You Are Not a Burden

Calm it Down

Chad Lawson

Health & Fitness, Mental Health

4.8 • 678 Ratings

🗓️ 13 September 2022

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Unicorns and suicide have something in common: they're both based on fiction. We like to think of suicide as something that doesn't happen to real people, that it's a myth. But the truth is, suicide is all too real. Every day, people of all ages and backgrounds take their own lives. And while we may not know them personally, their deaths have a ripple effect, touching the lives of those who knew and loved them. September is Suicide Awareness Month. If we're going to prevent suicide, we need to stop treating it like a myth and start acknowledging the very real pain and suffering that leads someone to take their own life. Only then can we hope to provide the support and resources that those in need so desperately deserve.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Let's play a game of words, shall we?
0:05.0	What do unicorns, Batman, leprechauns, the perfect chocolate chip cookie, and suicide have in common?
0:17.0	Strange, I know, bear with me.
0:19.0	The answer, they're all make-believe.
0:24.4	It's true.
0:25.2	You'll never see a real unicorn because they don't exist outside of stories and children's
0:30.5	imaginations.
0:32.2	Leprechauns, they're only found in Irish folklore, and the perfect chocolate chip cookie is more of an ideal
0:40.0	than a reality, though I'm still trying to find the perfect one.
0:44.0	Even Batman is fictional.
0:46.7	He is a comic book character who was created by writers and artists.
0:50.8	And suicide, well, definitely real.
0:59.3	It's something that happens to other people and other families, in other towns.
1:07.9	It's seen as an abstract concept rather than a very real or very tragic problem.
1:13.3	You see, in some ways it's easier to deal with imaginary things that it is to confront the harsh realities of life. The make-believe isn't going to make problems like suicide
1:20.3	go away. Only real conversations, only real action is going to do this. Suicide can often be seen as a way to escape
1:32.1	from reality. In a way, all of these words represent an escape from the dullness of the everyday
1:39.0	world. They offer a chance to imagine something different, whether it's a creature that doesn't exist or a desired scenario that's out of reach.
1:51.1	It's a way to escape, but not a realistic one.
1:56.5	Look, I know we shouldn't talk about suicide.
1:58.7	It's taboo.
1:59.6	It's off limits.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Chad Lawson, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Chad Lawson and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.