma, to
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: get past it.
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: Again, 125%. Yeah. Yeah, that's what we're there to do.
• 15:40
  Speaker 5: All right.
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: You mentioned that you don't do therapy. So one thing
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: we didn't talk about is what exactly does your organization do?
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: What kind of services do you provide?
• 15:49
  Speaker 5: Sure.
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: When this question is asked, I always say it's the
• 15:52
  Speaker 3: four pillars of prevention. And so the four pillars that
• 15:57
  Speaker 3: we have is we are the number one private funder.
• 16:00
  Speaker 3: of suicide prevention research in the country. So for instance,
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: UPMC right here in Pittsburgh, their researchers have received literally
• 16:09
  Speaker 3: millions of dollars from AFSP. If you look at the
• 16:12
  Speaker 3: portfolio of work that's done, most research studies take a
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: couple of years, two, three years maybe. If you look
• 16:19
  Speaker 3: at what's in process right now, there's about $ 35 million
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: worth of suicide prevention resource in process right now that's
• 16:27
  Speaker 3: been funded by AFSP. In addition to that, we do
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: advocacy work. So we're in the state capitals all across
• 16:36
  Speaker 3: the country. Harrisburg here, we go every year. And we
• 16:41
  Speaker 3: also go to Washington, D.C.
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: Every year. I went to Washington, D.C. this year, and
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: it was amazing.
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: Oh, yeah. What was that experience like?
• 16:50
  Speaker 3: 250 people in a conference for three days talking about
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: three particular bills that we wanted to get passed. pushed
• 16:58
  Speaker 3: and get through, get some support from congressmen and senators
• 17:02
  Speaker 3: all across the country. We represented all 50 states in
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: those 250 participants. And we basically walked, stormed the Capitol,
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: if you will. And so literally it was amazingly organized.
• 17:18
  Speaker 3: And literally I ended up with an app on my
• 17:20
  Speaker 3: phone that showed me exactly who I was meeting with
• 17:24
  Speaker 3: and when I was meeting with them and what room
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: I was to go to. And literally everybody had that.
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: And it was just simply amazing. The Pennsylvania constituency, we
• 17:35
  Speaker 3: probably talked to about 15 different politicians.
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: Good for you.
• 17:38
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 17:39
  Speaker 3: And we're now hearing back from the AFSP advocacy department
• 17:45
  Speaker 3: about Have.
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: You seen results? Are you hopeful?
• 17:48
  Speaker 3: Well, we're already seeing which are the ones we've spoke
• 17:51
  Speaker 3: to are supporting our bills.
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: Okay, great.
• 17:53
  Speaker 3: Not our bills, but the bills that we're trying to
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: get support for.
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, it was amazing. It was amazing.
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: So the four pillars, you had research, advocacy. Research, advocacy,
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: our education programs. We put on education programs for literally anybody, anywhere.
• 18:07
  Speaker 3: You can just call us, email us, look on our website,
• 18:11
  Speaker 3: and you can find all the email addresses. We do
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: all those for free. So we don't, we don't, you know,
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: this is our give back. Thank you for donating. We
• 18:19
  Speaker 3: want to put some programs on in your area. So we,
• 18:22
  Speaker 3: we do any kind of program from, you know, high
• 18:25
  Speaker 3: schools to veterans, just to attend a veterans program over
• 18:28
  Speaker 3: the weekend, uh, have a new great presenter. That's a,
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: a military vet. And, um, he did awesome. He just
• 18:36
  Speaker 3: had a great connection with the crowd. So, um, So, yes,
• 18:40
  Speaker 3: education programs. And lastly is loss and healing support for
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: those that have lost someone to suicide. I mentioned the
• 18:48
  Speaker 3: Survivors Day. I think another interesting program is healing conversations
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: where if you've lost someone to suicide and you feel
• 18:55
  Speaker 3: like you need to make that connection to someone else
• 18:58
  Speaker 3: that has lost someone to suicide, we can make that happen.
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: You mentioned teenagers. You mentioned the construction industry and the
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: mining industry. And then you mentioned military. I'm sure that
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: has to be a focus as well.
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: Oh, absolutely. 22 a day.
• 19:13
  Speaker 3: You know, that's how many suicides there are for vets. So, yeah,
• 19:18
  Speaker 3: I think the stat is it's double the size of
• 19:23
  Speaker 3: the regular, you know, normal people that are not vets.
• 19:29
  Speaker 3: It's twice that. Twice the percentage. So, yeah, very, very
• 19:34
  Speaker 3: high risk. PTSD is a big part of that, obviously.
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: And so do you find more vets and military people
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: are reaching out to your organization, or is that something
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: that you would like to, as chair, maybe address a
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: little bit more?
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: I'd like to address that a little bit more in
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: talking to Mike, who was our presenter last Saturday down
• 19:57
  Speaker 3: in Washington County. The tough part sometimes there is the
• 20:03
  Speaker 3: vets don't always want everybody to know. It's still stigma. Um,
• 20:09
  Speaker 3: they don't always want somebody to know that they're struggling at,
• 20:12
  Speaker 3: they're going to an event like our talk safe lives
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: for vets. Um, all I can say is just come,
• 20:21
  Speaker 3: just come anyway. Um, it's a safe space. We're not judging.
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: We don't let it, we don't provide any, you know,
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: listing of who attended the event. You know, there's nothing
• 20:32
  Speaker 3: out there. I think there's just, you know, It's a
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: sacred space, and we'll keep it that way for you.
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: I'm going to address something directly with you. It's like
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: so many of these charity walks, you want to make
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: it a fun, bright, and exciting, fun event. But there
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: is a certain darkness to this.
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: The cause.
• 20:51
  Speaker 3: Interesting word choice, Jody. It's the out-of-the-darkness walk.
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 20:56
  Speaker 3: Yes, we're trying to bring people out of the darkness.
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: And provide that hope for the day.
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: And to address the topic.
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: Address the topic.
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: So many people, I remember the first time talking to you,
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: I was very hesitant. I didn't know. It's a sensitive topic.
• 21:12
  Speaker 6: It is.
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: And we've talked about sensitivity. Is there certain things that
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: people should know and maybe change the way they speak
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: and maybe consider suicide?
• 21:23
  Speaker 3: We actually have a new program that we're going to
• 21:27
  Speaker 3: launch here shortly in our chapter called Caring Communities. What
• 21:31
  Speaker 3: we've discovered is our flagship Talk Saves Lives program is great.
• 21:38
  Speaker 3: You know, it's well received, but sometimes there's comments from
• 21:43
  Speaker 3: participants that it kind of feels like this is what
• 21:46
  Speaker 3: you should have known. And we were like, oh no,
• 21:49
  Speaker 3: we don't want, that's not the message we're trying to
• 21:51
  Speaker 3: send at all. So it's now been revamped a little bit.
• 21:55
  Speaker 3: And this Caring Communities has come out as something that
• 21:59
  Speaker 3: we can present. If there's been a recent loss, it
• 22:02
  Speaker 3: seems to be a little bit more the right type
• 22:05
  Speaker 3: of program for that. And it discusses things like how
• 22:08
  Speaker 3: to help somebody, how to help a family that's lost someone,
• 22:12
  Speaker 3: how to properly discuss the topic. You know, there's a
• 22:16
  Speaker 3: lot of things that you can say that may feel
• 22:19
  Speaker 3: like they're supportive, but they're not.
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: I think they want to be supportive, but they don't
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: know how.
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: They do. I'm not meaning to criticize. It's well-meaning. Yeah.
• 22:27
  Speaker 3: But sometimes it is the wrong thing to say. Like
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: when I lost Alex, you know, the comments were, well,
• 22:35
  Speaker 3: he's in a better place.
• 22:37
  Speaker 5: No.
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: Damn it.
• 22:39
  Speaker 3: The best place for him is right here. You know,
• 22:42
  Speaker 3: at least you've got another child. What is that supposed
• 22:45
  Speaker 3: to mean? It's not fair. But it's well-meaning.
• 22:51
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 22:51
  Speaker 3: But just take a pause maybe. And sometimes you don't
• 22:56
  Speaker 3: need to say anything but, I am so sorry I'm
• 23:00
  Speaker 3: here for you. Yeah.
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: And that's all you really need to say. That's all
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: we really need.
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: And this walk that's coming up on October 4th is
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: an opportunity to do that for the community. It's saying,
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: we're here for you.
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: Exactly. 100%. We are here for you.
• 23:19
  Speaker 3: If you've experienced a loss, if you just feel passionate
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: about the cause, if you're struggling yourselves, this is a
• 23:27
  Speaker 3: day of hope, a day of no judgment, a day
• 23:31
  Speaker 3: of let's crush the stigma. You know, let's get this
• 23:37
  Speaker 3: in the, continue in the right direction with us.
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: So what can people expect on Sunday, October 4th? How
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: can they register, volunteer, form a team, support the walk
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: in any way?
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: Well, go to our website.
• 23:49
  Speaker 3: That's the simplest way to do it, afsp.org forward slash
• 23:53
  Speaker 3: chapter forward slash western chapter.
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: Pennsylvania.
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: Wait a minute.
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: I know. That's a whole lot. If you want to
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: go the easy route.
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: Come on, Don.
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: Your chair now.
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: Make it easy on me.
• 24:07
  Speaker 5: I know.
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: That's why I did the second part. I got to
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: keep the attorneys happy in the first part.
• 24:12
  Speaker 3: AFSP.org and then do find a chapter and you can
• 24:15
  Speaker 3: put your zip code in and bingo, you'll hit us.
• 24:17
  Speaker 3: We have three other walks in our Western PA chapter
• 24:21
  Speaker 3: as well. We're going to actually kick off the walk
• 24:24
  Speaker 3: season with Erie. on September 9th up in Presque Isle,
• 24:29
  Speaker 3: followed by Washington County Walk on September 26th at the
• 24:33
  Speaker 3: Rotary Pavilion in Washington Park, Pittsburgh on October 4th, as
• 24:37
  Speaker 3: you already mentioned, and Lawrence County on October 10th in
• 24:40
  Speaker 3: Riverview Park.
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: And finally, Doug, for someone listening right now who may
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: be struggling or who loves someone who is struggling, what
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: would you want them to hear today?
• 24:52
  Speaker 3: If they are struggling or know someone that's struggling, if
• 24:58
  Speaker 3: you or they are in a crisis mode, reach out
• 25:01
  Speaker 3: to 988, first of all, because we want you still here.
• 25:05
  Speaker 3: And secondly, do not try to break through this stigma.
• 25:11
  Speaker 3: Do not be afraid to reach out and find support.
• 25:14
  Speaker 3: There's lots of ways to find support. There's some on
• 25:16
  Speaker 3: our website as well that will help you get into
• 25:19
  Speaker 3: that right direction.
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: It's always a pleasure. I love coming here.
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: I know. The Out of Darkness walk is, the Pittsburgh
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: walk is scheduled for October 4th. The soccer stadium, formerly
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: known as High Park Stadium. You can get more information
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: at afsp.org slash Pittsburgh. Doug, always a pleasure.
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: Always a pleasure, Johnny.
• 25:40
  Speaker 7: Thank you.
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: As always, if you have any comments, a concern, or
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: an idea for a future program, please email us from
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: this radio station's website. I'm Johnny Hartwell. Thank you so
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: much for listening.
• 26:00
  Speaker 4: Smokey the bear.
• 26:02
  Speaker 5: Smokey.
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: Then you know why Smokey tells you when he sees
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: you passing through. Remember, please be careful. It's the least
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: that you can do.
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: It's what you desire.
• 26:12
  Speaker 4: Don't play with matches.
• 26:14
  Speaker 7: Don't play with fire. After 80 years of learning his
• 26:17
  Speaker 7: wildfire prevention tips, Smokey Bear lives within us all.
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: Learn more at SmokeyBear.com.
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: And remember, only you can prevent wildfires.
• 26:26
  Speaker 7: Brought to you by the USDA Forest Service, your state forester,
• 26:28
  Speaker 7: and the Ad Council.
• 26:30
  Speaker 4: As veterans, we're no strangers to helping others.
• 26:33
  Speaker 5: It's what we were taught, trained, and told to do.
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: It could be for anything.
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: Helping a friend move.
• 26:39
  Speaker 4: Listening to a fellow veteran for hours, at any hour
• 26:43
  Speaker 4: of the day.
• 26:44
  Speaker 5: Or just simply making time for people.
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: A neighbor, a loved one, or even a stranger.
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: We're often the first to help others. There's no question
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: about it.
• 26:53
  Speaker 4: But we do have one question for the veterans listening.
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: When was the last time you reached out for help?
• 27:02
  Speaker 5: Perhaps it's time to do for yourself what you.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: Would do for others. If you or someone you know
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: needs resources, whether it's for stress, finances, employment, or mental health,
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: don't wait.
• 27:14
  Speaker 4: Reach out. Find more information at va.gov slash reach. That's va.gov
• 27:21
  Speaker 4: slash reach.
• 27:23
  Speaker 6: Brought to you by the United States Department of Veterans
• 27:25
  Speaker 6: Affairs and the Ad Council.
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: And here's Heather with the weather.
• 27:31
  Speaker 7: Well, it's beautiful out there, sunny and 75, almost a
• 27:35
  Speaker 7: little chilly in the shade. Now, let's get a read
• 27:38
  Speaker 7: on the inside of your car. It is hot. You've
• 27:41
  Speaker 7: only been parked a short time, and it's already 99
• 27:44
  Speaker 7: degrees in there. Let's not leave children in the back
• 27:47
  Speaker 7: seat while running errands. It only takes a few minutes
• 27:50
  Speaker 7: for their body temperatures to rise, and that could be fatal.
• 27:53
  Speaker 4: Cars get hot fast and can be deadly.
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: Never leave a child in a car. A message from
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: NHTSA and the Ad Council.
• 28:00
  Speaker 5: Substance use disorder and addiction is so isolating. And so
• 28:05
  Speaker 5: as a Black woman in recovery, hope must be loud.
• 28:11
  Speaker 5: It grows louder when you ask for help and you're vulnerable.
• 28:15
  Speaker 5: It is the thread that lets you know that no
• 28:17
  Speaker 5: matter what happens, you will be okay.
• 28:20
  Speaker 7: When we learn the power of hope, recovery is possible.
• 28:24
  Speaker 5: Find out how at StartWithHope.com.
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: Brought to you by the National Council for Mental Well-Being, Shatterproof,
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: and the Ad Council.
• 28:31
  Speaker 6: Real talent is defined by what people can do, not
• 28:35
  Speaker 6: where they learn to do it. So by stopping at
• 28:38
  Speaker 6: the education section of a resume, you might throw away
• 28:41
  Speaker 6: the perfect hire. You might miss someone who has valuable
• 28:44
  Speaker 6: skills to offer to help your business thrive right now
• 28:48
  Speaker 6: and in the future. Because the truth is this. Skills-first
• 28:52
  Speaker 6: hiring helps you see talent others miss. Like more than
• 28:56
  Speaker 6: 70 million stars. Skilled through alternative routes. When you let
• 29:02
  Speaker 6: their story unfold, you gain a competitive advantage. Because hiring
• 29:06
  Speaker 6: managers who start with skills are 60% more likely to
• 29:10
  Speaker 6: find a successful hire.
• 29:12
  Speaker 4: See the real person. Complete. See what others miss. Hire
• 29:17
  Speaker 4: skills first. Learn why it's a competitive advantage at tearthepaperceiling.org
• 29:25
  Speaker 4: Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council.
• 29:30
  Speaker 4: What I know about courage, I learned from my adoptive mom.
• 29:34
  Speaker 7: She said sometimes you just got to hold on and
• 29:36
  Speaker 7: know we'll get through this.
• 29:38
  Speaker 4: Mom, we are so high up.
• 29:40
  Speaker 7: Hold my hand.
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: No, you hold my hand.
• 29:44
  Speaker 7: Here we go.
• 29:48
  Speaker 4: Learn about adopting a teen from foster care.
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: You can't imagine the reward.
• 29:53
  Speaker 4: Visit adoptuskids.org to find out more.
• 29:58
  Speaker 7: I learned patience from my adoptive dad.
• 30:02
  Speaker 4: All he had to say was, Hey, you got this.
• 30:05
  Speaker 2: Just breathe. Hey, we're pretty good.
• 30:11
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: Might have to start a band.
• 30:15
  Speaker 5: I got it.
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: Learn about adopting a teen from foster care.
• 30:18
  Speaker 2: You can't imagine the reward.
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: Visit AdoptUSKids.org to find out more.
• 30:22
  Speaker 4: This message is brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S.
• 30:25
  Speaker 4: Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council.