In the latest episode of Bouncing Back, host Lisa Bien helps bring light to an issue that is sometimes considered taboo. Temple alumna Garden Wellington Logan describes in an interview with Bien her feelings of grief and guilt after the suicide of her brother William. She wasn’t sure how make sense of her loss and couldn’t stop asking herself questions like “What could I have done to prevent this?” or “How did I miss the warning signs?”
Garden sought the answer to these questions from a grief counselor and organizations like the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The World Health Organization estimates that approximately 1 million people die each year from suicide. To those not suffering from suicidal depression, it’s difficult to understand what drives so many individuals to take their own lives, but many surviving relatives and friends find it hard not to blame themselves.
However, Garden emphasizes the lessons she learned through counseling and from attending support groups like Survivors of Suicide: it’s important to continue looking at life with a renewed sense of purpose rather than fixating on death.
Later, psychiatrist Thomas Newmark joins Bien to give viewers a list of warning signs that may indicate if a person close to you is contemplating suicide. Newmark, a board member of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, reminds us that we cannot ignore if someone expresses a desire to commit suicide, as this may be the biggest warning sign of all.
Tune into episode 3 of Bouncing Back this Wednesday, November 20 at 12:30 and 8:30 p.m. on Comcast 50 & Verizon 45 or online for more information on suicide prevention.
