My brother, Jim, would be fifty-four today. We lost him to suicide seven years ago. Like many before, he lost a battle with depression. As of 2018*, suicide was the tenth leading cause of death in the United States. That works out to an average of one
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Today is World Mental Health Day. Every October 10, the World Health Organization asks those working in the mental-health arena to talk about what we do, and discuss ways we can improve and expand mental-health care for everyone, everywhere. This year, the WHO is focused on suicide
Read more →My first book, When Postpartum Packs a Punch: Fighting Back and Finding Joy, recently celebrated one year at market. A personal account of my encounter with postpartum depression, and revelatory of other parents’ journeys through perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, it’s gathered praise from the parents, experts,
Read more →This morning I’m sipping tea from my wedding china: the sleek-and-elegant Noel Alabaster, designed by the late Kate Spade. News outlets were quick to tell us she ended her life. It’s easy, in the wake of suicide, to look for explanations and labels, to tie things up
Read more →It’s been almost a decade since I left the East Coast. Mostly, I don’t miss it. That is, until I fall back into the rhythm unique to the corridor between D.C. and Boston. I had a chance to do that on a recent trip to Philadelphia, to
Read more →Suicide is one of the most uncomfortable topics around. If we say we lost someone to suicide, it might be perceived as a weakness, a selfish act, a stain on their character. Not so if they died from cancer or heart disease. But like other ailments, suicide is uninvited. Suicide and
Read more →If you’re a mom or a dad, you’ve known the otherworldly time of pregnancy, childbirth, and just beyond. Whether a new parent or a veteran, you understand that the postpartum season is incomparable. It brings the gift of new life, the fun of seeing your family grow,
Read more →Dear Jim, Three years ago this summer, you warred with the cruelest of enemies–depression. He was a sinister thief of your thoughts. He tried to make you unrecognizable even to those of us who knew you best. He made it difficult for you to eat, sleep, and
Read more →Suicide is an earthquake. Sudden, jolting and catastrophic, it ruptures the lives of those it leaves behind. The aftershocks ripple into subsequent generations. We spend years navigating our emotional landscapes, seismically realigned by chasms of guilt, confusion and regret. We build bridges when we share our grief,
Read more →I recently started blogging for the Huffington Post. My first piece published there is an essay I wrote about my brother. The essay is below, followed by a link to it on HuffPo. My brother, Jim, died by suicide on a bright day in early September, ending
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