🎥 Watch the Video Podcast on YouTube:
A video version of this episode is available here: https://www.youtube.com/@TheSurvivorsPodcastChannel
🎙️ Episode Sponsored by Calmerry
This episode is proudly brought to you by Calmerry, an online therapy platform providing affordable and accessible professional counseling.
🌐 Visit: https://calmerry.com/the-survivors-podcast/
🎟️ Use code SURVIVORS20 for 20% off your first month.
💙Because your mental well-being matters. 💙
📝 Episode Summary
In a profoundly raw and moving conversation, Lisa and Gretchen dive into the stigma of suicide and the life-changing strength of finding — or building — community. They discuss their healing journeys, from the silence and shame of mental health struggles to the breakthroughs that come with vulnerability and shared space. Whether it's a support group, a therapy session, or a circle of close friends, this episode reminds us that we don’t have to walk through the most challenging moments alone.
💡 Lessons Learned
- Community is a lifeline: Having a group — even a small one — makes navigating grief and mental health more bearable.
- Vulnerability is powerful: Telling your story can unlock someone else’s pain and start their healing.
- There’s no “right” way to engage: Whether you speak up or listen, being part of a community matters.
- Help is always within reach: Therapy, crisis lines, and online support can meet you where you are — even from home.
0:00 – Intro & Trigger Warning
1:00 – Why Community Matters
5:30 – Gretchen’s Story of Survival
9:40 – Therapy, Friends, & Finding Support
14:00 – Creating Safe Spaces to Share
18:00 – Lisa’s Journey: Loss, Silence & the Breakthrough
23:00 – Survivor Stories & the Ripple of Openness
28:00 – Virtual Groups & the Power of Showing Up
35:00 – Actionable Ways to Build or Find Community
40:00 – Final Reflections & Encouragement
📚 Resources for Mental Health & Support
🔹 The Survivors Podcast Website – https://thesurvivors.net/
🔹 The HelpHUB™ – Mental health resources, tools, and support networks – https://www.thehelphub.co/
🔹 Schoser Talent and Wellness Solutions – Mental wellness coaching & support – https://schosersolutions.com/
🔹 Calmerry – Affordable & accessible online therapy – https://calmerry.com/
🔹 Sh!t That Goes On In Our Heads – A raw, award-winning mental health podcast – https://goesoninourheads.net/
📲 Follow & Connect With Us
📷 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_survivors_podcast
🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-survivors-podcast
🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheSurvivorsPodcastChannel
🎙️ See You Next Week! Stay strong, keep going, and remember: You are enough. 💜
#TheSurvivorsPodcast #EndTheStigma #MentalHealthMatters #SuicidePrevention #YouAreNotAlone #BreakTheSilence #GriefSupport #988Lifeline #SurvivorStories #HealingTogether #PodMatch #MentalHealth #SuicideAwareness #Podcast #Community #Hope #Grief #Stigma #MentalIllness #Support #LisaSugarman #GretchenSchoser
00:00:00
[MUSIC]
00:00:05
The Survivors is brought to you by our friends at CalMori.
00:00:08
This podcast mentions suicide, mental illness,
00:00:11
grief and loss, and maybe triggering for some listeners.
00:00:14
So please take care of your well-being by
00:00:16
pausing or skipping any sections that feel uncomfortable to you.
00:00:19
And if you or someone you know is struggling,
00:00:22
please call 988 for supporting.
00:00:24
[MUSIC]
00:00:25
So this whole idea of creating a community,
00:00:28
like you and I are most excited about that part of what we get to do.
00:00:33
I mean, there's the part of getting on the podcast every week
00:00:36
and talking about everything that we need to talk about.
00:00:39
But then there's this other part that just comes naturally.
00:00:42
It's a byproduct of all this conversation.
00:00:44
And that's the community part.
00:00:46
And that's the part I am so excited about.
00:00:49
You and I both know the importance of having a community.
00:00:54
And I don't feel like there is necessarily a big survivor community.
00:00:58
What do you agree with that?
00:01:00
>> Yeah, 100% because so many people are still fearful of the stigma around suicide.
00:01:07
You know, nobody wants to talk about it.
00:01:09
It's always been that very hush, hush topic.
00:01:12
And that's why we're here because we do need to bring it out to the open.
00:01:15
And we need to reduce the stigma.
00:01:17
And we need to help change the world because nobody really knows
00:01:21
what's going on in somebody's head.
00:01:23
Nobody.
00:01:24
And being an attempt survivor, I for sure can say,
00:01:28
I didn't know what was going on.
00:01:30
But if I'd had a community or a resource,
00:01:34
I think things would have been a lot easier.
00:01:36
And I probably could have opened up a lot sooner.
00:01:38
>> Yeah. I mean, in your case, you had panic attacks.
00:01:41
You had stuff happening in your head and in your heart
00:01:44
that you just couldn't identify.
00:01:46
You didn't know.
00:01:46
You couldn't put words to it, right?
00:01:48
Is that pretty accurate?
00:01:49
>> Yeah. >> 100%.
00:01:50
I couldn't find my voice for right footing
00:01:52
because I didn't understand what was going on.
00:01:54
And that must have been terrifying for you.
00:01:56
I couldn't tell anybody because I didn't know what was going on.
00:02:00
And at the time I was 59 and a half, but my entire life,
00:02:03
I'd been told we don't talk about mental health.
00:02:06
And at that time, I didn't even know that's what it was.
00:02:09
I knew I was done.
00:02:10
I was done.
00:02:11
I couldn't take on one more thing or one more problem
00:02:15
because I wasn't dealing with my own stuff.
00:02:18
>> Yeah. And it's so much easier to deal with our own stuff
00:02:22
when we're not alone dealing with it.
00:02:23
When you've got someone, whether it's, you know,
00:02:25
a community comes in so many different forms.
00:02:28
When we think community, we think, or at least I think,
00:02:31
like big, global, massive community of people,
00:02:36
it doesn't necessarily have to be that.
00:02:38
Community can be a small group,
00:02:39
can be a virtual group, can be some kind of support group,
00:02:44
meeting group.
00:02:44
It can be just a community of your therapists or counselors
00:02:49
or family and friends.
00:02:50
It takes on so many different forms,
00:02:53
but once you have that outlet,
00:02:55
and you can take those thought loops
00:02:58
that are kind of replaying over and over in your own head
00:03:01
and you let them out, what that does,
00:03:03
the way that connects you to the world around you,
00:03:06
to the issues you're dealing with,
00:03:08
to the other people who are experiencing the same things,
00:03:11
that's the change agent.
00:03:14
That's the secret sauce, I think.
00:03:16
>> I think that community is so vital,
00:03:19
especially nowadays, we're also scattered.
00:03:22
And I think that my community is like my Friday night click,
00:03:26
that I have with my wife and our friend.
00:03:29
And to me, that's community.
00:03:31
Reaching out to my Instagram community,
00:03:34
reaching out to my LinkedIn community.
00:03:36
Every time I talk about my story,
00:03:39
I gain one new friend or I gain one new ally.
00:03:44
And having that makes it so much easier to talk about life stuff,
00:03:48
because therapists are great,
00:03:50
but if you also have one good close friend
00:03:53
that you can hear your shit out on,
00:03:55
sometimes that really helps because they know you,
00:03:58
the nice thing about a therapist is they're a third party,
00:04:02
and you don't get that angst from,
00:04:04
sometimes where you get from family and friends.
00:04:06
>> Yeah, well, they're unbiased.
00:04:08
They're so unbiased.
00:04:10
>> Right.
00:04:11
>> And non-judgmental, and they're holding space
00:04:14
for us in a different way,
00:04:15
completely different way than I think the people
00:04:17
who know us best will hold space,
00:04:19
because the people who know us best
00:04:20
are also the ones who we're gonna interject.
00:04:22
They're the ones who are gonna have opinions
00:04:24
or have perspectives, which in some ways is really good,
00:04:27
but in some ways maybe isn't so good
00:04:29
because you need that unbiased opinion.
00:04:32
And think of how beneficial it's been just in my own life.
00:04:37
Ever since I started opening up,
00:04:39
it's been 11 years now since I learned the truth
00:04:42
about my father's suicide.
00:04:44
And for anyone who's just tuning in,
00:04:46
G and I shared our stories in episodes two and three.
00:04:49
If you don't know our stories,
00:04:51
G is an attempt survivor,
00:04:52
and I'm a three time survivor of suicide loss.
00:04:54
I didn't know my dad died by suicide for 35 years.
00:04:57
And I didn't start sharing that truth right away.
00:05:01
It took years for me to even get to the point
00:05:03
where I told my kids or I told my extended family.
00:05:06
And it was a game changer for me
00:05:08
when I ultimately made that decision
00:05:11
to start sharing the truth.
00:05:13
And then it was like the whole world opened up.
00:05:15
And all of a sudden you hear,
00:05:16
"I had experience with that,
00:05:18
or I lost someone to suicide."
00:05:19
I mean, my story is a little bit unique
00:05:21
because of the secretive part of it,
00:05:23
but all of a sudden people come out of the woodwork
00:05:26
and they want to connect with you and they want to bond with you.
00:05:29
And all of a sudden you're learning
00:05:31
what other people are saying and doing
00:05:33
and where other people are seeking out support.
00:05:36
And for me, I don't know, that was like the button.
00:05:40
Once I flipped that switch,
00:05:42
everything started to change for me.
00:05:44
And I think the load that I was carrying in my own head
00:05:47
just somehow got a little bit lighter.
00:05:50
- That's really where community comes in
00:05:52
because it's a group of like individuals
00:05:55
that are going through the same thing.
00:05:58
And maybe they have different tips, different tricks
00:06:01
to help deal with that.
00:06:03
Really, I just gonna call it what it is
00:06:06
that's sitting our head, right?
00:06:07
- Yeah. - Yeah.
00:06:08
- Because sometimes our spouses
00:06:10
are significant others don't quite understand
00:06:13
what you're going through
00:06:15
because they haven't been there themselves.
00:06:18
But growing a community around people
00:06:21
that are either suicide attempt survivors
00:06:23
or suicide loss survivors, that's huge.
00:06:27
Because we share a common bond.
00:06:30
Like we got to the lowest part of our life.
00:06:32
And thankfully for me, I made the call to 988.
00:06:36
It's like I say over in a row,
00:06:37
it was like a row of hopes and things were gonna get better.
00:06:40
- Yeah.
00:06:41
But my hope is that by forming a community
00:06:44
of both suicide attempt survivors
00:06:47
and suicide loss survivors that we can help change
00:06:51
the world's view on this,
00:06:53
that we can feel more comfortable talking
00:06:55
about the word suicide, that we're okay.
00:06:58
It's life should happens.
00:07:00
- Yeah, even that kind of shit.
00:07:02
And this is some of the worst kind that there is,
00:07:06
which is why, like all the more reason
00:07:09
to seek out and find any, in some cases,
00:07:12
in our case, build community to be able to support it
00:07:15
because the issue that we talk about,
00:07:17
that you and I talk so much about,
00:07:20
this kind of loss is so, so unique.
00:07:23
And this is not an any way to minimize any kind of loss
00:07:26
that anyone has ever experienced in any other way,
00:07:29
losing someone to an illness or an accident
00:07:31
or however you've lost a person,
00:07:33
suicide is just a different animal.
00:07:36
And more people who can bond around that and relate to it,
00:07:41
and share opinions about it and lived experiences,
00:07:47
that's how you pick away at that stigma.
00:07:49
That's how you drill down into that center part
00:07:52
and you release that, the tabooness of it.
00:07:55
That's how you create an environment
00:07:58
where people can come in and share whatever perspective
00:08:02
they have on it and they can do it openly
00:08:04
and they can do it freely
00:08:05
and they can know that it's a safe environment.
00:08:08
And that's where my healing really started.
00:08:11
You know, healing is such a continuous journey,
00:08:13
doesn't end, just like grief doesn't end,
00:08:15
but once I connected with people around this,
00:08:19
it changed something in me, it changed something for me.
00:08:22
There's such power in that.
00:08:23
It's like you just wanna kind of grab everybody
00:08:25
and shake them and say, just share, just show up.
00:08:28
- Yeah, because every time we share our journey,
00:08:32
we unlock somebody else's prison.
00:08:34
- Yeah, right.
00:08:35
- And for me, like the very next day
00:08:38
after all the shit went down, I shared on social media.
00:08:42
I'm a true extrovert, so nobody knew,
00:08:44
absolutely nobody knew how depressed I was.
00:08:47
And he was during those first few days afterwards
00:08:51
that I really found my community.
00:08:53
Number one, as soon as I shared,
00:08:55
I had about 200 people reach out and thank me
00:08:58
because now they feel so terrified
00:09:00
and alone in their own journey.
00:09:02
But these were the people that stood me up
00:09:04
when I couldn't stand myself up.
00:09:06
And it still happens.
00:09:08
In November, when things got bad again,
00:09:10
at least this time I didn't keep it all locked up.
00:09:12
People knew where I stood.
00:09:14
And once again, my community surrounded me.
00:09:17
They uplifted me.
00:09:19
They kept me going.
00:09:21
And I think that's what we need to do for others out there
00:09:24
is let's help stand people up
00:09:26
because sometimes your feet just can't hold you up.
00:09:30
And that's where community comes in.
00:09:32
- Yeah, it's powerful.
00:09:33
It's a powerful image.
00:09:35
I mean, look, the bottom line of all of it
00:09:38
is that we're not supposed to do all of this alone.
00:09:41
And I don't just mean grieving alone.
00:09:43
I mean, life alone.
00:09:44
We're not here alone by design.
00:09:47
We're supposed to support each other.
00:09:48
Which should be a we not mean mentality,
00:09:51
especially where things like
00:09:52
grief and loss are concerned.
00:09:53
And in the case of suicide,
00:09:55
we need all the help we can get in this community
00:09:58
because it is so unbelievably isolating.
00:10:02
There are what, 83 million people a year
00:10:06
who are in this community that we're talking about.
00:10:09
We just need to collect them all.
00:10:10
We just need to reach them all to unify them all
00:10:15
so that people can support one another
00:10:19
because when we're left locked in our own heads,
00:10:24
if someone doesn't know what we're dealing with,
00:10:25
they can't help us.
00:10:27
How are they gonna help if they can't
00:10:29
know what the problem is and know what you're struggling with?
00:10:32
So the more often that we, you and I can get out here
00:10:35
and have these conversations,
00:10:36
the more people who can listen,
00:10:38
the more people who share shows like ours, episodes like this
00:10:41
and connect with other people,
00:10:43
that's how we affect change.
00:10:44
This is grassroots stuff.
00:10:46
This is what you and I are doing.
00:10:47
It's just grassroots change.
00:10:49
And that's how it happens.
00:10:50
It starts as a slow burn and then all of a sudden,
00:10:53
one becomes two, becomes five, becomes 50,
00:10:55
becomes a thousand, and then all of a sudden,
00:10:57
people start engaging differently around it.
00:11:01
People aren't so afraid anymore.
00:11:02
People can say the word freely.
00:11:04
Love the fact that we can come on here
00:11:05
and you and I can just say suicide,
00:11:07
like it's any other word.
00:11:08
Like we know it's not, but we need to somehow change
00:11:13
the meaning of the word in normal conversation.
00:11:16
- Take a step to your mental well-being with CalMari.
00:11:20
Trust it online therapy platform
00:11:22
that supports you through life's challenges,
00:11:24
connect with licensed therapists
00:11:26
and reap the benefits of traditional therapy
00:11:28
enhanced with digital tools whenever you need it.
00:11:30
Visit CalMari.com to get started.
00:11:32
- And for me, community,
00:11:36
there's the ones that can cause out on our shit too.
00:11:39
- True.
00:11:40
- And there's so many times, like I'll just keep
00:11:42
something bottled up and you get with your community,
00:11:46
you get with your friends and they will call you out on it.
00:11:49
If they're a good friend, they're gonna call you out on your shit.
00:11:51
And that's basically what we're trying to do.
00:11:53
It's not call people out on their shit,
00:11:55
but get you to open up, get you to talk freely about this
00:11:59
because it's not a bad word.
00:12:01
There's a lot of bad connotations around it.
00:12:04
But the more we talk about it,
00:12:06
the more community we form.
00:12:08
- Right.
00:12:09
- Right, especially in this day and age,
00:12:10
there's just so many external factors going on right now.
00:12:14
And letting people know that they're not alone.
00:12:17
You're never alone in this world.
00:12:19
There are crisis lines, a caller, a text away.
00:12:22
And there's therapy out there.
00:12:24
There's groups, there's podcasts.
00:12:26
Anything to get out of your head.
00:12:28
For me sometimes, well, not sometimes.
00:12:31
Starting soon, I'm gonna be going back to the gym.
00:12:33
And I'm going to the gym in the winter because it's just hard.
00:12:37
But I go to the gym to just get my brain to stop.
00:12:41
Find something to get your brain to stop,
00:12:43
whether it's coloring or taking a walk in nature
00:12:47
or calling up a friend and going to have coffee.
00:12:50
Anything to get out of your head also helps.
00:12:53
Like if you can find a good walking community,
00:12:56
now that it's starting to warm up,
00:12:57
that's something I want to do more of is get out and walk around.
00:13:01
Talk to people, talk to your spouse, talk to your friends,
00:13:04
talk to your colleagues.
00:13:05
- Let them know what's going on.
00:13:07
And then slowly but surely you build a community around you.
00:13:12
And it's all for talking about a common thing.
00:13:15
- Yeah, and you know what, too?
00:13:17
Sometimes we need something really specific.
00:13:20
Obviously in the case of what we're talking about,
00:13:22
we need a specific kind of group
00:13:24
where people have specific kind of experience.
00:13:27
Sometimes it's as simple as start your own group.
00:13:30
- If you can't find a group, create a group.
00:13:32
I think that we over complicate the process
00:13:37
of getting people together.
00:13:38
We're lucky and we live in a world where three clicks
00:13:41
or however many clicks and you can start a Facebook group.
00:13:43
Or in most towns there's a community center
00:13:46
and they're dying for people to start groups
00:13:48
and create programs.
00:13:50
So there are so, so many different avenues
00:13:54
to create the support that you need.
00:13:56
And like you said, even if you do nothing more than engage
00:14:00
with any kind of group, it's a support for your mental health.
00:14:04
Even if you're not looking at the moment
00:14:06
for a group to talk about suicide with or grief with.
00:14:10
Maybe you just need to do what you're saying.
00:14:13
Go to the gym, just find an outlet.
00:14:15
Community comes in like we said, so many different forms.
00:14:18
Maybe what you need is just something
00:14:21
to get you out of your own head.
00:14:23
Maybe it's not a group even to address what you're dealing with.
00:14:25
Maybe it's just another kind of group
00:14:27
to get you to move your body or it's an art class or it's a yoga class.
00:14:32
So there are so many different ways
00:14:34
to experience community.
00:14:35
And community is important because now that you have
00:14:40
like like-minded individuals or just a group of people,
00:14:43
now you're not by yourself.
00:14:45
It's when we're by ourselves that a lot
00:14:48
of those intrusive horrible thoughts come back into our head.
00:14:51
Being out amongst other people makes that stop
00:14:55
for just a little bit.
00:14:56
It may not go away forever,
00:14:58
but it goes away for just a little bit
00:15:00
so that helps me reach out.
00:15:02
At the time when everything was going down,
00:15:05
I think I was too far along by the time
00:15:07
Christmas Day roll around that I didn't understand
00:15:11
that I needed community.
00:15:13
And it's a time I couldn't find a good podcast to listen to.
00:15:16
And I would go to Google and there'd be eight million resources.
00:15:20
Maybe two of them were helpful.
00:15:22
But who wants to go through all that?
00:15:25
Just to err what's going on in my head.
00:15:28
Thankfully for me in November of 2022,
00:15:32
I'd seen a commercial for 988.
00:15:34
And that is what had been stuck in my head.
00:15:37
Thankfully I used the number I'm here today because of it.
00:15:40
Yeah.
00:15:40
Really thankful for that.
00:15:41
The other thing about being a part of a group
00:15:45
or in an environment where you can just really
00:15:47
talk freely about your stuff, like whatever your stuff is,
00:15:50
is you know, you kind of walk in the door
00:15:53
knowing whether it's a virtual group or in person.
00:15:55
Like when you walk into that community, you're safe.
00:15:58
Because it's terrifying.
00:15:59
It's terrifying to say the things that are on your mind
00:16:02
just because it's scary stuff to admit in a lot of cases.
00:16:05
Being vulnerable is really, really hard.
00:16:07
Admitting you're afraid of something is really, really hard.
00:16:10
Being consumed by the emotional parts of what you deal with,
00:16:15
like being overwhelmed in public is hard for people.
00:16:19
But I'll tell you, so I have a unique experience
00:16:22
as a facilitator for a suicide support group.
00:16:26
It's through some errands.
00:16:28
It's here in Boston.
00:16:29
It's called Safe Place.
00:16:30
And it meets the first and the third Wednesday of every month
00:16:34
in the evening at 6.30, it's virtual.
00:16:35
And it's a survivor's of suicide loss grief group.
00:16:39
Anyone can come.
00:16:40
It's free.
00:16:41
And I'm a facilitator.
00:16:42
And so I get to moderate and watch these groups.
00:16:46
And it's been such an interesting experience.
00:16:49
Watching how people-- and I've been doing this for over
00:16:51
a year now.
00:16:52
So I've gotten to know the people who
00:16:54
tend to frequent this group.
00:16:56
And I watch people when they first
00:16:58
become a part of this group.
00:17:00
And most often, people are kind of in the shadows.
00:17:03
They're just listening.
00:17:04
They're observing.
00:17:05
They're engaging, maybe a little bit here and there.
00:17:07
And it's wild to me to see the people who come in
00:17:10
and they're the quiet ones in the beginning and there.
00:17:13
Just like fearful of engaging, I get it.
00:17:15
It's nerve-wracking.
00:17:16
And then all of a sudden, they'll
00:17:18
be like some kind of a breakthrough.
00:17:20
Something clicks for them.
00:17:21
Maybe it's something someone else said,
00:17:23
or it's a comfort level.
00:17:25
And then all of a sudden, this person who
00:17:28
has been in the background the entire time
00:17:30
is-- I wouldn't say leading conversation
00:17:32
because it's not really like that.
00:17:33
It's more of just a general round robin kind of conversation.
00:17:37
But they're out there.
00:17:38
And in some cases, people are crying and sharing.
00:17:41
And it can be emotional at times.
00:17:44
But at the end, those are always the people
00:17:46
before they hop off the group.
00:17:48
They're like, that felt amazing to be able to share,
00:17:51
that felt amazing to be in a room with people who
00:17:53
understand what I'm going through.
00:17:55
That's the point.
00:17:56
It's so simple when you really whittle it all away.
00:17:59
It's just about being with people who get it.
00:18:01
That's why you and I clicked so fast and so hard
00:18:04
because we both understood what each other had been through.
00:18:08
We're fortunate that we have each other.
00:18:12
But I think about people out there that are by themselves.
00:18:15
How many of you go out to a gym?
00:18:17
Or my community there.
00:18:18
How many of you go to a local coffee shop?
00:18:21
Or my community there?
00:18:23
Just start talking to people.
00:18:24
I know it's hard.
00:18:25
Believe me, I didn't say anything for three and a half months
00:18:29
until that fateful day.
00:18:31
And then ever since then, apparently I can't stop talking.
00:18:34
But that's not such a bad thing, either.
00:18:37
It's not.
00:18:37
It's a good thing.
00:18:39
But find your community and know that you're not alone.
00:18:42
There's so many research sources out there.
00:18:44
There are people that are willing to help.
00:18:46
There are people willing to listen.
00:18:48
And life throws us so many horrible curveballs.
00:18:53
Sometimes we just don't know when to duck and weave.
00:18:57
But find your people.
00:18:59
And it does make things better.
00:19:02
It makes them at least tolerable.
00:19:04
And tolerable is much better than the alternative.
00:19:08
Now you're right.
00:19:09
Because when you're in a group of like-minded people
00:19:12
who are dealing with what you're dealing with,
00:19:14
you have permission to be exactly how you are.
00:19:18
You come as you are to these groups.
00:19:21
And in most cases, for instance, suicide survivor groups,
00:19:24
people are at different points on that continuum.
00:19:27
Someone may have experienced loss very recently.
00:19:30
Someone may be a month or a year or several years ahead
00:19:33
or decades ahead, wherever you're at.
00:19:36
Like, it doesn't matter if you're, look, I'm
00:19:38
God, 46 years out from losing my father, which is just
00:19:43
such an insane thought to me that it's been that long.
00:19:47
But there are days when it feels like it was this morning.
00:19:49
And that's the crazy thing about grief.
00:19:51
Just because I'm that far removed from when it happened
00:19:55
doesn't mean that I can't relate with someone who's in it
00:19:57
right now, who's going through it right now.
00:20:00
And that's the beauty of community.
00:20:01
Because you automatically get that permission
00:20:04
to show up exactly as you are because people remember.
00:20:07
People know wherever they are on that grief journey.
00:20:11
They remember being where you were.
00:20:14
And they're there to support that.
00:20:16
And even if you're a somebody who's not a group person,
00:20:20
you don't feel like you could benefit.
00:20:22
Don't immediately write it off.
00:20:24
Sometimes the best things in the world for us
00:20:27
are the things that are just on the other side
00:20:29
of our comfort zone.
00:20:30
The things that we just can't visualize ourselves doing.
00:20:34
But then we go ahead and we do them.
00:20:35
And we're like, that thing was amazing.
00:20:38
I can't believe it took me that long to do the thing.
00:20:40
But groups are like that.
00:20:41
You start off and just observe.
00:20:43
That's the beauty of it.
00:20:43
You can make it whatever you want.
00:20:45
There's no expectation.
00:20:46
It's kind of like the expectation about the 988 lifeline.
00:20:50
People think you can only call that lifeline if you're suicidal,
00:20:54
if you're in the middle of an attempt.
00:20:56
So false, so wrong.
00:20:58
Let's clear that up right now.
00:21:00
It's for anybody who's experiencing
00:21:02
any kind of mental health crisis.
00:21:05
And if it's a crisis in your mind, it's a crisis.
00:21:09
Call the line.
00:21:10
Same thing with a group like that.
00:21:12
It's for anybody.
00:21:14
Doesn't matter where you're at.
00:21:16
You don't have to speak.
00:21:18
You don't have to share.
00:21:19
It's entirely up to you.
00:21:21
So I think if more people really understood that,
00:21:25
maybe there wouldn't be so much of a fear factor associated
00:21:28
with doing the thing, going and trying it.
00:21:31
And for the people out there, that are reckless, right?
00:21:34
That are afraid to go outside of your house.
00:21:37
In this day and age, there's tools that you can actually
00:21:40
join community via a Zoom meeting or via a Teams meeting
00:21:44
or get out onto Discord or go join a group on Substack.
00:21:50
There's so many different avenues out there for community.
00:21:53
So even if you don't want to leave the comfort of your house,
00:21:56
there are places you can go to listen and learn or read and learn
00:22:01
or even talk and learn or just sit behind
00:22:06
and absorb what's going on around you so you're not alone.
00:22:09
But being in that type of community,
00:22:11
well, it's a life saber and a game changer.
00:22:15
Yeah, it is.
00:22:16
That's why I'm going back to how this episode started with me
00:22:20
just being so overjoyed that the byproduct of this podcast
00:22:25
is that we are building a community of people
00:22:29
who have this shared experience.
00:22:31
And look, if there are 93 million people out there
00:22:33
in the world today who have been touched in some way by suicide,
00:22:37
maybe you haven't lost your person directly,
00:22:39
but maybe you know someone who has ended their life.
00:22:43
That means there are 93 million different stories out there,
00:22:45
different experiences out there and people
00:22:47
at different points along the way.
00:22:49
And that's a lot to share.
00:22:52
That's a lot to get from the people around you.
00:22:55
And if you have a conversation whether you're an active participant
00:22:58
in a group or whether you're just like you said,
00:23:01
just kind of like hanging back and you're just observing
00:23:03
and taking it all in, just still gaining something from that.
00:23:06
Don't ever think that just because you don't go to a group
00:23:09
and actively participate, that you're not gaining something from it
00:23:13
because there's always something to take away.
00:23:17
Whether you just hear someone's story
00:23:19
and you find that connection point and you're like,
00:23:21
"Oh, that just made me feel less alone."
00:23:23
Okay, let's say that was it.
00:23:24
That sometimes is enough.
00:23:26
Or let's say you learned about an online resource.
00:23:29
So you learned about a group or you learned about a strategy
00:23:32
that someone else used that worked, that you didn't try
00:23:35
or think about before.
00:23:37
Then there's your takeaway.
00:23:38
There's what makes it worth it.
00:23:40
So there's so many different ways to show up
00:23:42
and there's so many different ways to be part of it
00:23:45
and you get to make those decisions.
00:23:47
And what's really cool about our podcast
00:23:50
is that we are trying to form that community.
00:23:52
Eventually we will have either a sub-stack group
00:23:55
or something like that so that we can talk openly
00:23:59
and form that community.
00:24:00
We're fortunate enough that we get to talk about this
00:24:03
and I'm not afraid to talk about suicide.
00:24:06
What I want to do is remove that stigma
00:24:08
around the word suicide.
00:24:11
It's really important.
00:24:12
For me, like I said, thankfully I'm alive.
00:24:14
I get to talk about this, but we want to give people
00:24:17
that hope that they'll be okay the next second,
00:24:20
next minute, next hour, next day.
00:24:23
There are people out there that will have your back.
00:24:25
Yeah, well, we've got your back.
00:24:26
So we've got your back.
00:24:28
So thanks all for listening and watch out for us for next week.
00:24:31
Thanks for joining us on the survivors.
00:24:35
Remember, no matter how tough things feel, you are in up
00:24:38
and the world needs you just the way you are.
00:24:41
You're not alone in this journey.
00:24:42
There's a community here and every step forward counts.
00:24:45
We're so grateful you took the time to listen
00:24:47
and we hope they'll take one day at a time.
00:24:50
Just know there's always more light ahead.
00:24:52
Thanks for being here friends.
00:24:54
Just remember, help is out there in so many different places.
00:24:58
So if you or someone you know is struggling,
00:25:01
please call 988 and a trained crisis counselor like me
00:25:04
will be there to help.
00:25:05
You can also find an inclusive and comprehensive directory
00:25:08
of mental health resources, tools and content
00:25:11
at thehelphub.co.
00:25:13
Just remember that help is always just a call
00:25:15
or a click away.
00:25:16
We'll catch you next week.
00:25:18
In the meantime, keep surviving.
00:25:19
[Music]
