Empowered to Keep Living

9/13/2023

Empowered to Keep Living

Written by Anna Perkowski, MSW, LCSW

September is a month dedicated to suicide awareness and prevention, and this week of the 10 - 16th in particular has been designated as National Suicide Prevention week. I like to associate the word prevention with proactivity - meaning, in order for people to stop attempting and dying by suicide, they need to be first empowered to obtain and/or maintain an increased quality of life. Getting ahead of a suicidal crisis also means that other people, places, and things need to be set in motion before the crisis has an opportunity to occur. I believe that suicide attempts and deaths by suicide do not happen in a vacuum - I think it’s helpful and OK to explore and ask why they occur - and l also believe that no person is to blame for someone’s death by suicide. Suicide prevention is complex and possible.

So, what does it mean to be empowered to keep living, and to empower someone to stay alive? According to Oxford, empowerment can be defined as “the process of becoming stronger and more confident, especially in controlling one's life and claiming one's rights.” To me, this sounds a lot like an individual growing in self-esteem and self-compassion and having their personhood acknowledged and respected by others. Below are some practical ways I think together we can work toward creating a world with fewer and fewer deaths by suicide - check it out:

Ways to Play an Active Role in Suicide Prevention

Ways to Empower Yourself

Ask for support from a trusted friend
Ask for support from a trained professional (988, 911, therapist, psychiatrist)
Ask for support from a helping professional/organization (food pantry, department of human services, local health department, primary care physician, urgent care, local place of worship, local township, etc.)
Stay hydrated
Focus on nutrition
Go for a walk or run. (Obtain medical clearance from doctor prior to any physical activity)
Be compliant with prescribed medication. Talk about any side effects with your prescribing provider
Refrain from substance use/actively work toward sobriety
Go to school
Go to work
Take a mental health day, or two. Rest
Play. Have some fun
Be consistent with all these things
Know your triggers. Identify a safety plan

Ways to Empower Someone Else

Let them know you care and how you can be supportive
Listen to them without judgment
Be willing to stay with them until help comes and/or offer to contact help on their behalf or with them - whatever feels most helpful to them
Ask direct questions. Have honest, hard conversations about mental health, emotions, and suicide
Check in on them. Bring them coffee/tea or offer to go grab a meal
Understand risk factors. Be educated on suicide awareness
Offer to accompany them to a first therapy or psychiatry session or AA/NA group
Advocate on their behalf with others. (e.g., asking the question of why they may be struggling/having a hard time instead of allowing others to shame or blame them)
Go to therapy
Point them in the direction of appropriate, local resources
Be ridiculously kind
Maintain healthy boundaries
Be consistent with all these things
Take care of yourself. You can’t give what you don’t have

If it’d be helpful, I’d invite you to print out this chart and pick a handful of these items to implement into your weeks moving forward to help create a world where more and more people are empowered to keep living, and living well. Suicide prevention is complex and possible.

If you are interested in counseling, call OakHeart at 630-570-0050 or 779-201-6440 or email us at [email protected]. We have counselors, psychologists, and social workers available to help you at one of our locations in North Aurora, IL, Sycamore, IL, and/or via Telehealth Online Therapy Services serving Kane County, DeKalb County, Dupage County, and beyond.