WARNING: This episode has no easy answers. Tied with our previous conversation on mental health, in today’s episode GroWise Be Well Founder Sarah Southwell and Wordslinger Kayli Maffei discuss suicide. After acknowledging that this is a sensitive topic, Sarah poses a profound question; should those people who have exhausted their options and who don’t want to be on our planet anymore be allowed to leave it? While many people see suicide as a selfish act, we explore why it might be selfish to hold people back. We then talk about whether people with serious thoughts of suicide are in the right mental state to be thinking clearly — and who has the right to say what the right mental state looks like? As our conversation goes, Kayli opens up about her experience with bipolar disorder and how she often didn’t have the energy to seek help. Kayli and Sarah share their views on helping those who are going through mental hardship. Their insights tap into another tricky question; whose responsibility is it to help people? Throughout the episode, Sarah and Kayli highlight the fact that no one is “normal” and that everyone faces mental health challenges. At the end of the episode, they touch on why you should reach out to loved ones for help — it might be the first step to pulling yourself out of the pit. Tune in as we unpack this intricate topic and find out exactly what we could and should be doing to help those around us.

Key Points From This Episode:

• Sarah introduces the sensitive topic of suicide and euthanasia.
• How many people only discuss touchy subjects in groups who already agree with their opinions.
• Why our historic moment means that the status quo has “never been so weak.”
• Whether people who contemplate suicide are in the right mind to judge their situation. 
• How we may not know what is best for people who are suffering from mental illness. 
• Permitting people to leave our planet, especially when our wishes are the only thing that’s keeping them here.
• Being so low that you don’t have the energy to seek help; whose responsibility is it to get you help?
• Exploring the limits to the help you can provide to someone contemplating suicide. 
• Focusing on what we can change and make better.
• The importance of having a conversation about what’s best for a loved one who is suffering.     
• Exploding the myth that everyone is normal; everyone has mental issues. 
• Not letting your mental illness lie to you and reaching to loved ones for help.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Sarah Southwell LinkedIn

Kayli Maffei Linkedin

GroWise Be Well