Get To The Root With Rachel Logan

Hello, everyone. I hope you can hear and see me. Okay. If you are on, please give me a thumbs up. Let me know, let me know, let me know. I hope you can hear and see me. Okay, if you are on, not on, gonna watch the replay, put in the chat how you are feeling today. So let me know how you are feeling today. And today I'm gonna check in, and I feel calm. I feel calm. Today. I had an. I had a massage before this, and let me just tell you, it was so good. I am relaxed, I am calm, and I'm having a good morning.

So just want to check in with you. Whenever you get on, drop an emoji so I know how you're feeling today. You can connect with yourself. Before we dive in today, we are talking about a heavy topic, a serious topic, and it is suicide prevention month. So I believe that it is fitting to talk about the root of suicidal thoughts and ideations and plans. So, suicidal thoughts, ideation are the same thing, but having suicidal thoughts in a plan, like, how do a person get to that point? Right. We're not born to think that way, that we just want to end our life.

So something had to happen, and I want us to talk about it. And so this is a sensitive subject. So if you feel like this is not fitting for you, it's okay to stop. Maybe look at it later, maybe look at this video with a loved one, someone that can support you, but this is not meant to be triggering, but more to be informative. Okay? And so I want us to think about, if we're not born to think about wanting to end our life, what happened, what happened to you, what happened around you that is causing you to think about wanting to end your life?

And I just want to pause, and I want you to think about that if that's you, not you, but if you ever had that thought, right? What causes a person to get to a place that they think about ending their life? I have some ideas just from being in counseling. I work with children, and I work with adults who presented with suicidal ideation and some with an action plan, and they come to counseling, or they get to that place where they feel like dying by suicide is an option. And they get here for a couple of reasons, right?

They get here because of mental health issues. And it could be some that's severe, some that's not regulated, maybe symptoms that's not regulated, maybe chronic or severe mental health issues such as depression, anxiety. And so depression is that cyclical cycle of feeling sad. And sometimes it can become very severe or chronic in individuals. Another example can be anxiety. So excessive worrying, having excessive panic attacks, fear, extreme fear, fear about their future, fear about their situation.

Bipolar disorder. So that high, that low, that frequent mood swings, because people can feel that deep pressure, they can feel that they can have really highs, and they can have really, really lows in that deep low period, can cause a person to have ideations, substance abuse. And when we think about an individual who uses substance or abuses substance, they're typically trying to escape. They're trying to escape from reality and go to this alternate place that for a moment it is serene or it allows them to detach, but after the high is gone, they go back to reality.

So they're in this cycle. But chronic substance abuse or substance abuse can lead a person to thinking about ending their life. So in addition to mental health issues can be financial reasons, right? We've seen it in media, we've seen it in movies, we've seen it how severe financial issues or change in job status and the pressure of living can cause a person to think, this is too much, and I want to end my life. So the root of suicidal ideation is not necessarily coming out of the blue. Is triggered by something.

It's triggered. It can be triggered by a loss of a loved one. It could be triggered by an estranged relationship or work issues, or work pressures. It doesn't come out of nowhere. And sometimes that's a misconception that suicide is. We don't see signs or no one has told us, but there are signs. And getting to the root of it and acknowledging that, hey, I am starting to think, I don't want to live. I am starting to contemplate death is a real thing that should not be ignored. It doesn't matter your age, it does not matter your race, it does not matter your gender.

Anytime life's pressure or mental health issues, health issues. If you're in chronic health crisis and you there are no cures and you're in constant pain, if you notice that your thoughts are getting dark, I want to say this now. You are not alone. This is something that we can work through as a community, as a community of believers, as a community of counselors. You have access to support. You have access to support that can walk you through even your darkest moments, even your darkest moments.

So I want us to pause and just acknowledge, you know, if you or a loved one, or if you hurt a friend or you hurt a family member, your spouse, your coworker, they say it jokingly. It's not a joking matter. It's serious. It's serious. So anytime you or a loved one or you heard someone think that, like, I don't want to be here, or I wish I didn't wake up today, or I want to end my life, and you see signs, signs of withdrawal, signs of isolation, signs of selling their things or wrapping up business matters, signs of not getting out of the bed chronically, severely in their have truly detached from reality.

And family and friends, those are signs that should not be ignored. And there are ways that you can help, and you can help yourself. And I want to encourage you to consider this. The biggest thing about an individual who is considering suicide, that all the research shows is that they isolate. And from a christian perspective, isolation breeds spiritual attacks because it allows you to wrestle with your own thoughts versus you sharing your thoughts with someone who can work it through with you, work it out, process them out with you.

So from a christian perspective, that's spiritual attacks. That's what that is. And so I want to bring these two perspectives together. Okay? And that is, don't do life alone. This is how you can overcome suicidal thoughts. Don't do life alone. Connect. That is truly the recipe in all the research and literature that I've read, says the best way to overcome it is to connect. Connect. I'll share a personal story with you so you can understand. When I was younger, I wrestled with suicidal thoughts.

I was a kid, and you're like, how can a kid have thoughts of wanting to end their life? It was the things that were happening around. It was the pressure around. It was the bullying around me. It was just life that was around. But I didn't know how to communicate that I was feeling this way, that I was thinking this way, and I wasn't feeling good about myself. And so it was at a dark moment. I was in my room. I was isolated. I was really reserved, and I stayed to myself a lot. And my mother came in the room to check on me, and that changed my life.

So I want to say this to you. Those who are listening, those who may know individual or you personally, who have. May have thoughts, go check on someone today by checking in, saying, hey, how you feeling today? Or hey, I notice that you've been quiet more or isolated more. Just checking in can change the trajectory of a person's life. It can. It saved my life. So I want to leave you with these things. Connect. The call of action today is to connect. Connect with a loved one, a teacher, a friend, a pastor, a neighbor, a sibling, your spouse.

If you are wrestling with thoughts of wanting to end your life. Let's talk about it on this platform right here, you have a button that says connect to a counselor or connect with a therapist at your fingertips. Connect. Connect with someone that can work through maybe the mental health issues, the unresolved trauma, the change in your financial status. There's so many reasons why maybe the pressures of this world. But let's connect. Connect with a counselor. Today, there is a free service in the USA, and you can text or call 988.

That is the suicide crisis hotline. And that is free. And you can reach out and you can have a dialogue. And they're open 24/7 so connect. That's the first thing. Okay? Connect with a professional. Connect with a loved one, or connect with a support group. There are so many support groups on Facebook. There's so many groups. Okay. Nami, that is a website that you can check out that can give you access to support groups in your area. Connect so with a person, with a professional, and with the community.

This is how you can overcome your darkest moments. They are moments that you can overcome. Okay, listen. You are never alone. Because in my faith, I have Jesus. And I just want to share that with you. When we walk in our faith, when we walk with God and holy spirit in Jesus, we're never alone. And so I just invite you to connect with your faith today. I invite you to connect with loved ones, with a professional or your community, and get the support and help that you need. Because I promise you, you can overcome those thoughts.

I promise you, you can learn a new strategy on how to deal with pressure, people and problems. You can so connect today. Thank you for listening. Check on your friends today, and I will see you next week with another episode of getting to the root. Be blessed. Bye.