I am a little backed up on blogs. I spoke at the University of Miami on August 18th. Now you can see how backed up I am. They booked me to speak to all of their about 2,000 incoming freshman about alcohol and self-medicating for other issues! The name of that program is fittingly Mixed Drinks, Mixed Emotions.

Any time I have to speak to more than about 1,000 people I kind of get anxious. Not so much because of the amount of people, but because I am always concerned that audiences in the thousands may not want to hear this message or could easily find someone else to pretend they don’t care about it with. So when I got into Miami’s basketball arena and saw the seats lined up I reminded myself to stay focused on what got me to this point. And basically what got me here was a lot of trial and error in figuring out what people wanted to hear and how they wanted to hear it. I took a long time in the beginning of my speaking to figure out what worked and didn’t work and continue to adjust to make it work whether the audience is 12 or over 2,000.

The freshman at Miami were awesome and really receptive. From the beginning of my presentation until the end they were engaged and really interactive. I was really happy with the way it went. When I finished my presentation I would say about 25% of the audience stood up to give me a standing ovation. After that 25% stands up usually the 75% follows and that was the case here. So even though I was anxious at the size of the room I did get a standing ovation. I think this really shows how much people do want to care and do want to help their friends deal with these problems. A lot of times we hear the negative in this world and it’s easy to fall into thinking that may be the only option, but 2,000 students giving a presentation about changing self-medicating behaviors a standing ovation gives me hope. It really comes down to the fact that we often don’t know what to say or do and when someone is in front of you saying what needs to be said it’s inspiring to so many others. I don’t view this as a platform just for me or my speaking. It really is a platform for everyone who doesn’t have a voice. I was just really lucky enough to find one and even luckier to find a way to reach others.

So thanks Miami! Thanks to the students who let me film them and bought the books too!

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Yesterday and last night I spoke at Regis University in Denver, CO. My friend Sally Spencer Thomas and her Active Minds chapter brought me to Regis on World Suicide Prevention Day. I spoke at noon to the faculty, at 2:30 I taught a writing class and at 8 PM I spoke to the community. It’s always cool to have different presentations to share with so many different people. I have to say it was cool having dinner with the Active Minds chapter. They do a lot of hard work there and they’re great devoted ladies!

It was also really cool getting to teach a writing class. On the walk over Sally and I were talking about what I was going to say and I thought it was all pretty standard stuff. Talk about the process of writing a book, what goes into it and what went into mine. Then Sally asked me what my writing exercise for the class would be and I kind of froze. Truth be told I never really believed in myself as a writer and kind of shrugged off the possibility of creating a “writing exercise.” So we got to the class and I stood in front to “teach.” I told the freshman writing class that at the end of the semester they will have completed as much education on writing as I have. I also stressed that there are two ways to learn, by reading about how to do things and by doing them. My book came out of doing.

As we were discussing the format of the book etc. I realized that this book is set up in a way we share a personal story to make a point rather than just share emotion. I realized that this is also the way I present and then it hit me. Wouldn’t that be a perfect writing exercise! So that’s what I asked the class to do. Write about an emotional time in their lives and the lesson they learned from it that is universal for everyone. To my surprise the class did it and some of the students shared what they wrote. The class ended with one male student saying, “I learned that everyone has gone through something and there are things we can learn from it.” Bingo! Thanks Sally and Regis!

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Speaking at the University of Southern Mississippi was a blast. We had a great turnout and a lot of people were thankful for the presentation. It is always interesting to me to see people so relieved to hear this message delivered in a positive way rather than a negative scary way. I am glad I could help out Southern Miss’s Suicide Awareness Week. I also had a great time eating BBQ. If you’re ever in Hattiesburg you absolutely have to eat at Leatha’s!

It seems in the midst of speaking at Southern Miss I missed out on some news. In literally a day’s time there was a report released that the suicide rate in young people went up in 2004 by about 250 deaths. To go with the report was a massive media launch that said the solely black box warning on anti-depressants was to blame.

In my efforts as a mental health advocate I think it’s vital to be as objective as possible, especially in areas that trigger such extreme views. It seems in the mental health world a lot of people are either totally for medication or totally against it. There are charged arguments on both sides and a lot of personal stories to back them up. I know a lot of people who have been saved by medication and I know a lot of people who are doing very well off of it. The truth is people need to find what works best for them as there are a lot of treatments out there, so what bothers me when I hear a spin like it’s all the black box warning is that it’s not that simple.

Let’s examine some other factors. First the black box warning wasn’t issued until October 15, 2004, so if it was just that warning then we’re talking about a significant increase in 10 weeks. Another factor is that the stigma of reporting suicide has gone down a little due to awesome advocacy efforts. In the past suicides have gone massively under reported and it’s possible we are getting more accurate reports. Also we don’t know if everyone who took their own life had a mental illness and needed medication (it’s estimated that about 80-90% of people who take their lives have a mental illness) nor do we know if the people who did take their own lives were on other medications and not anti-depressants. So my point is it’s too complicated to be an either or in this situation.

My fear is that if you’re a family member and you see this report then you could see it as an either or situation. The best thing any family member can do is consult with a mental health professional to determine what works best and not rush to judgement. But more importantly if you know someone in treatment monitor them and become a mini expert on their diagnosis so you can help them.

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I’m goin to Jackson, I’m gonna mess around

Yeah, I’m goin to Jackson

Look out Jackson town.

Those three phrases have been playing in my mind since I booked this trip and I’m finally in Mississippi for the first time in my life. What a beautiful state. The marshes and trees remind me of an eerie Civil War time and you can tell there’s a massive body of water close even though you can’t see it. I actually landed in Jackson and there was no time to mess around. I had to get to Hattiesburg, because I’m speaking at the University of Southern Miss tomorrow!

Also today I blogged on Huffington Post about Owen Wilson and how his suicide attempt makes him similar to his young fans. Huffington Post is the third largest blog in the country. It’s cool that they let me blog about mental health stuff. Check it out!

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