Suicide Awareness

Posted on August 16, 2014 by karenevoss

WHY??

Not only is this a song about suicide performed by Rascal Flatts, but also a question. A complex question with no absolute answer, when asked by a loved one or friend of someone who has completed suicide.

Did you know…

A person dies by suicide every 15 minutes in the U.S.
Every day, approximately 90 Americans take their own life.
Over 34,000 people in the U.S. die by suicide every year.
That 20% of suicide deaths in the U.S. are military veterans
There are an estimated 8-25 attempted suicides for every suicide death
In the year 2000, approx. one million people die of suicide. This represents a global mortality rate of 16 per 100,000 or one death every 40 seconds.
Self-inflicted injuries represented 1.8% of the global burden of disease in 1998 and expecting to increase to 2.4% in 2020.
Almost one in four youths who are American Indian/Alaskan Native has attempted…

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Don’t be quick to judge

Posted on August 7, 2014 by karenevoss

A recent Dear Abby post (from Tuesday, August 5, 2014) reminded me of something I wrote in That’s All I Got. The lady who wrote to Dear Abby mentioned that no one outside her immediate family knew she suffered from depression or a suicide attempt.

When Russ and I were dating and then married, we never shared the information about Russ’ mental illnesses with anyone in my family. We wanted Russ treated without judgement, as a regular person and not someone seen as a victim or a special case. This was our mutual decision.

After Russ died and the details started to emerge, I heard or maybe asked about why we didn’t tell and that maybe they could have helped. My first thought was: How? Can you take the illnesses away? When I gave the reason behind not telling, I heard, we wouldn’t have done that (meaning judged him based on him having bipolar disorder and auditory hallucinations). Really? It’s 2014, everyone is quick to judge. How many times have you heard about someone committing (completed is the correct term) suicide and thinking they’re crazy when in reality they suffered from a mental illness known or unknown to someone else. I used to do this myself until suicide affected me. Can you say the same? Do you want to?

Think about it. Don’t be quick to judge.

A simple pair of skates

Posted on July 31, 2014 by karenevoss

Years ago, skating as a teenager, I discovered the art of rollerblading for recreation and exercise. I remember purchasing my first pair of roller blades with saved up money from my paper routes. I wore the first set of wheels down to the bearings. The frames became so beat up that Play-It-Again Sports scrapped them for me. I replaced that pair with a better design. I still have these.

Up until I married, those blades rolled places. Then, tragedy occurred and I hadn’t touched them since, that is until Sunday, July 20th, 2014. A week or two before this I saw someone flying down my street on roller blades. That got me thinking, why don’t I blade anymore? I couldn’t give myself a good response; I had given up. Another time in the garage, I saw my blades poking from a storage can.This must have been a sign.

I dusted them off and located my protective gear after all, a writer doesn’t need a broken wrist. A day or two later, I suited up and started out slowly, gaining my balance on two legs and wheels. Then it was like I had never stopped rollerblading (except for remembering how to navigate curbs. I headed to the quiet park with paved walk ways and an adjoining school parking lot. At first, I straight up skated working my way to downhill squatting and attempting turns. Turns were easy to remember, but harder to do especially backwards. As I practiced and nearly fell on my butt, I had a thought I’ll finish with.

“Sometimes you have to go backwards to move forward. Sometimes you need to fall in order to succeed”.-K.E.Voss

Overcoming

Posted on July 9, 2014 by karenevoss

Ask anyone how they grieve and you’ll receive a different response every time. There’s no wrong or right way to mourn the loss of a loved one or friend. The best thing you can do revolves around taking time to grieve; some people don’t and that’s when moving forward turns into feeling stuck in wet cement or quicksand. It took me over two years to reach “acceptance” the final stage of the grieving process. With the proper support and grief/trauma counseling, I moved forward. I thrived.

In a recent episode of Extreme Weight Loss on ABC, the person whose life required transforming is the widow of an Army soldier who completed suicide as he dealt with PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) after a deployment to Afghanistan. Their adopted son deals with PTSD after his dad ended his life. This lady never took the time to grieve for her husband. She hid her pain and turned to food as a way of coping. While I don’t know first hand how to deal with PTSD from serving in the military, I do have an understanding of what PTSD is since I received treatment for it following my husbands completion of suicide. One does not treat PTSD on their own; treatment exists and one can recover from it under the proper care, but it does take time. While you reduce the trauma, symptoms can linger for years to come. There’s much information about PTSD and while I won’t approach it more on here, I’ll do so in another post.

I’ve included the link to the episode of Extreme Weight Loss I mentioned.

Extreme Weight Loss, Melissa’s Journey

My first borrow

Posted on July 6, 2014 by karenevoss

A week ago, I discovered that That’s All I Got made the list of availability at three separate libraries. On Wednesday, July 2nd, I had a hunch to check the Milwaukee Public Library website and look at the book listing. Boom! There you go! The first borrow checked out of the Cudahy Family Library on what seems like the day before, Tuesday, July 1st (you can borrow a book for three weeks which is how I figured out the date from July 22nd.

I wonder…did someone spot it in the New Books area? Did they read about the library availability on Facebook. LinkedIn, or Twitter? Did someone wait until it had a home in the library to borrow the book instead of purchasing a copy? It doesn’t matter. What matters is that someone borrowed it to read and that person can share with someone else. What matters is that for some reason that book found a hand to hold; a journey of discovery that may help someone or inspire or even lead someone on their own journey of inspiration, peace, hope, or guidance. That’s what matters.

Available for borrowing!

Posted on June 26, 2014 by karenevoss

It’s been a week since I stepped inside the Cudahy Family Library to donate a copy of That’s All I Got. I admit that I’m eager to see when it’s available for borrowing. I went online today to see the progress at either this library or the two purchased from the Milwaukee Public Library System for two separate libraries.

Lo’ and behold I discovered these two entries:

regular catalog That’s All I Got – Karen E Voss

classic catalog That’s All I Got – Karen E Voss

Another step forward on this journey and I’m excited to see how things progress from here.

Living in the Library

Posted on June 7, 2014 by karenevoss

One step at a time the journey expands onwards and upwards. Healing, discovering, sharing, leading, helping, inspiring. Step by Step. -K.E.Voss

Some time ago, my uncle purchased a book to have me donate to the library of my choice. I selected the Bay View library, which is part of the Milwaukee Public Library (MPL) System. When I went in to donate the book, I spoke to the librarian who asked if I wrote it and if it’s my first book. I told him I am and it is. He informed me that chances were the book probably wouldn’t get into circulation by donating. He did give me the phone number to the Acquisitions Department at Central Library. Not only did I leave with a piece of useful information, but with two books by Maya Angelou who passed away two days prior. Inspiration for inspiration.

I left a message for the person in the Acquisition Department on Friday, May 31st and spoke to her on Monday, June 2nd. I supplied the necessary information that would make its way to the appropriate selectors. The time frame given to me spanned 4-6+ weeks. I had two bonuses with me: I’m a Milwaukee author and they’ve worked with my publisher before. She told me that I would only know if the MPL system purchased by book is to see it online or if my publisher told me.

The next day, Tuesday, June 3rd, I received an email response from my publisher on another matter and she kindly informed me that the Milwaukee Public Library System just ordered two books! A very quick response to a request. I’m looking forward to seeing the books in circulation!

In two months…

Posted on May 26, 2014 by karenevoss

In the last two months, my book has slowly found its way into the world. That’s All I Got can be sold online through Henschel Haus Books as a paperback and Amazon.com as a paperback and e-book in Kindle format. I’ve also sold them personally as paperbacks.

I’ve held book signings during a Higher Brain Living meetup, at my friends’ house, twice at my local YMCA, and twice during monthly church dinners. I’ve sold single copies to my neighbors and a few friends. In a way, I’ve partnered with Udana Yoga and Wellness to sell a few copies there (I’ll be having a book signing event here in the near future). I’ve gifted a copy to my cousin at a funeral home. More recently, I sold a copy at the cemetery on my husband’s 45th birthday (this is and isn’t the unlikeliest spot to reacquaint with an old friend & finding out she hadn’t found a way yet to buy the book.

These opportunities mark only the beginning. A couple of places (and soon more): Barnes & Noble Corporate Offices and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) have been sent review copies to review and approve. Once approved, opportunities follow. Barnes & Noble can then carry the paperback in stores (you can already order it online). I’m waiting on AFSP to approve so I can possibly have the book used a resource for various programs related to suicide and bereavement (relative to suicide or tragedy). This way the book can reach more people and help more lives…either to inspire or heal.

Suicide & Mental Health

Posted on May 4, 2014 by karenevoss

A Chicago Fire episode (A Heavy Weight aired 4/15/14) touched on something that people deal with everyday, though often not talked about, the loss of someone to suicide. It’s not just portrayed for TV, it happens in real life. They touched on not seeing the signs, but there aren’t always signs shown; I know this from personal experience. The person referred to suffered from a mental illness, depression, which no one knew about except her family (so someone said). People can hide symptoms, to a point, and even those seeking treatment don’t always live well enough to win the battle of the mind.

How many people know that May is Mental Health Awareness Month?

I’m sharing information I received in an email from the Mental Health America of Wisconsin along with their resources for proper crediting. You can find the entire article by going to: Mental Health America of Wisconsin mental health month newsletter.

Key Statistics
- Nearly 1-in-5 Americans over age 18 will experience a diagnosable mental health disorder in a given year (1), and nearly half will experience a mental health disorder in their lifetime (2).
- Approximately 70% of Americans experience physical and non-physical symptoms of stress, but only 37% think they are doing very well at managing stress.(3)
- More than 2/3 of American adults are either obese or overweight. (4)
- One in six Americans over age 18 binge drink. Excessive drinking (binge drinking and heavy drinking) causes approximately 80,000 deaths each year.(5)
- Nearly half (48%) of Americans report not getting enough sleep, with women feeling so more than men. (6)
- While it is estimated that approximately half of US adults use supplements, only 23% of supplements used were recommended by a health care professional. (7)
- Relationships and social connections are important. Low level of social interaction was found to have an impact on lifespan equivalent to smoking nearly a pack of cigarettes a day or being an alcoholic, and was twice as harmful as being obese. (8)
- Half of American adults do not get the recommended amounts of aerobic and muscle-strengthening exercise. (9)

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. (February 28, 2014). The NSDUH Report: State Estimates of Adult Mental Illness from the 2011 and 2012 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health. Rockville, MD.
Kessler RC, Berglund PA, Demler O, Jin R, Walters EE. Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R).
American Psychological Association. (2012) Impact of Stress. [Online] [Accessed on 27th March 2014] http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2012/impact-report.pdf.
Flegal KM, Carroll MD, Kit BK, Ogden CL. Prevalence of obesity and trends in the distribution of body mass index among US adults, 1999-2010.JAMA. 2012;307:491-7.
http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/BingeDrinking/index.html
The Better Sleep Council. (April 2013) Survey: Americans know how to get better sleep-but don’t act on it. [Online] [Accessed on 27th March 2014] http://bettersleep.org/better-sleep/the-science-of-sleep/sleep-statistics-research/better-sleep-survey/
Bailey RL, Gahche JJ, Miller PE, Thomas RP, Dwyer JT. Why US adults use dietary supplements. JAMA. 2013;173(5):355-61.
Holt-Lunstad J, Smith TB, Layton JB (2010) Social Relationships and Mortality Risk: A Meta-analytic Review. PLoS Med 7(7): e1000316. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000316
Schoenborn CA, Adams PF, Peregoy JA. Health behaviors of adults: United States, 2008–2010. National Center for Health Statistics. Vital Health Statistics 10(257). 2013.

Break the stigma. Mental illness is for real. Suicide is for real. Become educated and talk about it. You might be that person who saves a life or reaches out for saving. Don’t be the one who asks, Why?

Please Review

Posted on May 4, 2014 by karenevoss

If you have chosen to buy a copy of my book (Kindle or paperback) and have read it, are in the process of reading it, or have yet to start, I have a favor to ask.

Please log into Amazon.com and review it for me. Click on the link below for quick access.

Review on Amazon.com

I’d appreciate your review and it only takes minutes. Reviews may boost sales, but they may also help someone who hesitates to heal or who requires some help.

Thank you!
K.E.Voss

That's All I Got!

Thrival: A Widow's Journey After Suicide