suicide

Living on the Edge

We’re starting the week with something heavy, but heavy often equates to important and that’s the case for today, September 10. Today is World Suicide Prevention Day. We talk about mental health and specifically suicide much more openly than ever before. Companies have programs in place for people to reach out for help. We’re more likely to notice certain behaviors in family and friends and consider whether there might be an issue there. So why are so many people still committing suicide?  …

Help is on Its Way

The suicides of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain rattled me. I don’t own a Kate Spade bag and I’ve never watched Bourdain’s show, although I did purchase Kitchen Confidential after years of hearing about how brave and bold it is. But I didn’t have to be a fan to understand the importance of these special artists to so many people. …

Suicide is Painless

That’s the title of the theme from M*A*S*H and I always wondered why it was appropriate for a TV show about a war, but that’s a topic for another day. Now that we’ve had time to absorb what Robin Williams has done, I’m really hoping the dialogue around suicide and mental health will change a bit. I hope Williams’ universal appeal is enough to make some people learn more about depression and how it differs from ordinary feelings of being down or sad.   …

Robin Williams RIP

Where to begin. Anyone born in the 70s hasn’t known a world without Robin Williams. I vividly remember his first appearance on Happy Days, as Mork from Ork.  When he “sat” on the couch with his head on the cushion and his butt in the air, I was transfixed. I followed him wherever he went after that: to his own sitcom Mork and Mindy, to stand-up specials and a list of movies longer than your arm.  …

Honouring Nagui Morcos

Sobering thoughts for a Sunday.  Mr. Morcos was a happily married man of 54 who took his own life this spring.  He had Huntington’s disease and having watched his father deteriorate with the progressive illness he knew, and he had told those he loved, that he wasn’t going to experience the same fate.   …