Sad Clowns: Signs of Suicide
In one scholarly study about “Antidepressants and Suicide”
written by Susan S. Jick and A. D. Dean, estimated 8.5% of 10,000 people
studied resulted in suicide on their death certificates in a period of 180 days
taking one of the 10 most common SSRIs. Out of the 143 suicides, 67 people had
a history of suicidal tendencies. The rest did not. This is an extremely high
amount of people dying because of a medication that should be causing the exact
opposite reaction. Why is this so? Why is the public more aware?
It is estimated that a person takes his own life every
fifteen minutes in the United States. The CDC lists suicide as the 10th
leading cause of death in the US. I never knew that.
I had a very good friend who was everybody’s best bud. When
he walked into the room it was “one singular sensation, every little step he took.
One thrilling combination every move that he made. One smile and suddenly
nobody else would do. You know you'd never be lonely with you know who. Sigh!
Give him your attention. Do...I...really have to mention? He's the One!” (From
“A Chorus Line”).
Unfortunately, my friend wasn’t the bundle of joy inside he
let on. About two years ago he committed suicide. Everyone I know was shocked. I
was completely devastated, because I had just had lunch with him the day
before. He didn’t seem different. He didn’t appear to be contemplating the end.
He just was my dear friend, playing the role of his life.
I looked for my passport yesterday and ended up cleaning out
three drawers trying to find it. I figured I might as well use the time wisely
and get rid of that dross that continues to collect when I’m not looking. I
came across my dear friend’s funeral bulletin. A smiling picture of him took up
most of the front cover. I spent a long time contemplating it… him. It seemed
that fifteen minutes had been suspended in time. I could remember every moment
with him, every conversation, and even the times he didn’t know I knew about, I
remembered.
I suppose his demise crept up on me more strongly than
normal, because another dear friend had suffered a devastating blow yesterday.
I worried about the worst that could happen. I would never want a recap of the
days I had heard of, now, too many friends who had taken their own lives.
Suicide is so prevalent these days, but very few people talk about what to look
for and how to prevent it.
I went out with a physician for three years who had a twenty-one
year old son who just recently took his life on the eve of his wedding, after
many years of struggling with addiction. No words could express the grief of
his father or his betrothed. I had no words of reconciliation for the man I
loved for years. Yet, with his son there was a knowing that something like this
might happen. His son always danced on a tightrope, falling occasionally into
that net below—generally his father was the net. I always wondered what would
happen if the net weren’t there.
With a few of my dear friends who have committed suicide,
this was not the case. These friends were joyful, loving, giving, and one was
even a life coach. I wonder what her clients thought when they heard the news.
In almost every case of suicide in my life there had been a
contributing factor: the person had either just changed the dosage of an
antidepressant or just started a psychotropic drug. One of the precautions
clearly written on any antidepressant is the risk of suicide in the first three
weeks of taking one. Why is this so?
I remember a time when I first started taking an
antidepressant in 1990. I had been taking Zoloft for two weeks when I went on a
vacation to the Grand Canyon with my nephew.
A tree limb about the size of a railroad tie projected from
the side of the precipice where we stood. For some strange reason, I decided I
wanted to see what the canyon looked like from the end of that tree limb. Nothing
could stop me from finding out. I had absolutely no fear of falling.
Before the antidepressant you couldn’t have chained me to
that limb. When I played the role of the Fiddler in “Fiddler on the Roof,” at
TPAC, the producers had to create a way to hook me to the roof to sit 12 feet
above the stage without wanting to faint. Everyone laughed at the premise of
this roof fiddler being afraid of heights. I tell you the story to juxtapose
how afraid I was compared to the fearlessness after taking Zoloft. I do
remember my nephew screaming and crying, “Uncle Bo, please come down from
there. You are scaring me!”
Then, I didn’t think the climbing out on a limb was that
much of a risk. Now, I know differently. In the first few weeks of taking an
antidepressant, people tend to do things they were afraid to do in the past. If
one has been afraid to take his life, the inclination may be to actually follow
through with it. I believe, that the above reason is probably the biggest risk
of taking the antidepressant. Of course, increased dosages will also create the
same kinds of illusions.
So, if you have a friend or family member who has just begun
a course of antidepressants, it is best to watch his or her behavior carefully
those first few weeks. If you know that same person has had thoughts of
suicide, make sure you tell the prescribing doctor, because the patient
probably didn’t tell the doctor. The reason why she or he didn’t explain is
because more and more family practitioners and Internists are prescribing
psychotropic drugs without proper counsel.
I remember one time going into a doctor with whom I had just
started treatment. I explained that I had been taking an antidepressant and
would like for the doctor to continue with the same dosage. I gave the doctor
the name of the drug and the dosage. The physician never blinked. He simply
wrote out the prescription.
Don’t get me wrong, I think antidepressants saved my life.
However, I also believe that people should be monitored more closely during the
first few weeks of taking them. I get the strong feelings some of my friend’s
lives could have been saved had that been the case.
______________________________________________
Go to Week 3
of the “Year to CLEAR
Challenge” at www.Bosebastian.com
______________________________________________
Below is information that I will be sharing for about a
month, as not every person on my list reads the blog every day. If you have
already read it, just skip over it. Thanks for understanding.
A
Year to CLEAR Challenge:
(Please Know: You Can Join Us At Any Point in the Year
Challenge.)
The masses search outward for things that qualify them as a
person, but I always go inward for that which quantifies me for greatness. At
twenty-five I preached on street corners in NYC as an in-the-closet Pentecostal
minister. One day I heard a still small voice say, ‘God cannot be contained in a
book or a law or even in a religion. Dig deeper, reach further to find me, and
you will find your authentic Self.’”
A Year to CLEAR Challenge!
The acronym CLEAR
stands for (Compassionate, Loving,
Enthusiastic, And Relationship-Ready). The goal of this project is to
engulf readers in a weekly study that will transform them by removing blocks,
promote self-growth, and give them wings to fly freely into daily life. Each
week, by going to BoSebastian.com and choosing the Year to CLEAR Challenge tab,
a new challenge or thought to provoke conversation, growth, and group
functionality.
My vision is to make Finding Authentic You the book to
have in your Kindle or on your computer. The book is a comprehensive look at
growth—spiritually, mentally, and physically.
As a yoga teacher and student of the Ayurvedic tradition, I bring
to the table understanding of physical challenges, the ability to overcome
mental problems with Life & Health Coaching, as well as hypnotherapy, and
expertise in meditation and spirituality as a minister.
The combination of all three in one book with an interactive
connection to like-minded readers, for one year, is what makes this Year to
CLEAR Challenge a must-do for every spiritual seeker.
The One-Year Approach to Change
No one believes he or she can change overnight. But success in
change comes from the metaphors of nature. Seasonally, life changes all around
us in nature. Finding Authentic You offers a gradual change perspective,
looking at the triune aspects of change as in yoga: Body, Mind and Spirit.
Accessing the
ability to change and finding
yourself actually pursuing change must be a daily search, which I call
getting to the “observer mind.”
In this frontal cortex of the brain we find the anatomy of
change and the power to counter every negative trigger of the human process.
The workings of Hypnosis, NLP (Neuro-linguistic Programming) and EMDR (Eye
Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) are all positive actions to help the
mind and body flow to a positive space for change.
Every aspect of FINDING AUTHENTIC YOU fulfills this
constant need for diffusing the negative past and dreaming of a fulfilling
future.
Step 1: Recognize That Change is Inevitable
Step 2: Release from Resistance
to Change
Step 3: Understanding Change and Allow Spirit to Define It
Step 4: A History Lesson—About You
Step 5: Look at Your Past with Compassion
Step 6: Making a Strong Commitment to Change
Step 7: Dream Your Fabulous Future
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