The Netflix series 13 Reasons Why. The death of Project Semicolon founder Amy Bluel. The study that discovered that a group of white, middle-aged Americans are dying what they call "deaths of despair."
What do these three things have in common?
Let's call it an absence of hope.
In troubling times, it's easy to put your finger on everything that's going wrong. And we're given the idea that focusing on the problems is somehow the right thing, the mature thing to do, while focusing on the good makes you naive or foolish.
But it's also what makes life worth living for people at any age.
But where does hope - and resilience; the ability to bounce back when life deals you a blow - or a flurry of them - where do hope and resilience come from?
And can you learn skills to "immunize" yourself and the people you love from "deaths of despair"? Can you do hope and resilience building - like a physical workout - to strengthen those "mental muscles"?
This week ... we'll try to find out.
Additional Resources:
Crisis Hotlines:
218-723-0099 – Crisis line, Amberwing (Essentia Health)
1-800-634-8775 (toll free) – Minnesota crisis line, Human Development Center
218-749-2881 or 1-800-450-2273 (toll free) – Crisis line, Range Mental Health Center
218-348-1817 – Advocacy crisis line, Fond du Lac Human Services Behavioral Health
715-395-2259 – Wisconsin crisis line, Human Development Center
715-392-8216 – Crisis line, ?Douglas County Health & Human Services-Mental Health?
Text “Life” to 61222 – Suicide prevention texting hotline for teens
1-800-273-TALK (8255) (toll free) – National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
1-866-488-7386 (toll free) – Crisis line for LGBTQ teens and young adults, The Trevor Project
1-800-273-8255, press 1 - Veterans Crisis Line. Confidential chat at: VeteransCrisisLine.net or text to 838255.
https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
http://www.suicide.org/hotlines/minnesota-suicide-hotlines.html
https://sourcesofstrength.org/
