Categories: News
Grief recovery specialist and author, Kristi Hugstad, talks suicide and overdoses contributing to drop in U.S. life expectancy.
Grief recovery specialist and author, Kristi Hugstad, talks suicide and overdoses contributing to drop in U.S. life expectancy.
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Book review | 'Beneath the Surface' is the book you hope you'll never need By Terri Schlichenmeyer | For The Guam Daily Post
Three hundred sixty-five days. That’s the amount of time we all had last year: 52 weeks of 24/7, but your friend had a 2019 that seemed to last forever. He is, in fact, still struggling and you want to help, but how? What can you say or do to get him through? Start by reading “Beneath the Surface” by Kristi Hugstad and tackle today first. “I was a teenager once, too!” |
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Depression and suicide are not topics Americans like to talk about. But author and educator and grief recovery specialist, Kristi Hugstad, believes that is precisely the reason we do need to talk about them.
"It's not an easy topic to discuss. It's awkward and uncomfortable to bring it up, which is why we tend to avoid it," says Hugstad. "But talking about it could save someone's life, especially if you know how to recognize the signs of depression and how to discuss it." |
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Local author Kristi Hugstad will publish her new book, Beneath the Surface: A Teen’s Guide to Reaching Out When You or Your Friend Is in Crisis, on Sept.10, which is also World Suicide Prevention Day. September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness month.
Hugstad has dedicated her life to helping abolish the stigma of mental illness and suicide ever since her husband, who struggled with clinical depression for years, died by suicide in 2012. |
While growing up has never been easy, today’s teens face unique challenges. In addition to dealing with cliques and peer pressure, they live in a fast-changing social media world that exposes and makes vulnerable as much as it connects. Factor in mass shootings, daily reports about climate change, and the prospect of crippling debt from college loans, and it’s no wonder that rates of teen depression, anxiety, and, tragically, suicide are soaring.
Anonymous $1 million donation helps suicide-prevention author spread advice to teens
The Orange County Register got wind of my suicide prevention campaign where $1 Million dollars were donated to buy copies of my latest book, “R U OK? Teen Depression & Suicide”
The $1 million donation allows 100,000 copies of “R U OK?” to be shipped to schools, youth organizations, recovery centers and hospitals. Check out the article 🦋 https://goo.gl/57hJHB 🦋 and sign your school or organization up HERE
The Orange County Register got wind of my suicide prevention campaign where $1 Million dollars were donated to buy copies of my latest book, “R U OK? Teen Depression & Suicide”
The $1 million donation allows 100,000 copies of “R U OK?” to be shipped to schools, youth organizations, recovery centers and hospitals. Check out the article 🦋 https://goo.gl/57hJHB 🦋 and sign your school or organization up HERE
MOVING BEYOND ONE OF ORANGE COUNTY'S MOST PUBLIC SUICIDES
"As the fourth anniversary of her husband’s suicide by train approaches, Kristi Hugstad looks from her condo in Dana Point to the railroad tracks across the bay where he perished."
"As the fourth anniversary of her husband’s suicide by train approaches, Kristi Hugstad looks from her condo in Dana Point to the railroad tracks across the bay where he perished."
O.C. WOMAN HELPS OTHERS GRIEVE THE LOSS OF ADDICTION
“They mourn the relationship, the escape, the distraction and the excitement they had with their substance,” [Hugstad] says. “They’ve given up not only their drug, but their entire lifestyle. I let them know it’s OK to miss all that — that it’s normal and healthy to grieve their addiction.” Hugstad’s efforts dovetail with several programs the Orange County Sheriff’s Department has in place to help keep people clean.
“They mourn the relationship, the escape, the distraction and the excitement they had with their substance,” [Hugstad] says. “They’ve given up not only their drug, but their entire lifestyle. I let them know it’s OK to miss all that — that it’s normal and healthy to grieve their addiction.” Hugstad’s efforts dovetail with several programs the Orange County Sheriff’s Department has in place to help keep people clean.
ONE MAN'S JOURNEY FROM A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN
"Positive and optimistic people tend to live healthier lifestyles. There are many paths to embrace that optimism, and Mark’s path shows that you can achieve it by changing your thinking. Mark took his grief and turned it into an opportunity to know himself better and to face the challenges of life with a renewed spirit and optimism."
"Positive and optimistic people tend to live healthier lifestyles. There are many paths to embrace that optimism, and Mark’s path shows that you can achieve it by changing your thinking. Mark took his grief and turned it into an opportunity to know himself better and to face the challenges of life with a renewed spirit and optimism."
KRISTI DISCUSSES MOVING THROUGH GRIEF WITH TANYA BROWN (sister of Nicole Brown Simpson):
LETTER: CREATING A SPACE FOR HOPE AFTER SUICIDE BY TRAIN
"You may even find there are gifts that come from your grief. And in time, with a lot of hard work, you will discover that you are now capable of loving more deeply than you ever imagined possible. You will look at life—and the whole world—differently. The little things matter far less, and the people who are there for you become far more important.
Grief is not the enemy. Grief is the teacher."
"You may even find there are gifts that come from your grief. And in time, with a lot of hard work, you will discover that you are now capable of loving more deeply than you ever imagined possible. You will look at life—and the whole world—differently. The little things matter far less, and the people who are there for you become far more important.
Grief is not the enemy. Grief is the teacher."
SUICIDE BY TRAIN: SHARED TRAGEDIES UPEND STRING OF LIVES
"In Orange County, where nearly 68 miles of track snake through neighborhoods from San Clemente to Anaheim – and where 58 people killed themselves on train tracks from 2002 to 2012 – the rate of suicides by train is slightly higher."
"In Orange County, where nearly 68 miles of track snake through neighborhoods from San Clemente to Anaheim – and where 58 people killed themselves on train tracks from 2002 to 2012 – the rate of suicides by train is slightly higher."
THIS WOMAN LOST HER HUSBAND TO SUICIDE. HERE'S THE MESSAGE SHE WANTS TO SHARE.
"My husband Bill was a bodybuilder who outwardly seemed like he had the perfect life. He was 6'2", 250 pounds, he had this perfect physique. He watched what he ate. He exercised. So when he talked about taking his life, it was beyond my comprehension. I was very naive. I didn't understand how sick he was, and I honestly didn't take it seriously."
WIFE LINKS HUSBAND'S SUICIDE TO STEROID AND GHB USE
"I’ll never truly knew what was going on inside his head or how he could have hated himself and life so much to do what he did. I’d always suspected that Bill’s use of anabolic steroids when he was a body builder might have impacted his health. But after researching the effects of steroids and other drugs, he’d taken earlier in his life, I was absolutely stunned. I’m convinced that Bill’s illness was caused in large part by his years of drug use."
"I’ll never truly knew what was going on inside his head or how he could have hated himself and life so much to do what he did. I’d always suspected that Bill’s use of anabolic steroids when he was a body builder might have impacted his health. But after researching the effects of steroids and other drugs, he’d taken earlier in his life, I was absolutely stunned. I’m convinced that Bill’s illness was caused in large part by his years of drug use."