That's awesome, askye. I hope you feel better.
I am feeling overwhelmed today. Took a muscle relaxant last night so I'm out of it, too, and my pain is worse today. I'm smoking again, which is clearly not a good coping mechanism and makes my anxiety worse.
The big thing is that my sister is down a deep, dark hole. It's been a year since she tried to commit suicide and she's only gotten worse. She's back living with my parents and has terrible insomnia and all she does is smoke, sleep, and lie on the couch with the cats. She has no hope. She says no to everything, even short walks with my parents. Her psych took her off everything and then put her on something new that isn't working. There are little sparks in her here and there, but we are all pretty terrified and feeling helpless. My parents want her to try ketamine, but she just says, "What's the point?" Which is what she says about pretty much everything.
It sucks.
Oh, smonster, that's really hard. I hope your sister finds something to help, soon. Take care of yourself; your well-being is important, too.
smonster, I am with you 100%.
I know, Steph. I'm so sorry about your situation.
Smonster, I'm so sorry.
Askye, that's a fabulous idea. Feel better.
Just now at a bookstore
Guy1: There are aliens out there.
Guy2: Trump wants to send them all home.
Guy1: We're talking about different types of aliens. I'm talking about the kind with three heads and green skin.
Was there a local ASIST training anytime soon in that list, smonster?
There's a half day SafeTalk training in April, I believe.
edit - no real info on that one yet. The one I was thinking of is in May.
smonster, that's really upsetting and scary about your sister. I hope she can get the help she needs and get out of the black hole.
Sending support to both of you, smonster and Steph
I would suggest contacting them directly and seeing if you can help facilitate bringing a full ASIST training in. There are often local groups you could partner with that might help bring it in for free. You may need to be an active advocate to get this training, but I really recommend it in your situation. It is intended exactly for you, for first line folks who are already in people's lives with the potential to intervene.
You might check with local police, anti drug coalitions, community mental health clinics, and other religious, social, and community groups to see who might be able to help bring it in. It can be a real benefit to your whole community; there are many others out there who are adjacent to sufferers just like you are.
There are other suicide prevention resources out there, I just speak to this one because I know it. I've been through it, I've put students through it, and those students have successfully intervened in their family and friends' lives, preventing them from completing suicide attempts. Like I have said before, the training is very difficult, intense, but it is literally lifesaving. For myself, it also helps with my anxiety levels to know that, should a situation arise, I am more equipped to deal with it than I was previously.
