A New Take on Anxiety and Suicide Prevention

Hello Everyone!

I want to start off this post by saying a HUGE thank you to all of y’all. Our members this semester have showed us undying support and we can’t thank you enough. Without you all, we wouldn’t even have a club!

Let’s dive right into the articles, shall we?

I found this amazing article by Kate Murphy. This piece was particularly interesting to me because it discusses a fresh and new perspective on anxiety all together (and, trust me, I’ve heard it all.)

Here’s my absolute favorite snippet of the article:

If you can sense and appreciate your fear — be it of flying, illness or social rejection — as merely your amygdala’s request for more information rather than a signal of impending doom, then you are on your way to calming down and engaging more conscious, logic-dominated parts of your brain. At that point, you can assess the rationality of your fear and take steps to deal with it.

I know that handling anxiety isn’t as easy as flipping a switch, but this concept is still pretty interesting and, honestly, kinda comforting.

Image found from Google.

On a completely unrelated note, November is actually National Suicide Awareness Month! Besides this being the most exciting news you’ll hear today, it also give us chance to open up a discussion about suicide. This article talks about how the strength of the relationship between healthcare providers and patients is crucial to getting help to those who are suffering from depression in silence.

Here’s a little snippet from the article:

Ultimately, a trusting relationship between doctors and patients is a two-way street. In order for patients to feel secure enough to share their innermost feelings and fears, doctors and nurses need to open the conversation, provide a safe and caring ear and non-judgmentally ask about emotions and suicide. Patients need to be educated about their disease and encouraged to be their own advocate, and doctors need to empower their patients to take control of their health and well-being. After all, the patient is the most important person on their healthcare team.

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Since midterms are slowly eating away at our sanity, we decided to have another round table event. Join us on November 14th from 1-3 pm in SSA 14.244 to honor Survivor's Day. We're planning to have a laid back discussion of our experiences with mental health, sharing stories of recovery. You're welcome to bring in any poetry or short stories you've written and want to share.

Thank you again for making this community so strong.

As always,

May the force be with you