September Meeting–Making Meaning of Loss

Posted on September 12, 2022 by southbaynami

NAMI South Bay Monthly Meeting (Virtual)
7:30 PM
Monday, September 19, 2022

Making Meaning of Loss — Stories from Lived Experience

As part of Suicide Prevention Month, at our NAMI South Bay September meeting we will be viewing a webinar with Dr. Ken Duckworth, NAMI National Medical Director, as part of the Suicide Prevention series.

Dr. Duckworth will be talking with four individuals who shared their stories of surviving suicide loss in the Chapter: Making Meaning of Loss by Suicide from the upcoming book, You Are Not Alone: The NAMI Guide to Navigating Mental Health.

At our zoom meeting we will be discussing the presentation and the efforts in the South Bay to be part of the effort to prevent suicides.

The meeting will be virtual. Please contact Nami South Bay President, Paul Stansbury (pstans5@aol.com) for remote access information.

General Meeting July 16 – Reducing Suicidal Behavior

Posted on July 14, 2018 by southbaynami

Our general meeting will be Monday, July 16 in Faith Hall at the First Lutheran Church 2900 Carson in Torrance at 7:30 PM. Our Family Support Group will meet at 6 PM in the small room off of Faith Hall.

We will have a Danielle Anderson, a Certified QPR instructor and Family to Family teacher providing a workshop on QPR — a training intended to reduce suicidal behaviors and save lives by providing innovative,practical and proven suicide prevention training.

As recently reported in the media following the suicides of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, the number of suicides has been increasing alarmingly. Through education the QPR training aims to empower all people regardless of their background to make a positive difference in the life of someone they know.

Suicide: Risk Factors

Posted on September 27, 2015 by southbaynami

Research has found that about 90% of individuals who die by suicide experience mental illness. But mental illness is only one of the risk factors associated with suicide. There are a number of other things, all important to recognize, that may put a person at risk of suicide.

The following list is not comprehensive, meaning it is not necessarily a list of “all” possible risk factors. Nor is it a list of necessary conditions. A person may have just one or two of the following risk factors, or none, and still be at risk. But based on what is known, the following list does include some of the things that may put a person at risk:

A family history of suicide.
Substance abuse. Drugs and alcohol can result in mental highs and lows that exacerbate suicidal thoughts.
Intoxication. More than one in three people who die from suicide are found to be currently under the influence.
Access to firearms.
A serious or chronic medical illness.
Gender. Although more women than men attempt suicide, men are four times more likely to die by suicide.
A history of trauma or abuse.
Prolonged stress.
Isolation.
Age. People under age 24 or above age 65 are at a higher risk for suicide.
A recent tragedy or loss.
Agitation and sleep deprivation.

Get more information at the NAMI National Web Site.

WHO fact sheet on Suicide (reviewed 31 August 2015) (communitymedicine4asses.wordpress.com)
Reminding Loved Ones That Life Is Precious: Suicide Prevention Resources (lifeinsurancequote.net)
Smoking, Suicidality and Psychosis: A Systematic Meta-Analysis (plosone.org)
Expert talks about dealing with suicide (radioiowa.com)
Don’t Do It – Suicide Prevention Day (ireport.cnn.com)
Americans Don’t Understand Risk Factors for Suicide (usnews.com)
Raising awareness on National Suicide Prevention Month (kspr.com)
Cooks calls for vigilance on World Suicide Prevention Day (radionz.co.nz)

Suicide: Is There Imminent Danger

Posted on September 25, 2015 by southbaynami

Any person exhibiting these behaviors should get care immediately:

Putting their affairs in order and giving away their possessions
Saying goodbye to friends and family
Mood shifts from despair to calm
Planning, possibly by looking around to buy, steal or borrow the tools they need to commit suicide, such as a firearm or prescription medication

If you are unsure, a licensed mental health professional can help assess risk.

See more at the NAMI National Site.

Suicide prevention team plans walk/run on Oct. 3 (journalstar.com)
SALUD: National Suicide Prevention Week — Risk Factors & Barriers to Treatment (latinpost.com)
Nord forms suicide survivors’ group (chronicle.northcoastnow.com)
World Suicide Prevention Day (ananthv9.wordpress.com)
Study finds high number of people contemplate suicide (antiguaobserver.com)
Thousands support suicide prevention walk (wavy.com)
Don’t Do It – Suicide Prevention Day (ireport.cnn.com)

Suicide: Know the Warning Signs

Posted on September 23, 2015 by southbaynami

Each year more than 34,000 individuals take their own life, leaving behind thousands of friends and family members to navigate the tragedy of their loss.

Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death among adults in the U.S. and the 3rd leading cause of death among adolescents.

Suicidal thoughts or behaviors are both damaging and dangerous and are therefore considered a psychiatric emergency. Someone experiencing these thoughts should seek immediate assistance from a health or mental health care provider.Having suicidal thoughts does not mean someone is weak or flawed.

Following are Seven Warning Signs

Threats or comments about killing themselves, also known as suicidal ideation, can begin with seemingly harmless thoughts like “I wish I wasn’t here” but can become more overt and dangerous
Increased alcohol and drug use
Aggressive behavior
Social withdrawal from friends, family and the community
Dramatic mood swings
Talking, writing or thinking about death
Impulsive or reckless behavior

See more at the NAMI National Site.

Suicide: Can Thoughts of Suicide Be Prevented?

Posted on September 21, 2015 by southbaynami

Mental health professionals are trained to help a person understand their feelings and can improve mental wellness and resiliency.

Depending on their training they can provide effective ways to help.

Psychotherapy such as cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavior therapy, can help a person with thoughts of suicide recognize unhealthy patterns of thinking and behavior, validate troubling feelings, and learn coping skills.

Medication can be used if necessary to treat underlying depression and anxiety and can lower a person’s risk of hurting themselves. Depending on the person’s mental health diagnosis, other medications can be used to alleviate symptoms.

Click here to see more at the National NAMI Site

Reducing the Risk of Suicide in Individuals with BPD

Posted on May 11, 2015 by southbaynami

NAMI is pleased to announce that Dr. Marsha Linehan will be one of the outstanding speakers who will join 2,000 NAMI members at the 2015 NAMI National Convention in San Francisco this July. Scheduled to speak on Monday, July 6 in the “Advancing Recovery” track, Dr. Linehan will share her latest research on dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), including the results of her latest study. In this study, Dr. Linehan and coauthors set out to evaluate the importance of the skills training component by comparing three treatment groups: skills training plus case management to replace individual therapy; DBT individual therapy plus activities group to replace skills training so therapists instead focused on the skills patients already had; and standard DBT, which included skills training and individual therapy. The authors found that all three treatments reduced suicide attempts, suicide ideation, the severity of intentional self-injury, use of crisis services due to suicidality and improved reasons for living. The results also showed that inverventions that include DBT skills training are more effective thatn DBT without skills training. Read the full study.