In anticipation of Suicide Prevention Month (September), host Mary Treacy O’Keefe invites Nancy Rappaport, MD, to help all of us to understand the tragic dimensions of suicide. Dr. Rappaport discusses her compelling book, In Her Wake: A Child Psychiatrist Explores the Mystery of Her Mother’s Suicide, written from her perspective as both a child psychiatrist and as a daugther who lost her mother to suicide. In addition to sharing her own powerful story, Dr. Rappaport offers suggestions about ways to help prevent this tragic event; including how to detect the warning signs that often proceed a suicide attempt. She also offers sage advice to families who are grieving the loss of their loved one to suicide.
“I didn’t want to turn my mother into a case study,” says Dr. Nancy Rappaport of her book. While her mother may or may not have been Bi-Polar, Nancy chooses instead to focus on her personal feelings toward her mother, and how her loss changed her life. Currently 19 years older than her own mother was when she died, Dr. Rappaport examines her life with Mary Treacy O’Keefe: Has she surpassed her mother? What’s it like to share her mother’s looks as well as her name?
What are the signs to look for when someone is contemplating suicide? Are the treatments for clinical Depression and/or suicidal tendencies the same or different? How should someone you know, on the verge of suicide, be treated? Learn the answers to all of these questions and many more!
At the end of the show, host Mary Treacy O’Keefe shares a “meant to be” story about a comforting “sign” that occured three times within the week after the suicide of her son’s best friend.
Additional helpful resources: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-TALK, www.save.org, and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention