September is Suicide Prevention Month
This blog post comes to you at a time when there has been so much going on in our lives. Amidst the Coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 U.S. Elections, so many people now unemployed or on furlough, and yet bills are still piling up, the kids are going back to school, and life continues on. The majority of people are now experiencing heightened depression, stress, anxiety, etc. due to everything currently going on.
World Suicide Prevention Day is September 10th and National Suicide Prevention Week September 6-12, 2020.
These events provide us all with opportunities to encourage those that are struggling with suicidal behavior to seek help, to assist family members, friends, and helping professionals in supporting individuals who are struggling with suicidal thoughts and behaviors, and to increase the number of people who are actively engaged in suicide prevention and mental health promotion.
September is an important month for suicide prevention.
These ambitions require more than just us shouting out from the rooftops or designating a day, week, or month to focus attention on suicide prevention.
It requires an conversations that are both informed and serious.
Conversations about suicide have focused on hopelessness, despair, and inevitability, if they have even taken place at all.
However, through practice and research, we've seen that suicide is preventable.
We know that those that are at risk for suicide can overcome the risk and live fulfilling, healthy, and productive lives.
September provides us with an opportunity to rededicate ourselves to changing the conversation about suicide from one of despair and inevitability to one of hope, health and resilience. We can frame our messages to encourage hope.
We can remind people at risk that there is hope, we can remind friends and families that there is help, and we can remind clinicians and other care providers that they can help.
A few years ago there was a campaign created to help reduce the number of suicides in our communities.
The campaign is called #BeThe1To, and the 5 steps are:
- Ask
- Be There
- Keep Them Safe
- Help Them Connect
- Follow Up
You can read more into detail about each of these steps on the #BeThe1To website.
If we can all make a goal to show up for our friends, family, neighbors, and communities, we can reduce suicide together.
If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts or behaviors there is 24/7, free and confidential support available through the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or an online chat is also available.
8 Key Aspects of Wellness
August is National Wellness Month. We believe this is a good time to step back to evaluate various aspects of life, like where you currently stand, what direction you're heading in, and what goals you would like to accomplish.
It's a time to focus on your own self-care, healthy routines, and stress management.
With everything that has been going on recently amidst the Coronavirus Pandemic and as we gear up for the hectic school year and holiday season, it's vitally important to evaluate what needs have changed throughout the last year and what we can do to move forward.
A good way to tackle this reflective process is to focus on 8 wellness key aspects. Our well-being is much more than just reaching and maintaining emotional and physical health. Holistic Wellness requires focusing on all aspects of life to find your meaning and purpose. The daily choices we make either open opportunities to a bright future, or potentially guide us down a dead-end road that takes significant time and energy to get out of.
We want to share with you 8 key aspects of wellness:
- Physical
- Emotional
- Social
- Spiritual
- Financial
- Intellectual
- Environmental
- Occupational
By taking an introspective look on each of these key aspects of our lives, they can guide us towards genuine happiness. Our wellness foundation centers on the mind, body, and soul connections that are formed by and also form our unique selves in the physical world, and both also guide and are guided by our inner worlds that we inhabit as we continue growing into our authentic selves.
All of our needs, desires, and actions are taken through this 8-dimensional web of wellness.
Each key point of wellness carries meaningful importance and direction in our lives.
Physical
Our physical health is the foundational ground for wellness and generally it is the easiest to keep track of because there are so many ways to measure and improve it. Our physical health involves our diet, exercise, genetics, and ways of life. Through our physical health flows all the other points to view our introspection on the other aspects of wellness.
Emotional
Emotional Wellness is the aspect most influential to all of the others. Generally, when people make decisions, they are based on their emotions. People will usually make decisions to gain pleasure, or avoid pain. It involves the ways that we react to the stresses and pressure in life through all of the other wellness points depending on our physical, environmental, and social factors. Emotional wellness is the guide to prepare us for all of our life's continual challenges. Emotions always start internally but can later be projected to those around us. If we can all realize that out thoughts provoke our emotions, and in turn those emotions provoke our feelings and actions, now more than ever it is so important to focus on your emotional wellness. Try to affirm positive thoughts and always be thinking of the things you are grateful for.
Social
Our Social Wellness is all about relationships. Relationships with our family, friends, co-workers, acquaintances, and all other various people we come into contact with on a daily basis. This aspect is influenced by many of the others as well. Often times people view themselves above or below another person based on occupational, financial, or intellectual factors. People may even act differently in certain situations based on who is around them at the time for fear of what they may think. One way to introspect on this aspect is to really decide what is important to you: your morals, values, and relationships. If someone doesn't align with your vision, it's okay to have different opinions, but be authentic to yourself. Don't try to alter yourself to fit in where you don't feel right. Be you and you will attract your tribe.
Spiritual
Often a sensitive topic, our spiritual wellness is shaped by our interactions and relationships with the divine, whatever higher power you believe in. Our spiritual wellness is generally a driving factor as to what we believe is possible and how we conduct ourselves. It forms our beliefs of existence and purpose within the world and universe and is especially helpful for us to hone in on our physical and emotional needs. Take some time to reflect on why you believe you are here and what it is that is your life's purpose.
Financial
In today's day and age, especially amidst all the events currently going on in our world, financial wellness is now taking an even more important role in our lives. Everything in the economy has been shaken up and there is a wave of uncertainty flowing to many of us. One way to assist your financial wellness is to look at how you can leverage your skills and knowledge to be able to bring in various streams of income. You know the old saying "Don't put all your eggs in one basket?" If you are able to brainstorm how you can diversify your income, and implement the actions necessary to do so, you will then have a much more sense of financial security and well-being which opens the door to help boost emotional and physical health for us and our families.
Intellectual
Intellectual wellness refers to activities, ideas, and experiences that stimulate and engage our minds. The desire to learn new things, seek challenges, and improve skills in pursuit of a stimulating and successful life is something we should all practice. By taking time to do some sort of intellectual activities leads to a happier, more creative, and healthier life. You could do something as simple as a crossword puzzle, sudoku, or a game of trivia, or more complex things like learning a new language.
Environmental
We all require a robust and healthy environment to thrive. Our environment plays an enormous role in our well-being. We all need nourishing food, oxygen, and water to live, and we thrive more when we are in sustainable and cleanly places. It is a responsibility for all humans to contribute to the health of the Earth. Our overall well-being is closely tied to the health of our environment. Take some time to find ways that you can make your home and neighborhood healthier. Practice gratitude and respect for all nature and species living on our beautiful planet.
Occupational
Occupational wellness involves finding fulfilling work that allows you to use your intellect and skills, as well as the ability to develop more capabilities to provide your life with more happiness, purpose, and meaning. We're sure you've heard of the saying "If you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life." It is so important to love the work you are doing. If you have been unhappy with your current occupation, ask yourself what is it exactly that you are unhappy with? Is there something else you would rather be doing? If so, what is it that you need to do to obtain your dream job? Sometimes this involves working on building additional skills or obtaining more knowledge. Once we are able to experience full occupational wellness, we feel more driven and fulfilled in our work.
As you can now see, throughout these 8 aspects of wellness, there are so many things to consider and practice to ensure that we're living our best lives and finding our purpose. They are all intertwined in one way or another, some even in multiple ways. When we take a moment to visualize in our minds how this is a web, one aspect linking to several others, we can better understand how one aspect affects several others.
In honor of National Wellness Month we are happy to bring this information to you to help guide you through the various aspects of our overall well-being. We here at Ketamine SLC are committed to helping people navigate through challenges and establish wellness in all aspects of life.