There?s a growing argument against suicide as a crime, and it?s based on the premise that people have the right to die. While that?s true in a very selfish regard, it?s completely false in about a hundred Unselfish respects. We don?t intend to list all of those respects because there?s only one real fact that we need to know. And that fact is that none of our lives exclusively belong to us.

That may sound strange, but it?s true ? and all you need to do to realize it is think about your relationships. Here?s how it works:

You?re someone?s child. If you?re married, you?re someone?s spouse. If you have children, you?re someone?s parent. If your children have children, you?re someone?s grandparent. By default, you?re someone?s aunt, niece, uncle, nephew, sibling and/or cousin. If you work, you?re someone?s boss, employee, or co-worker. If you live in a residence, you?re someone?s neighbor. If you talk to any person outside of your family, you?re someone?s friend. If you buy things, you?re someone?s customer. If you enjoy the fruits of someone else?s labor, you?re someone?s fan.

Now although all of this is obvious, few of us take the time to realize how interdependent these relationships are. More importantly, few of us take the time to realize the important role our presence plays in these relationships. That?s why when a suicide is committed, a large group of people lose. Here?s how that works:

A parent loses a child. A spouse loses a partner. A child loses a parent. A grandchild loses a grandparent. An aunt, niece, uncle, nephew, sibling and/or cousin loses the same. A boss loses an employee or an employee loses a boss. A co-worker loses a co-worker. A neighbor loses a neighbor. A friend loses a friend. A shop loses a customer. A star loses a fan.

Such loses occur with any death ? not just suicide. But with a suicide, death causes a great deal of shock, pain (grief), disbelief, disappointment anger, confusion, guilt, and resentment for one simple reason: Suicide is preventable. In fact, one of the most common statements about a suicide is that it didn?t have to happen. People say this because had they known a suicide was about to happen, they would have done everything to prevent it. This is human nature at work. And it?s what makes suicide an unacceptable, non-right.

Copyright (c) 2008 Elizabeth Davis

While at my master mind meeting last week, we were challenged to share our core compelling story – to reveal the soft underbelly of our business success. What prompted each of us to pursue the path we had and why did we feel the passion we did about our businesses? What was the ONE thing we really DIDN’T want to talk about – because it made us feel vulnerable, exposed, silly, stupid, needy, or just plain weird?

It’s no big secret that I was suicidal in my late teens and again in my late twenties. I even wrote about it in my “How To Read Your Own Hands” study course. However, it’s one thing to write it down – it’s another thing to express it to a live audience of 80+ people.

In my 29th year, I was depressed, deeply depressed. I knew that there had to be more, but what? I was trudging to and from my day job, knowing that there had to be more to life than answering pointless emails, attending pointless meetings and making money just to pay the bills and buy more stuff. A bigger TV was not going to cure the angst and agony chewing a hole through my gut.

I wanted to die not because I hated myself or this beautiful planet; I wanted to die because my life lacked meaning. Although I love the freedom and security money provides, I am not motivated by money. I am motivated by meaning. I was well into my “dark night of the soul.” I was having a spiritual crisis. I may as well as have been dead because I was committing spiritual suicide already – I could not find the POINT, the REASON, the MEANING.

Late one night, in desperation, contemplating the various methods of extinguishing my life available to me, I called a dear friend in hopes she would talk me out of it. (I didn’t really want to die – I just SO BADLY WANTED TO LIVE!) I told her what I was thinking. Her response was not what I expected. “Beth, that is the most selfish thing I’ve ever heard. If you kill yourself, I will chase you from this lifetime into the next. I will never stop hounding you. You need to get outside of yourself and find a purpose to your life. You need to help someone else. Do you really have no idea how loved you are? That makes me sad – that you have no idea how much we need you.”

Her slap upside the head was exactly what I needed. I thought of my mother and the potential guilt she might feel – thinking that perhaps she had done something ‘wrong’ to cause my misery. It was nobody’s fault, there was nothing wrong. I was simply lost. Many spiritual teachers speak of this emptiness as the beginning of true living.

“Well,” I asked my friend, “what should I do?” She said, “How about asking?” “Asking whom?” I said. “Spirit,” she said. “Ask the Universe to show you.” And so I did.

That night, kneeling by the edge of my bed, my knobby knees digging into the floor, I asked: “Great Spirit, God, Goddess, Universe, whatever name you choose to go by, please help me. I beg of you. I am on my knees. I am at my lowest low. If you show me my Life Purpose, I will forever be your humble servant.” I did not realize, at the time, the intensity nor consequences of the prayer I was making.

Two weeks later, a knock came at my door.

(…to be continued in Spiritual Suicide ‘ Part Two.)

Self defense is in place to protect people who may be harmed from protecting themselves. This allows someone to defend themselves physically if they have to and not be responsible for any legal charges that may be brought against them in court. The factors that the courts consider include the person who you are defending yourself against, the extent of the defense, and why the fighting is even taking place. These are big factors that are determined if a decision is to put you in jail.

Political rounds in the legal arena concerning the concept of self defense include two concepts that may make it easier for people to defend themselves and not have to worry about going to jail. Some states allow you to carry weapons on you and others allow you to shoot and kill an attacker. Find out what the laws are in your state so you know exactly what you can do against an attacker and you will not be convicted of a crime.

The Castle Doctrine is a concept that enables any home owner to have the ability to defend themselves and their family members. This doctrine also provides protection on the property you reside on. This bill allows homeowners to use deadly force against a burglar or person that enters your home, from violent attack or an intrusion which may lead to violent attack. You do not have to fear prosecution for killing anyone who enters into your home with the intent of violent attack or an intrusion which may lead to violent attack.

There is another bill that is being enacted into the legislature called the ?stand your ground? bill. This was brought into Florida in 2005 and is also being considered by 21 other states also. This allows people who are at home or in public to meet force with force in order to defend themselves. This conduct will protect victims against prosecution. As long as the person is defending themselves, they will not go to jail.

It is said that states and legislatures are now recognizing that criminals will slow down on their crimes when they are faced with being shot and killed. When criminals know they are protected by laws that won’t let people kill them they will continue to commit robberies, rapes, and other heinous crimes.

There are many people who have went to jail for defending themselves. The laws are changing and are recognizing the factors associated with self defense and that it is okay to meet a criminal with whatever it takes to protect yourself, your family, and your property from harm.

Before taking any self defense actions make sure you what the laws are in your local state.

One of the greatest failures of counselors and caregivers of persons with mental health problems is becoming complacent in attending to the urgency of our clients’ situation. We get used to the depression waxing and waning and the periodic crises. We get desensitized to the constant crises of our patients with borderline traits. We get lax when our depressed patients start to come out of their depression, when in fact, this is when they are most likely to commit suicide. These are all common reasons that patients seemingly commit suicide with no warning. As a clinician and/or guardian of someone who is depressed or has bipolar disorder, there are several things you can do to prevent unnecessary tragedy.

It is simple to increase our effectiveness with the ABC(DEF)s. A is for assessment. A mental health assessment needs to be conducted and documented at each contact. B is for believe. It can be tempting to dismiss emotional upset as “just another passing crisis” but it is this attitude that prevents us from helping people stay alive. C is for consult. When you have a client in crisis, have a colleague you can consult with. They are less likely to miss subtle changes in the client’s presentation and can provide unbiased advice. Additionally, it is good practice at the beginning of a relationship to get a release to speak with the patient’s physician. In the event that he or she is medication noncompliant or using alcohol or other drugs with prescribed medications in a way that is dangerous (i.e. taking Risperdal and 1/5 of rum), it is important to consult with the patient’s prescribing physician. D stands for document. Every single progress or contact note must include evidence that you completed at least a mini mental status exam. E is for educate. Equip your clients with tools to help them get through crises and deal with triggers. This includes emergency numbers, life pact/crisis action plan, cognitive behavioral interventions to get through an acute situation and information about the dangers of any medication noncompliance or other risky behaviors. Finally, F is for follow up. If a patient misses an appointment, it is best to follow up that same day, but at least within 24 hours and document that effort. When patients call or present in crisis is is sometimes appropriate to follow up with them 24 hours after the contact to see how they are doing. In some extreme cases, a follow up may include a well being check by law enforcement.

Let’s look at these a little more closely. First and foremost, regularly assess the person’s mental status. Are they alert or confused? Can they make decisions? Is there any change in eating or sleeping patterns? Do they talk of suicide, hopelessness? Do they seem apathetic—not really enjoying anything? Additionally, there are several key warning signs for suicide. First, Do they have future plans? If they are talking about a vacation, an upcoming holiday or even plans for tomorrow, it is a good sign. Also, are they giving away and/or making arrangements for the care of their children/pets? People who see suicide as immanent will usually be making arrangements for those people and creatures that are dependent on them. Each time you meet with the person, you should assess these things. If you are a caregiver/guardian, just do a quick assessment in your head. If anything seems amiss, get the person in for a formal evaluation. If you are a clinician, this evaluation must be a part of every progress note. It is even a good practice to do a mini mental status exam (and document it) each time the person calls, especially if it is due to a crisis or to cancel an appointment.

There are also other factors that can help to mitigate/prevent suicide. For one, pay attention to the patient’s triggers. For some people it is a holiday, for others it might be the anniversary of the death of a loved one or a pet and still for others it might be a situation that reminds them of a trauma in the past such as news coverage of a disaster, seeing a bad traffic crash etc. When these times are coming up, at least part of your sessions leading up to the trigger time should involve preparation for dealing with any feelings that arise. Devise a safety plan. For patients who might be triggered by a situation such as a traffic crash, these preparations should take place in the beginning of therapy. This way, whenever they run into a trigger they have some tools to deal with it. Another responsibility we as clinicians have, whether we take insurance or not, is to ensure the person has access to an emergency appointment (phone or face to face) within 24-hours of going into crisis. Since patients do not always call us when they go into crisis, it is a good practice to follow up with patients within 24 hours of a missed appointment.

Finally, many clinicians feel hamstrung about the issue of reporting patient medication noncompliance. For many patients, medication noncompliance (either monkeying with dosage or using alcohol or drugs with their medication) is life threatening. There is not currently case law that I know of, but a clinician that knowingly allows clients potentially create a deadly cocktail by mixing alcohol or drugs with certain medication potentially could be held liable for failure to protect a person in imminent danger. For many patients, medication noncompliance is their way of indicating that their medications need to be adjusted. In the beginning of therapy, I have patients sign a release allowing me to talk with their physician. There are a multitude of reasons that the physician may need to be consulted, so this is helpful. I do however make a pact with my patients that I will tell them before I call their doctors. If during therapy I find out they are noncompliant I have my patients sign an agreement that outlines the dangers of their medication noncompliance, states they will stop doing what they are doing, will notify their doctor and will bring back proof of that notification to me. I follow up with the patient each session on this issue until the issue is corrected. It is an art to handle this in a way that does not push the patient away, but lets them know you are genuinely concerned.

Since crises will come up despite your best efforts, it is advisable to do a life pact at the first session with patients who are severely depressed, have bipolar disorder or evidence a personality disorder. This life pact should contain emergency contacts, information about the availability of weapons, directions to the person’s house, a contract to go to the emergency room or call 911 before they harm themselves, the number to the local crisis center and a notification statement to the person that if you feel they are in immanent danger you will be sending law enforcement to do a well-being check.

If you employ all of these techniques, you will be much less likely to have to experience the loss of a patient or loved one who is under your care.

A healthy mind in a healthy body is the perfect combination to lead a perfectly healthy life. However, not everyone is lucky enough to enjoy this flawless combination of health and fitness. Many people have illnesses they do not even know of but it is nevertheless eating away at their very being and will show up later in life. One such illness is ‘bipolar disease’.

What Is Bipolar Disorder?
Bipolar disorder or bipolar disease is a disorder of the brain. This psychological disease is classified into two classes, mania and depression. This is also why bipolar disease is also called manic depression.

Bipolar disorder affects the part of the brain that controls human emotion and mood. The disease is believed to be more wide spread than statistics show with more people having the disease but have not had it diagnosed as yet. Because this disease effects a persons moods and emotions in varying degrees it has to potential of disrupting the normal life of the patient as well as the people around him or her.

People with bipolar disease do not ever have complete control of their emotions and moods. An attack of this disease will vary from manic to depressive episodes that can last for varying periods of time. The attach can be so severe that it can disable the person to such an extent that carrying out of simple daily task such as bathing can be a daunting process.

The manic episodes of bipolar disorders will induce a feeling of excessive euphoria that can last a long time. The person will experience extra levels of energy, generally cheerful and will not feel the need to sleep. In addition to this the patient will experience an irregular though process with ideas and thoughts racing and jumping from on to another, then a general feeling of confusion sets in. A person suffering with bipolar disease will not be able to make up their mind and focus on a solution for a problem.

These people will be extremely optimistic, living on hope, so to speak. They will also be very irritable and lack concentration and they will never be able to admit that there is something wrong with them. All the above symptoms are indicators of Manic disorders.

Then there are the depressive symptoms of a bipolar disorder. Patients of bipolar disease will many times experience periods of depression. This period will see the patient passing through periods of sadness, and will be pessimistic to the highest degree, like nothing will ever work in their life. They will also not show any indication of doing any physical or mental activity during a bout of depressive bipolar disorder. The worst part of this disorder is that the patient will constantly think and talk about suicide and dying. Patients of bipolar disorder have been known to commit suicide on a number of occasions so additional care must be taken of them.

The sad part of bipolar disorder is that there is no known cure of this very serious disease, however, there are effective treatments available that can control this disorder and expert medical help must be sought at the earliest indication of bipolar disease.

Depression not only is a very troublesome and devastating disease in itself but also a bearer of a number of other diseases and disorders. Few living souls are free from the shackles of depression. There are occasions when depression becomes the effect of a particular disease. This is mostly seen in people who have been suffering for a long time from a particular disease or health condition. These conditions many a times give way to depression. Depression is also a very potent cause of suicide. However, depression might spring out of diverse causes. The causes of depression are immense and innumerable.

The results of a study concluded that people who are victims of the disease epilepsy are very much vulnerable to slip into depression. Epilepsy is a disorder that sometimes remains with a person for the entire lifetime. Though there are treatments for epilepsy, sometimes due to certain reasons it is not completely uprooted from a person’s system. Due to the constant presence of an illness in the system the patient lapses into depression.

Sometimes it happens that seizures occur without any apparent cause. Patients suffering from epilepsy often suffer this condition. People researching into epilepsy, depression, and suicide have discovered a probable inter relation between the three conditions. The mental condition that causes epilepsy is also seen to have been responsible for inducing suicidal thoughts and behaviors in people. The worst condition is that many times it happens that epilepsy is not even diagnosed and the person goes deep into depression triggered by epilepsy. The symptoms of both epilepsy and depression in the initial stages are often overlooked. This happens because the symptoms are nothing extraordinary. They seem to be normal to the onlookers and to the patient also because they are common. However, one should understand that just because a condition is common doesn’t imply that it is normal. The same is applicable to the symptoms of depression and epilepsy. If the symptoms are not paid attention to, it won’t be long before a patient goes from epilepsy to depression and in some cases might go further and commit suicide also.

The exact relation between these conditions is still not clear. But scientists are working towards this objective and very soon we will have the exact connection between epilepsy, depression, and suicide. Until then one should know that both these conditions can very well be tackled with some amount of consciousness and awareness. In the market there are drugs available both for epilepsy and depression. Depression drugs are almost always prescribed. Anti depressants like Xanax tranquilizers are even available on the internet. You can easily buy xanax online after you have been given the xanax prescription by a Doctor. Also note that xanax online is strictly a depression drug and should not be used for any other purpose without prescription. It’s only through awareness that xanax misuse can be stopped.