America’s Suicide Epidemic: What Everyone Should Know and Is Afraid to Ask
Dr. James H. Bramson interviews Dr. Josh Wilson and Eti Valdez-Kaminsky
What do Naomi Judd, Anthony Bourdain, Robin Williams, Cleopatra, Mark Rothko, and David Foster Wallace have in common? They have all suicided. Suicide is an epidemic during these times of tumult. Obviously, suicide and depression impacts more than celebrities. Depression and suicide impact every, age, race, and gender. Depression and suicide do not revere white privilege, or bow down to someone’s socioeconomic status. Suicidal thoughts and feelings lead to isolation, anhedonia and despair. Depression is an equal opportunity destroyer and disrupter in our society. Depression and suicide can impact every religion, political group, white collar workers, blue collar workers, the educated, uneducated, and everyone in between. Suicide rips apart families and communities. The CDC reports that the financial cost on our society averages 70 billion a year (in just medical and work-loss costs alone). However, the human toll is incalculable.
Most importantly, irreplaceable lives (souls) are lost every minute because the general pubic is afraid to discuss death, depression, and suicide. Shame causes suicide to go underground where it becomes the silent killer. Individuals who are suffering do not want to be seen as burdensome. People who suffer the most are often too reticent or afraid to talk about it. It is often the case that people who recognize suicidal tendencies in those they love (or care about) are afraid of acting on what they know. In fact, Dr. Wilson points out in this episode that we lost a human being every 11-minutes (in the United States). So during the course of one Podcast episode (under 60 minutes) we lost 5 to 6 Americans.
Dr. Wilson (Co-Founder and President of East Bay Mindfulness Center, Psychology Inc. and West Coast Mindfulness Institute) and Eti Kaminsky (Clinical Director of EBMC, Psychology, Inc.) discuss their unique and shared approach to preventing and treating suicide. They raise awareness regarding the complex and underlying issues surrounding depression and suicide, particularly among our youth. Suicide is the third leading cause of death in individuals aged 10 to 14. It is the second leading cause of death for people aged 25-34 in the United States. This episode concludes by offering everyone hope and a way forward. Dr. Wilson and Eti Kaminsky stress the myriad ways therapy can instill hope, joy, and purpose driven awareness in people who suffer the most. Listeners please note the Suicide Prevention (Lifeline number) - 998. Let us all be life guards or guardians.
