What is your message to someone who is thinking about suicide?
It’s understandable if it feels like things in your life are overwhelming or too difficult to resolve right now. A lot of people would feel the same way if they experienced what you have been going through. You deserve support, to feel acknowledged, and to know you are safe - and your safety is what is most important to me right now, and it always will be.
Please reach out; there are lots of caring people on campus who can help you find the support you need. That support may be something as simple as needing someone to listen or it can be coming up with ways to cope. Whatever it is, we can figure out together how best to find you the care you deserve.
For all of the challenges you have faced that have brought you to this moment, see if you can take each moment moving forward as an opportunity to show yourself kindness, respect, and care. There are so many people on campus and in the community who want to see you here tomorrow.
What would you tell someone who is feeling unsure about seeking support?
Reaching out for support can be difficult. For most things in life, we are taught to figure it out on our own. We may even feel like we shouldn’t burden others with our challenges or emotions. Maybe we are afraid of what people will think of us if we ask for help. We might even think someone is experiencing something worse than us, so our own experience isn’t worth bringing up. Maybe we have reached out for support before and nothing changed, or the other person was dismissive and now it feels like all future interactions could end up the same.
It can be hard to let others know we need or want help. But going through difficult times is part of the shared human experience. There is no shame in having thoughts of suicide. We all need help at some point, and it is courageous to reach out. There are many people in our community who want you to find the care you need. Let us help you find that support. You deserve it.
Why does suicide prevention matter to you?
My role in healthcare as a chiropractor is to listen and work with individuals to guide them in improving their overall quality of life. “Quality of life” is a term that can mean many different things, and that meaning can even change over the course of a person’s life.
Most of the time, patients come to me because their quality of life has been negatively impacted by physical pain - back and neck pain from studying, changes to their activity level because of their busy school schedule, an injury while playing a sport, or an injury from something as simple as walking down the street and twisting an ankle or carrying a lot of groceries. My job is to identify what changes can be made so that healing can take place and they can get back to whatever quality of life they were at before.
Other times, people come to me with no physical pain and want to improve their quality of life for other reasons. Talking about and putting into practice better diet, exercise, and mental health habits can play a big role in reshaping our quality of life.
And then there are times where people seek care because of pain that goes beyond physical trauma. As we understand now, pain is generated and sustained by many different things: our physical well-being, our nerves and chemical messengers, and our mental health. Regardless of cause, living with pain can take a significant toll, and pain may persist for some to the point where thoughts of suicide start to manifest. But by identifying and opening up about these thoughts to trusted individuals, patients can gain access to healthcare that provides the tools for safely improving quality of life away from thoughts of suicide.
Suicide prevention matters to me because I value every life and the quality of that life in which they choose and hope to live.
How do you cope when things get tough?
Movement is my favourite healthy coping strategy. It doesn’t matter what kind of movement it is: running, walking, playing with my dog Elvis, kayaking, biking, lifting weights, or doing a quick bodyweight workout. Throughout my many years of schooling, especially once I got into chiropractic school, I came to realize the benefits of “meaningful movement”. That is, movement that is directed at somehow bettering yourself. It could be to improve your heart health, make you stronger, take your mind off of heavy things, make you feel something you don’t normally feel, or even get you away from your computer or off your phone.
I always remind my patients to not overthink what meaningful movement means to them; keep it simple. Think about how much time you want to set aside and how much you can set aside (sometimes one is a lot more than the other), do what is reasonable for you, and move. Dance around the house, get 15 minutes of sunshine, do that workout you saved on your phone.
Whatever your reason for practicing meaningful movement, remember that it is for you and your personal growth and improvement.
What gives you hope?
Remembering my purpose in life has always been what pushes me through the toughest of challenges. When I have a purpose, or at least something that I can strive to accomplish with my time and my mental, physical, and emotional energy, I can reliably look upon that as inspiration to meet most challenges without fear of the idea of failure, or fear of the uncertainty beyond.
I want to emphasize that my purpose in life has changed over the years, and it might still. I’ve even gone periods in my life not really paying attention to what my purpose was. They weren’t bad times by any means, but they were times of less clarity compared to times when my purpose was acknowledged and in the process of being realized. It can be quite hard to know for sure what your purpose in life is, but I believe it should be simple enough to help us through whatever challenges we face. That’s why I think my purpose changed over the years: if I was in a good spot my purpose was more elaborate, if I was facing challenges the things that mattered became simpler to sharpen my focus.
We all go through difficult times and we all have different ways of coping. For some, finding a sense of purpose may be helpful, and I truly hope it is. For others, this is not your only path out of hardship. So many others have faced challenges in their own unique ways and I hope their stories can help you. You deserve support and there are people in your community who can help you through these difficult times.