This week on #SPSM Chat co-hosts Rudy Caseres (@RudyCaseres) and Danielle Glick (@DanielleGlick) discuss “Suicide in Marginalized Communities” with guest Kimya N. Dennis, PhD (@KimyaNDennisPhD).
Watch as we discuss issues such as:
How should we approach suicide prevention differently in disadvantaged/marginalized populations?
What role does the criminal justice system play in suicide rates?
What are barriers that keep people of color under-represented in suicide prevention research and advocacy?
What are examples of effective versus performative actions towards diversity in organizations?
Links to Dr. Dennis’s Work:
A Courageous Conversation Regarding Suicide in the African American Community (Facebook Live interview mentioned during the live-stream)
Shattering Mental Health Stereotypes: A Conversation with Dr. Kimya N. Dennis
Minority Suicides Rates, Childhood Emotional Neglect, Parents Rising
Connecting Our Communities with Medical-Health Professionals
Minority Mental Health: Important Every Month and Every Day
Suicide Isn’t Just A ‘White People Thing”
Criminal InJustice: Self-Harm and Suicide Among Blacks ~ Redefining and Re-categorizing Behaviors
How Communities Decide ‘Enough is Enough’
*Watch SPSM Chat live every Sunday 6pm PT/9pm ET at Twitter.com/spsmchat. All past episodes can be viewed on-demand on the SPSM YouTube channel, Facebook page, and at spsmchat.com.
**SPSM Chat includes content about suicide and other experiences that may be traumatizing to you. You may experience strong or overwhelming emotions as a result. If you find yourself in distress or crisis, we encourage you to seek out support that works for you. Many people find it helpful to talk to a friend, family member, or someone else they trust.
If you would like formal crisis support, you can call National Suicide Prevention Lifeline ‘1-800-273-TALK (8255)’, Trans Lifeline at 877-565-8860 (U.S.) or 877-330-6366 (Canada), or The Trevor Project at 866-488-7386. If you don’t like talking on the phone, you can text HOME to 741741 to get to Crisis Text Line, or you can try Lifeline Crisis Chat. If you’d like to talk to a peer, warmline.org contains links to warmlines in the United States. If you’re not in the U.S., you can go to https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/ for a connection to crisis centers around the world.
Many of these resources could utilize restrictive interventions, like active rescues (wellness or welfare checks) involving law enforcement or emergency services. A warmline is least likely to do this, but still might have these policies. You can ask if this is a possibility at any point in your conversation if this is a concern for you.
The following do not implement any restrictive interventions for people considering suicide:
Peerly Human online support groups: https://peerlyhuman.blogspot.com/
Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860 (U.S.) or 877-330-6366 (Canada)**
Kimya N. Dennis, Ph.D. is a criminologist and sociologist as well as an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary educator, community advocate, researcher, and consultant. Dr. Dennis specializes in mental health, suicide and suicidal self-harm, law enforcement, criminal justice system, sexual health and freedom, and reproductive health and freedom.
Dr. Dennis collaborates with colleagues and practitioners in a range of fields and areas of expertise. Dennis considers interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary collaborations important for the development and sharing of knowledge and resources. Dennis is active in the community including hosting community events, presenting at community events, and on board of directors for organizations.
Dr. Dennis does interviews and guest columns for organizations such as Mental Health America of Virginia; outlets such as HuffPost Blog, ThinkProgress.org, Laura Carroll.com; newspapers Winston-Salem Chronicle, Winston-Salem Journal, Richmond Free Press; and 88.5 WFDD NPR, All Things Considered on 89.7 WOSU NPR, Matt Townsend Show on BYU Radio, Strange Fruit on 89.3 WFPL.
Dr. Dennis’s work has local, national, and international influence. One example is Dr. Dennis conducted the first known study solely of childfree people, predominantly women, of the immediate African diaspora with 62 respondents in 6 countries. This is large and substantial for a study solely of childfree people of the immediate African diaspora. Dr. Dennis also created and teaches the first known college course about the childfree. Addressing childfree of African diaspora captures factors contributing to racial and ethnic variance and gender variance in sexual health and freedom, reproductive health and freedom, mental-emotional health, and physical health.
Suicide Prevention Social Media #SPSM 