Please Live

Please Live is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to education and awareness of teen mental health issues, particularly depression, anxiety, and suicide prevention. Learn more at www.PleaseLive.org

[please-live]

Good morning and happy #GivingTuesday! After a weekend of shopping - black Friday, small business Saturday, and cyber Monday - #GivingTuesday is a global effort to give back to the causes that mean the most to you. If you support the work we do at #PleaseLive, would you consider donating the cost of your morning coffee once a month? A monthly $5 donation will cover 78% of the cost to provide life-saving mental health and suicide prevention training to one adult/teacher. Make a one-time donation or schedule a recurring donation to Please Live by visiting the link in our bio! ❤️ • • #suicideprevention #suicide #mentalhealth #givingtuesday #givingback #givingthanks #youmatter #youareenough #hope #makeadifference #donate #nonprofit #coffee #coffeelover #coffeetime https://www.instagram.com/p/B5naH78ghcZ/?igshid=lt0foup0pzhm

[please-live]

Join Our Support Squad for Giving Tuesday. Thank you for making a difference❤️ Click to join! bit.ly/JoinSupportSquad We appreciate your support as an advocate for mental health and ending the stigma. Your support is powerful! • • #mentalhealth #suicide #suicideprevention #mentalhealthawareness #support #makeadifference #givingback #givingtuesday https://www.instagram.com/p/B5XzuZlAqC0/?igshid=1ttis8vml2z6d

[please-live]

ATTENTION: Tomorrow’s Out of Darkness Walk is still happening at the Carlisle Fairgrounds, but Please Live will not have a booth set up.  Thank you for your understanding.

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[please-live]

I WANT YOU TO HEAR ME | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20TH | CARLISLE RIBBON MILL | 5:30PM – 9:00PM

We’re partnering with Healing Gems to bring our presentation to the community for a night of food, drinks, and suicide prevention. Learn more by visiting the facebook group. Tickets are $10 each, however volunteers get in for free! (Stay tuned for about how to volunteer. Simply visit PleseLive.org for info, as we are in dire need of volunteers!)

The venue opens at 5:30 with food trucks available for food/drink, followed by a Please Live presentation by Alexa Moody from 6pm - 7:30pm. If you've never seen one of our presentations before, this is a GREAT opportunity to check it out.

[minus-the-negative]

If it happened over night it wouldnt be called a fight.

minusthenegative.com

PC: @emprower

[please-live]

Just like flowers, it takes them lots of water and tender care while they’re just seeds. Only with proper treatment do they blossom and flourish.

We need to “water” our own “seeds”, or rather nurture ourselves to heal our heart and soul. 

Recovery looks different for anyone, but one universal truth remains--it is never a straight-line. There are ups, downs, good days, and bad. I encourage to be aware that everyone is fighting their own battle in someway, and to be respectful yet conscientious of those who are recovering differently than you whether it be slower, faster, or something else.

[please-live]

“I think the saddest people always try their hardest to make people happy. Because they know what it feels like to feel absolutely worthless and they don’t want anybody else to feel like that.”

-Robert Williams, Beloved Comedic Star

(July 21, 1951 – August 11, 2014)

August 11th marks the anniversary of 4 years since Robert Williams tragically left this earth. This was an awakening for some, a sign that everyone struggles, including someone who achieved stardom status and a recognizably grand reputation for making people laugh all over the the world. Films starring Williams, such as Aladdin, Jumanji and Mrs. Doubtfire, were some of my favorite childhood classics.

So why did Williams make the decision to commit suicide? He seemed like one of the happiest comedians on the planet.

Let me give you a little bit to chew on: Real comedy is the pursuit of truth. The truth can make people uncomfortable, depressed even when their satirical stand-up becomes too much of a reality. But when it comes down to it, Robin Williams had a caring, kind, and gentle soul. And in his case, it is not a classic suicide but rises many important aspects about it that are often missed.

Most often, suicide is the result of untreated mental illness such as depression or anxiety – and while that sounds simple enough, the reality is that suicide is actually very complex.

What leads someone to ultimately take their life doesn’t always neatly fall into the box of “mental illness”. After Williams’ death, we learned that he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease just three months prior.

The autopsy confirmed that he had Lewy body dementia. Being diagnosed with a chronic illness is a huge risk factor in the choice to end one’s life. Additionally, diseases that affect the functioning of the brain obviously have profound effects. His wife adamantly states that depression did not kill Robin, but it was “one of let’s call it 50 symptoms, and it was a small one.”

A large amount of suicides, especially in older populations, are preceded by severe health diagnoses or the deterioration of the brain as. If we’re only looking for depression or anxiety as symptoms to point to potential suicidal ideation, we miss an entire range of individuals at-risk for self-harm.

For suicide loss survivors:

This can also affect you. When the majority of literature points to depression being the sole cause of suicide, loss survivors can feel guilty that they didn’t “see it” – they didn’t notice the anguish, pain or darkness that loved ones experienced. It’s easy to blame ourselves for overlooking this, or not being good enough to help them.  

We must remember suicide is complex, that it’s not always so easy to explain why someone takes their life--so give yourself a break! You can’t take blame or responsibility for someone else’s illness.

When the news of Robin William’s death first broke, heartfelt images of Robin’s character, Genie, from Disney’s Aladdin spread around the internet. In the movie, Aladdin uses his final wish to set Genie free from the lamp. Aladdin gently exclaims, “Genie, you’re free!”This touching sentinment behind this trend was that Williams’ was longer suffering from the pain of this world. That he, like Genie, was free. As touching as the image is, it sent a dangerous message to others who were hurting: that death was a way out, a sort of “freedom”. Perhaps this viral sentiment was part of the reason why suicide rates increased by 10% in the four months following Robin’s death. Redudantly, I remind you that it is complex. It can affect anyone, from children as young as 5-years-old to centenarians, from any continent or culture, from rags or riches. It is most often caused by a storm of risk factors and can never be simplified to one reason.

His death highlights so many things worth noting:

Anyone can struggle with deep hurts, darkness, and anguish.

We must be vigilant to check in on our loved ones, even if they hide behinn their humor and their smiles.

We must take care of every part of ourselves – our mental and emotional wellbeing, our physical health, our social connections, and our spiritual dimension.

Death is not an escape or a way out.

If you’re hurting for any reason, or if you’re concerned about a loved one, reach out today. Call 1-800-273-8255 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Send a text to 741-741 for the Crisis Text Line or chat online at ImAlive.org or CrisisChat.org.

-Erin & Alexa

[please-live]

UPCOMING EVENTS

HARRISBURG OUT OF THE DARKNESS WALK | SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 8TH | CITY ISLAND, HARRISBURG | 3PM – 6PM Please Live will be walking as a team in support of our local chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. All funds raised for the walk will benefit our local AFSP. Walk to save lives, honor loved ones, and raise support and awareness in our community. To join our team for the Harrisburg walk, click here.

CARLISLE OUT OF THE DARKNESS WALK | SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15TH | CARLISLE FAIRGROUNDS | 4PM – 6PM Please Live will be walking as a team in support of our local chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. All funds raised for the walk will benefit our local AFSP. Walk to save lives, honor loved ones, and raise support and awareness in our community. To join our team for the Carlisle walk, click here.

I WANT YOU TO HEAR ME | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20TH | CARLISLE RIBBON MILL | 5:30PM – 9:00P We’re partnering with Healing Gems to bring our presentation to the community for a night of food, drinks, and suicide prevention. Learn more by visiting the facebook group. Tickets are $10 each.

[please-live]

Recently Please Live held a sponsored golf tournament at Dauphin Highlands Golf Course, in Harrisburg. It was a beautiful day and we raised quite a bit to continue bringing our cause to local schools!

Visit Please Live’s site, Facebook & other social media for more photos and info!

[dailypsychologyfacts]

Diabulimia – The Eating Disorder No One Talks About

Have you ever heard of diabulimia before? 

I never knew what it was until yesterday after watching a 30-minute documentary called Diabulimia: The World’s Most Dangerous Eating Disorder. After watching it I decided to do some research on the subject. Before going into detail, let me explain what diabulimia is. According to the National Eating Disorders Association its “a media-coined term that refers to an eating disorder in a person with…

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[recovering-and-healing]

A to Z  SELF-HELP  MASTERPOST

10 more ways to cope with bipolar

25 ways to avoid self injury

A:

A little bit of everything

Acoustic

Alternatives for anger and restlessness

Anti stress breathing tips

Are you feeling okay?

B:

Big master post of masterposts

Bipolar coping skills

Bipolar self help

Breathe

Bulimia recovery

C:

Calm down

Calm down during a anxiety attack

Calm sounds

Calming manatee

Calming paintbrush

Cheer up!

Choose happy

Click here to smile

Coffee shop

Coffee shop acoustics

Coffee shop tunes

Comfort box

Conquer school

Cool game called ‘the end’ to distract you

Cope with ocd

Cope with panic attacks

Coping with autism spectrum disorder

Coping with bipolar

Coping with borderline personality disorder

Coping with depression

Coping with eating disorders

Coping with exercise addictions

Coping with PTSD

Coping with schizophrenia

Coping with social anxiety

Coping with social anxiety disorder

Coping with weight gain

D:

Daily puppy

Deal with anxiety

Dealing with bipolar without medication

Depression resources masterpost

Disorders/mental illness

Distractions and alternatives for self harm

Do nothing for two minutes

Do yoga to cheer  yourself up

Draw a stickman

E:

Eating disorder support groups

Emergency compliment

Feeling stressed?

Good feelings

Good morning

F:

Finding the right antidepressant

H:

Happy thing masterpost

Helping someone who is suicidal

Hotlines

How to break out of a zip tie

How to care for self harm cuts

How to cope with depression

How to fade and cover scars

I:

Isnt the rain beautiful

J:

Just relapsed?

L:

Learn how to mediate

List of hotlines for everyone

Living with bipolar

Living with someone who has OCD

Look at the stars!

Low on cash but wanting help?

M:

Match the colours

Maybe you want to comfort someone else

Mental health hotlines

More about ocd

More hotlines (UK)

Most relaxing tune according to scientists

Mynoise

N:

Natural depression treatments

Nature not your thing? coffee shop noise

Need a hug??

Never say these things to someone having a panic attack

Note to self

O:

Overcome your eating disorder

Overcoming loneliness

P:

Panic and anxiety

R:

Rad covers

Rainy mood

Rape escape

Really good game to get feelings out

Reasons to live

Resisting the urges

S:

Sand patterns

Self defence tips

Self injury recovery masterpost

Sleepy tunes

Soothing techniques

Sounds to fall asleep to

Soundrown

Speak to people

Spring fling

Stop biting your nails

Stop skipping breakfast

Study playlist

Stupid games to cheer you up (pointless games)

Suicide prevention

Supporting someone with PTSD tips

T:

The butterfly project

The dawn room

The quiet place

The thoughts room

Tips and tricks for dealing with anxiety

Tips to help stop cutting

U:

Understand types of anxiety

Understanding and coping with panic attacks

Understanding and managing anxiety

W:

Wanting to self harm or worse?

Ways to deal with depression/stress

Weave silk to calm down

What are eating disorders?

What cutting does to you

What is autism spectrum disorder?

What is bipolar?

What is borderline personality disorder?

What is depression?

What is generalized anxiety disorder?

What is ocd?

What is panic disorder?

What is PTSD?

What is schizophrenia?

What is social anxiety/social phobia

What to do when someone notices your cuts/scars?

Wheels on the road

When you’re sad?

Work through feelings of social isolation

Wow beautiful nature sounds!

source: Multiple internet sites

[high-functioning-depression]

Being tired all the time

When people ask me how I am, I always reply with “I’m fine, just tired.” And that’s it.

Tiredness is a common thing when you are suffering from depression. But why?

Most of all it’s because our brain is stuck in overdrive and it’s hard to unwind it at night. It takes 7 minutes for the average person to fall asleep. Now imagine taking an hour every night to fall asleep. Plus: if you go to the toilet the whole process starts over.

Also, our sleep is frequently disturbed. Sometimes we dream vividly, sometimes our brain is just really noisy, so we wake up easily. We spend our nights tossing and turning. Getting woken up by noises, pain, inability to keep body parts still and so on.

So is it really that odd, that we are tired all the time?

During the day, we use a lot of energy to fulfill the tasks we were given. Sometimes we can’t concentrate enough and need more time and energy to do it.

We are at war with our minds. Battling thoughts and fears. All day we keep hearing that we are not good enough, strong enough, skinny enough. And we believe those lies.

And we can’t just snap out of it. It’s not possible.

We experience a sensory overload during the day. We see, hear, notice a lot. And often we already know what’s going on around us without anyone telling us. We “feel” a lot around us. And it’s mentally draining.

I also have to mention that we get tired as a side effect of our medication. That medication we need to be “happy”.

We struggle with our brains to differentiate what’s real and what’s not. Because our mind presents everything to us as reality.

Our muscles ache all the time from all the tensing up.

That’s why we are tired all the time. And it’s not always because of the lack of sleep.

[please-live]

Can anyone relate to this? I certainly can. As an insomniac with PTSD, anxiety, and depression--sleep is both a burden and a relief. It rarely comes, and when it does, the night terrors dig deep usually. It hasn’t always been that way, and it won’t always. Today I woke up happy! That, my mates, is a small victory. Baby steps. That is all you can take. And yeah, some days I am just tired because of the mental draining. It’s easier to say that you are tired rather than try to explain.

 Feel free to reblog, reply, or DM. 

I am always here to talk.

-Erin, PL Support Squad

[please-live]

A teenager who wrote dozens of uplifting notes and attached them to a bridge in England helped saved six lives, police said Sunday.

“Even though things are difficult, your life matters; you're a shining light in a dark world, so just hold on.”

Isn’t that so difficult to believe? My therapist spent 2 years trying to convince me that a light shines through me that I simply can’t see. Now, I see that light in others who can’t see how much brighter they make this dark world. 

Here is my challenge to you today: Stop and tell someone who makes your world brighter and how much they really do. As humans, we all need reminders from our loved ones that we are strong and capable of overcoming any illness in our brain, or any obstacle that blocks our path. Remember: You Are Enough.

It’s wonderful beyond words to see young people like Miss Paige Hunter, 18, not just make changes in her local community and gain recognition to end stigma of mental illness, but who has actually saved lives. That is something to be proud of. Please follow the link to read her story.

Never stop paying it forward!

-Erin, Please Live Support Squad

*Photo by Fox News Network LLC. Paige Hunter, left, was commended by Northumbia Police Chief Superintendent Sarah Pitt, for leaving more than 40 "heartfelt notes" on the Wearmouth Bridge in Sunderland, England.

[please-live]

Volunteer Opportunity: Tumblr Moderator for Teen Suicide Prevention Nonprofit

*WHEN RESPONDING TO THIS OPPORTUNITY, please provide all requested information or your response will not be considered!*

What is Please Live? Please Live is a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to education and awareness of teen mental health issues, particularly depression, anxiety, and suicide prevention. Learn more about us at www.PleaseLive.org.

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We are currently looking for an individual to moderate our Tumblr profile. You will develop a strategy, working with the Marketing Director, in order to organically grow followers, update posts with relevant company and industry information, and connect with experts in our industry. You will frequently post content and refresh our company page, following our branding guidelines.

Estimated time commitment: < 30 minutes per week

Required Skills: Must have access to webcam or other technology to allow for virtual meetings Outstanding written communication skills Proficient grammar skills consistent with proper English language General web marketing experience

Desired Skills: (will consider volunteers who are willing to learn if skills are not currently present) Blogging experience Basic understanding of keyword research & selection Tumblr account and knowledge of Tumblr community Customer service experience in any industry Basic understanding of SEO

​To apply for this opportunity, ​please send us a copy of your resume, a short description as to why you are interested in volunteering with Please Live, and links to any organizational social media accounts you have moderated before, if applicable. Application can be sent to [email protected]!

[strong365community]

1.1% of people have Schizophrenia. And they need your support, not your stigma.

[torpublishinggroup]

5 Sci-Fi & Fantasy Books That Treat Mental Illness with Compassion

As a way to help erase stigma related to mental illnesses, the National Alliance on Mental Illness has designated May as Mental Health Month. According to the NAMI website, 1 in 5 Americans will be affected by a mental health condition in their lifetime, and the more we talk about the subject—even in fantastical contexts—the more we can do to understand and assist those who live with the reality of it every day. Here are five works of speculative fiction that address mental illness with compassion.

Here are 5 SFF books that treat mental illness with compassion.

[jessillustrate]

An illustration on how healing mental health takes patience