Trigger Warning: This content contains discussion of suicide and suicidal thoughts. Please scroll to the bottom for available resources.
This might be the most challenging episode of “Shining Light on Shadows” that we have hosted so far. Cindy Hsu, a news anchor for WCBS TV in New York will be our guest. After suffering from severe depression, she survived a suicide attempt, and woke up in the hospital confused and a little embarrassed. She shared her story publicly in 2021 and has gone on to be a strong advocate for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention.
Dawn and I have both had our own experiences with suicidal ideation. We will have a VERY candid conversation about suicide on Thursday, October 24 at 7pm ET / 6pm CT. If you can’t watch live, or if watching will be too difficult for you, please watch later in a time and place where you’re ready to do so.
You can watch the live show or recording on this website
or watch and comment on social media:
*We wont' know the exact urls for Twitter or Instagram until we go live. For now, these links go to Neil and Dawn's main pages.
Cindy Hsu
In her blog post, "Forever Grateful for My Second Chance," Cindy writes about being grateful to be alive and spending time with her college-aged daughter.
“I just returned home to Manhattan from visiting my daughter Rosie at Cornell, where we enjoyed an amazing Fall Break together. She’s a senior, hoping to be a vet one day and I’m so grateful to be alive to watch her grow into such an independent, compassionate young lady.
I almost ruined everything in 2015 when severe depression hit and I attempted suicide.”
Neil Parekh
The title of my blog post is pretty stark, “Can You Imagine Yourself Stepping in Front of a Bus? I Did.” I have never shared these stories publicly, but inspired by her candor, I’m going to talk about the two times that I had a very specific thought about harming myself.
It was 2006 when I pictured myself stepping in front of a bus. About five years earlier, I imagined myself standing on a bridge. Talking about it is a good thing, right?
Dawn Helmrich
That’s actually the title of Dawn’s blog post, “Talking About Suicide and Suicidal Ideation Is a Good Thing.”
She writes about “driving myself to a set of train tracks and sitting on them, willing a train to come and plow me over.”
She also wrote, “Talking about and acknowledging that suicidal ideation and suicide attempts might actually help people who are facing heavy bouts of depression.”
Dawn and I launched this twice a month show (the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month) in order to help reduce the stigma associated with mental health. In the coming weeks and months, we’ll be joined by friends and colleagues who are working through or have worked through their own challenges, practitioners who can speak to some of the issues faced by their clients and advocates who can talk about a range of different issues.
The show is produced by Digimentors on a pro bono basis.
If you or someone you know have had thoughts of hurting themselves, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by calling 988 for 24/7 free and confidential support. You can also visit 988lifeline.org.
Resources / Relevant Links
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Helpline
800-950-6264 Or text "HelpLine" to 6264; nami.org
Mental Health America Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org; mhanational.org Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) National Sexual Assault Hotline 800-656-HOPE (4673); rainn.org
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