Lou Tice Looking at a Alarming Trend and his thoughts on this!!

"Some End-of-the-Week Thoughts"


There seems to have been a spate of suicides in the last few weeks, most especially in that most vulnerable of age groups, teenagers and young adults. A very talented young woman committed a very public suicide, just last week at the University of Washington. Those closest to her are still having a hard time understanding why.

The United States military is experiencing an explosion of suicides amongst personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, far beyond what has been considered "normal" in such wartime situations. In the last few weeks, several teenagers have ended their promising young lives, as a result of "cyber-bullying" - that instant proliferation of vicious "text assault" by their peers.

Do I have solutions? Well, just like you, I have ideas. I am convinced that a short-term "band-aid" approach can only offer short-term help. What is needed is an early intervention approach. It starts with teaching our children, at the earliest of ages, to value and respect each other. Parents, grandparents, older siblings - it is our responsibility to help guide those younger citizens in what is acceptable behavior. More than that, it is our accountability to teach them how to "play nice in the sandbox" with each other.

And, I believe, we are accountable to get outside of ourselves and pay attention to those around us. If we take the time to stop, watch and listen, I believe we will raise our own awareness of those who are silently screaming for help, and be able to offer an uplifting word, or some kind, gentle attention.

The downward spiral is an early-warning system, and early recognition can provide the opportunity to stop the slide, and work to bring yourself back to the "surface," perhaps avoiding a full-blown depression. This early detection also gives you the opportunity to get help from someone with professional experience.

Life is precious, and as far as I can tell, we only get one shot at it here on earth. We all have contributions to make. The talents you possess have a purpose for being here on earth.

And so do you.


Lou Tice
The Pacific Institute
www.thepacificinstitute.com



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