Changing How We Talk About Suicide and Care For Our Friends and Ourselves

How we talk about, approach, and care for suicide is a pretty big deal. Suicide is a tragic and intense topic, and it’s also a very real and human-centered topic. That’s why we want to explore the ways in which we can reframe and change how we address it in a more compassionate sense—and how we, on a person-to-person level, can care for ourselves, friends, and loved ones who might be thinking about or considering suicide. So today, we have the honor of hearing and learning from suicide prevention expert Shelby Rowe. Shelby will walk us through everything we mentioned and she’ll also touch on why the suicide rate is notably higher for different communities of people—specifically BIPOC communities.

Shelby Rowe is an award-winning artist, mother of three sons, suicide attempt survivor, and director of one of the nation’s largest federally funded suicide prevention projects. She is the recipient of the 2021 American Association of Suicidology Transforming Lived Experience Award and the 2016 Chickasaw Nation Dynamic Woman of the Year. Ms. Rowe has been a leader in the suicide prevention movement at the local, state, and national levels since 2007.

This episode is a part of our You Are Not a Burden campaign in honor of September being Suicide Prevention Month. You can learn more about the campaign by going to youarenotaburden.com.