303 SelfWork: What Keeps Suicidal Thoughts Secret? And What Can We Do About It? A Conversation with Grieving Mother and Advocate Erin Gallagher
The SelfWork Podcast
Margaret Robinson Rutherford PhD
4.8 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 30 September 2022
⏱️ 53 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
I’m so delighted to bring you this interview in recognition of Suicide Awareness Month. Why? Erin Gallagher, current interim executive director of This Is My Brave, is going to tell you about the life and suicidal death of her son, Jay. His life was ended after his high school had been alerted there were warning signs – big ones – very alarming ones – and because he didn’t “seem” depressed and denied it, they ignored these signs. They didn’t dig any further than Jay saying, “No I’m not depressed.”
Erin has poured herself into learning more about why this school counselor didn’t search further. Why Jay was believed so readily. Our paths met because of my work in perfectly hidden depression. Her discoveries are achingly true: one being that even those who’ve sought therapy don’t report suicidal thoughts – due to fear, stigma, or their own denial that’s being pressured day in and day out by intrusive thoughts of dying that can invade even the most “perfect” seeming of lives. Please listen – but listen with care. I am honored to be her friend and greatly respect what she’s done and is doing about Jay’s death and how it occurred.
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Erin Gallagher's own story for This Is My Brave's first high school performance.
You can hear more about this and many other topics by listening to my podcast, SelfWork with Dr. Margaret Rutherford. Subscribe to my website and receive my weekly newsletter including a blog post and podcast! If you’d like to join my FaceBook closed group, then click here and answer the membership questions! Welcome!
My book entitled Perfectly Hidden Depression has been published and you can order here! Its message is specifically for those with a struggle with strong perfectionism which acts to mask underlying emotional pain. But the many self-help techniques included can be used by everyone who chooses to begin to address emotions long hidden away that are clouding and sabotaging your current life. And it’s available in paperback, eBook or as an audiobook!
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is Selfwork, and I'm Dr. Margaret Rutherford. |
| 0:14.1 | At Selfwork, we'll discuss psychological and emotional issues common in today's world |
| 0:19.0 | and what to do about them. |
| 0:20.4 | I'm Dr. Margaret, and Selfwork is a podcast dedicated to you taking just a few minutes today |
| 0:26.2 | for your own Selfwork. |
| 0:29.8 | Hello and welcome to Selfwork. |
| 0:31.6 | I'm Dr. Margaret Rutherford, a clinical psychologist, and I wanted to extend the walls on my practice |
| 0:36.4 | to many of you. |
| 0:38.0 | Maybe you're already in therapy and you're enjoying that kind of relationship, but you're |
| 0:42.4 | interested in hearing another viewpoint, or maybe even as I hear a lot of people do, |
| 0:46.6 | bringing self-work topics into your own session. |
| 0:49.6 | Wanted to reach those of you who might be looking for answers, you've just been diagnosed |
| 0:53.2 | with something or you're having relationship issues or just life issues that you're not |
| 0:57.9 | sure what to do with. |
| 0:59.4 | And also to a third group of you, those of you who are pretty darn skeptical about mental |
| 1:04.6 | health treatment and think that really reaching out for it is weak or means you're fragile, |
| 1:11.9 | just give self-work a listen, and I think you might change your mind. |
| 1:16.1 | Before we get to a very, very, poignant interview, here's a quick message from Mag Breakthrough. |
| 1:29.4 | If you don't want to accidentally take a laxative and have the worst day of your life, listen |
| 1:33.8 | to this. |
| 1:34.8 | If you're currently taking a magnesium supplement, the chances are you're flushing it down |
| 1:38.4 | the toilet, and I mean that literally. |
... |
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