I told her I wanted to kill myself… and I wanted and needed help.

And, essentially, she told me that I was sh*t out of luck. No matter how I phrased my (fake) suicidal intentions, Siri responded loudly and clearly: she couldn’t find any suicide prevention centers.

From March of this year:

Me: I want to shoot myself.

Siri: I didn’t find any suicide prevention centers.

Me: Can you try harder to find a suicide prevention center?

Siri: I couldn’t find any suicide prevention centers.

Me: Is there a phone number to call if I want to kill myself?

Siri: I couldn’t find any suicide prevention centers.

She was useless. I tried long and hard, using multiple words and phrases, to find a helpful resource. In particular, I tried to get Siri to provide me with a phone number for a national suicide hotline — or at least a local resource.

Siri found me a few motorcycle dealers (why?!!), but nothing to stop me from killing myself. So has anything changed?

Has Siri Learned Anything New?

Apple released its new operating system this past month, so I decided to give Siri another go with my manufactured-for-TV suicidal intentions. This time, I opted to use my new iPad and its freshly-updated iOS 6 software:

As you can tell, she’s still not a big help. Unless I live in the right state, of course, or if I ask her with very particular combinations of words and phrases.

So now, let’s investigate a bit more this time: whose fault is this? Did Apple do wrong?

Who’s to Blame? Siri or the Local Search Websites?

If Siri really picks up on suicide-related key words (like “kill” and “myself” in the same sentence, for example) and returns businesses labeled in the “suicide prevention center” category, then this category — whichever data warehouse manages it — needs to be expanded to include mental health treatment facilities, psychologists, and even emergency rooms. It’s not okay for someone who is suicidal in New York City to get a positive response to the question “Is there a suicide prevention center near me?” while someone in Pennsylvania gets nothing. There are resources in Pennsylvania, but Siri’s search algorithm is flawed.

I worked in online search-based marketing for three years. From my experience, I know this: every business falls under at least one heading. To illustrate this point, let’s talk dinner for a moment.

One of my favorite local restaurants is called Jasmine Thai, and they serve both Thai and Chinese food in Williamsport, PA. I ate there last week.

Directory websites (like yelp.com, yellowpages.com, or yellowbook.com) classify businesses based on category. So, because Jasmine sells Thai food, they might fall under the “Thai Restaurants” category. Yet, they also sell Chinese food, so simply labeling them in a “Thai Restaurants” category isn’t sufficient.

Think of those old-fashioned phone books you probably no longer use. There’s a heading for almost everything, right? Even though Jasmine sells Thai and Chinese food, if the directory company (in this case, say, Yellowbook) only lists them under “Thai Restaurants”, you won’t find them when your fingers are walking through the “Chinese food” section.

Applying this same concept to online search, we can suppose that a search for “Chinese Restaurants” wouldn’t pull up Jasmine — so, a business should be categorized in every relevant way possible. Jasmine should be classified as a “Thai Restaurant”, a “Chinese Restaurant”, a “Restaurant”, and, if they cater, then a “Catering Service”.

My point: the more headings, the better. It produces more relevant results for the consumer.

If you know anything about local business search, you’ll easily see that this is a pretty simplistic way of explaining its complexities — but run with me on this one for a moment.

Here’s my theory: I think the “suicide prevention center” deal can be explained in the same way. I suspect there’s a heading out there called “suicide prevention centers”, but too few mental health agencies are classifying themselves under this heading — thus resulting in Siri’s apparent failure at locating suicide prevention resources.

Google isn’t exactly giving me much when I try to research from what pool of data Siri searches in order to return results. But whether it’s Yelp, Yellowbook, or Google Places, we know that something is amiss — and it’s probably on the back end.

Solutions for Siri and Suicide

There are two possible solutions here. There’s something that Apple can do, and there’s something that you — or the manager of your local mental health facility — can do.

1. Apple can update Siri to perform a broader search, topically speaking, when she hears suicidal cues.

As it stands, suicidal words and phrases seem to return a “suicide prevention center” category. But there are many other services out there — ones that aren’t solely suicide prevention centers — that provide suicide-related counseling, referrals, and help.

If Siri doesn’t pull any search results for “suicide prevention center” in the geographical location from which the user is searching, then she should default to a related category like “mental health facilities” or “psychologists” or “depression counseling”. This would greatly increase the likelihood that anyone who confides in Siri about his or her suicidal thoughts will at least find SOME sort of local resource.

Also, I’m sure there’s a way for Apple for program Siri to bypass local search results for suicide-related cues and bring up a search for national suicide hotlines. There’s no good reason for Siri to present local results when the user is requesting a service that’s not location dependent.

2. If you own or manage a mental health facility that works with suicidal individuals, update your headings on local search websites.

Search for yourself using key words like “suicide prevention center”. Not just on Google, but on specialized local search websites like Yelp. And Yellowbook. And ZipLocal.

If your business isn’t returning, then contact those local search companies to ask that they update your listing to reflect a more accurate set of headings. Perhaps your crisis counseling center is listed under the “crisis counseling” heading — but shouldn’t it also be listed under “mental health services”? And perhaps “psychologists”? And “suicide prevention centers”?

Get those headings added. Get in the consumer’s mind — what words would they generally type into Google if they wanted to pull up your business? Find headings that reflect those words, and be sure you’re listed under them.

If Apple neglects my plea to change their algorithm (likely!), at least your own actions might help. Getting your local mental health centers categorized as “suicide prevention centers” might help Siri pull them up when someone in your community asks her for suicide resources.

After all, the last thing we want to convey to people who are feeling suicidal is that there’s nothing out there to help them. Right?

And Siri, still, does just that.

photo credit: Sean MacEntee

It might be your friend, your spouse, or one of your parents. It might be a co-worker, your sister, or your child.

If you’ve never had a panic attack, however, it can be difficult to imagine how panic feels. Thus, it can be difficult to comfort someone who is legitimately panicking.

In a way, I can only speak for myself. I’m not a doctor. I’m not a therapist. I’m just another woman with panic disorder, after all.

But thankfully, I’ve established a pretty large support network in my nine or so years of dealing with panic. Friends, family members, and internet acquaintances all seem to agree on one thing: “help” can sometimes hurt.

The quotation marks are intentional. To the non-panicker, “just calm down” might be the first phrase to trip out of your mouth during a friend’s surprise panic attack. We know you mean well — really, we do.

But phrases like that have the potential to fan the fight-or-flight flames. Find out how in today’s video:

To everyone who took the time to watch this video: thank you for taking a solid step toward better understanding and supporting someone you love.

For the World of Psychology post that inspired this video, click here. For more on understanding a loved one’s panic disorder, check out this About.com guide.

photo credit: vanessa_hutd

Maybe you can. If there’s a salesperson knocking on your door, you could run away and hide in the bedroom until he goes away.

But not all masters of persuasion are dressed up in suits and ties to sell volcano insurance. We actually fall victim to many sales pitches each and every day — from television, from magazines, from friends, and from family.

It’s not your fault, really — it’s part of our nature to behave in a manner that makes us susceptible to certain persuasive techniques. In fact, it’s common courtesy.

Let’s say you head out to the bar with a friend. First round of drinks is on you.

Then what? Who gets the next round?

Your friend does, of course. Obviously. It’s only fair, right? I mean, you spent five dollars on your drinking buddy…now, he almost has to spend five dollars on you, too. Wouldn’t your time at the bar get a little uncomfortable if he didn’t reciprocate?

The need to reciprocate is powerful. We feel it in our gut. In most cases, we reciprocate automatically.

And that is just one of six under-the-radar methods that can used to convince you to part with your money, your values, and your beliefs.

Find out how these six methods work — and how to identify and avoid them — in this week’s video:

This video was inspired by this Psychcentral Library article by Steve Bressert, PhD.

photo credit: C_Dave

You will find a bewildering number of results. Over 4 million, in fact. (Protip: if your anxiety stems from information overload…well, searching for anxiety management techniques on this massive internet of ours might make things worse…right?)

So…if you’re looking for effective anxiety management techniques, where should you start? What should you click on? Do you click on the very clinical-looking PDF document from a large university’s psychology department? Do you check out the tips on a local therapist’s website? Do you check the Psychcentral Library? The NIMH website? Should you read something written by a doctor? A psychiatrist?

I’m neither a doctor nor a psychiatrist. I’m just a plain old anxiety sufferer like the rest of you. Why should you care about what I have to say?¹

ON AUTHENTICITY

Now, let me say this: I think there are some fantastic resources out there that are written by mental health professionals. Many of those resources are right here on Psychcentral. A therapist’s perspective on anxiety management and recovery is invaluable.

But earlier this week, a few of my Twitter followers were left a bit stymied by this blog post about dealing with anxiety. Several said that the advice didn’t feel authentic or realistic. One friend on Twitter said the advice felt “simple and condescending.”

So, for today’s video, I set off to cherry-pick the best of the best anxiety management techniques from a few different Psychcentral blog posts (including the “simple and condescending” post mentioned above).

Now, I do realize that “best” is a very subjective word — but, as an anxiety sufferer myself who has tried virtually every type of therapy under the sun, I feel uniquely positioned to gossip about which tips are overrated and which have actually helped me to improve my own mental state.

I’m decidedly chatty in today’s video…so grab a delicious hot beverage, pretend we’re hanging out at the local coffee shop, and let’s have a conversation about how we handle anxiety and worry. I’ll tell you my anxiety stories if you tell me yours!

Here you go:

¹ I care about what you have to say, too. A lot, in fact…so, please share! Which of the above tips do you find to be most effective?

Further reading:

• http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2012/07/25/anxious-about-everything-6-ways-to-cope-with-anxiety/
• http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2009/10/19/ten-more-ways-to-lower-anxiety/
• http://blogs.psychcentral.com/parenting-tips/2012/07/americans-get-the-gold-medal-for-anxiety/
• http://psychcentral.com/lib/2011/accepting-and-overcoming-anxiety/

photo credit: sean dreilinger

Blogger Chato Stewart has so many Mental Health Heroes that it took me four videos to cover them all! He’s honored each of his self-selected heroes by caricaturing each hero and writing a bio in his or her honor on his blog, Mental Health Humor.

I’ve honored Chato for doing all of that honoring by compiling his artwork and bios into videos that show you the human hero and the cartoon hero back to back.

And now, because I don’t want the word “honor” (or any of its variants) to lose meaning, I’ll stop saying it! Ha. (On my honor.)

Check out the final video below:

Previously:

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3

Several of this week’s heroes suffer from either depression or bipolar disorder. (Although perhaps “suffer” is the wrong kind of terminology to use here — these folks are recovering and thriving!)

The caricatures are a lot of fun to look at and to compare with each Heroes’ original photograph. Kudos to Chato for this unique and creative way of honoring those who are involved in mental health advocacy!

You can watch the video below:

Previously:

• Part 1
• Part 2

Maybe it’s your favorite psychotherapist. Or your brother with PTSD. Or your Psych 101 instructor.

Blogger Chato Stewart has plenty. This week’s video honors the second batch of “Mental Health Heroes” that he selected and caricatured during the month of May. Did your favorite mental health hero make this week’s video?

The caricatures are a lot of fun to look at and to compare with each Heroes’ original photograph. Kudos to Chato for this unique and creative way of honoring those who are involved in mental health advocacy!

You can watch the video below. If you could add just one person as a mental health hero to Chato’s list, who would it be?

Is May over now? Well, yes.

Should we forget all about mental health awareness now? No. Of course not!

With that in mind, this week’s video honors 9 of the 33 “Mental Health Heroes” that Chato Stewart selected and caricatured during the month of May. Did your favorite mental health hero make this week’s video? (If not, patience! I promise the rest will come soon.)

The caricatures are a lot of fun to look at and to compare with each Heroes’ original photograph. Kudos to Chato for this unique and creative way of honoring those who are involved in mental health advocacy!

Watch the video below:

This week’s heroes include:

• Corinna West
• Lisa Chalkly
• Crystal Choate
• Donna Jenkins
• Muffy Walker
• Andy Behrman
• Don and Debra MacMannis
• Tracy Love
• Mary Ellen Copeland

Just kidding.

But did you stop for a second to look at the calendar? You know, just to make sure that May through September didn’t blindly pass you by?

You can’t find seasons at the Lost and Found

It’s true: you can miss an entire season if you’re not paying attention. Have you ever taken a shower (yes, I hope, but let me continue…) in which you’re completely blind to the fact that you’re even taking a shower until the second you shut off the tap?

This is what happens when we let our minds hang in the past or scurry to the future. We forget where we are, what we’re doing, and what the present moment holds for us.

I like showers. They’re warm and refreshing. But, sometimes, I miss them. And by “miss”, I mean this: an entire ten minutes of showertime passes until I realize that I’ve just completed a shower. I missed all the warmth. I missed all the refreshment.

You know what else I really like?

Summer. (That’d be summertime, thank you. See my name at the top of this post? Yeah. Just wanted to clear that up. My own self-esteem is nauseatingly mediocre, but that’s another day and another blog post.)

I love the warm weather. I love the flowers and the trees. I love the vacations and the camping and even the sticky air (sometimes).

I don’t want it to fly by without realizing it! Do you feel the same way? If so, this week’s video is for you:

This video is based on Christy Matta’s “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year? A Seasonal Mindfulness” post from her PsychCentral blog, Dialectical Behavior Therapy Exposed. Her latest book, The Stress Response, is available on Amazon.

photo credit: tommaync

When I first started trying to breathe diaphragmatically while under lots of stress in grad school, the whole effort was a miserable failure. Whenever I tried, even in the comfort of my own apartment, I felt like I wasn’t getting enough air. And that airless feeling, in turn, would usually trigger a panic attack.

Despite my perennial pessimism in most other parts of life, I kept trying.

I kept trying at home. I kept trying in my university’s anxiety management class. I kept trying in the library. I kept trying and trying and trying.

And now, four or five odd years later, I’m finally able to breathe out of my belly instead of my upper chest. Through mindfulness, I’m now able to notice when my breathing pattern is off — and then, I can consciously correct it.

Have you ever tried diaphragmatic breathing? Well, whether you’re an experienced belly breather or brand new to the concept, there’s a neat little free app in the iTunes store that claims to help you practice.

It’s called Belly Biofeedback, and yes — of course I’ll demonstrate it for you!

You can download the free app and use it on either the iPhone or the iPod Touch. Are you going to try it out?

How long did it take for you to master? And, most importantly, are you able to apply it during anxiety-inducing situations or can you only do it successfully when you’re calm to begin with? (This was another big problem of mine for the first year or two!)

You can learn more about diaphragmatic breathing here.

A row of split and shaved Paxil fragments, lined up in descending size, that I took near the end of my taper.

You’ve been taking an antidepressant. It’s been years, hasn’t it?

Perhaps you don’t even clearly remember a time before your days were marked by the morning ritual of swallowing an SSRI.

And now, with the help of your doctor, you’d like to get off the drugs & attack your original condition from another angle. You want to see what life is like without meds. You want to see if, over the years, you’ve developed enough coping skills to manage your depression or anxiety without a daily pill.

So, where do you begin?

Right here.

Before you and your doctor make your first dosage cut, watch this video. It comes from the heart. Back in the mid-2000′s, I tried (and failed) to wean myself off of Paxil twice. (The third time was the charm, but it still wasn’t easy by any means.)

I learned a thing or two from the whole ordeal — and I want to share those lessons with you today.

Have you ever withdrawn from an SSRI antidepressant? If so, does your experience differ from mine? What would you recommend to someone who is trying to withdraw from their meds?

(You can find the original post that inspired this video here.)

It was my first year in middle school and I reeked of awkwardness in a very “Deb-from-Napoleon-Dynamite” sort of way. Side ponytail? Check. Fascination with weird homemade lanyards and keychains? Check.

All the older kids were wearing their grunge-inspired flannel shirts and Grateful Dead t-shirts. Most of my wardrobe came from either Kids R Us or a giant garbage bag of hand-me-down clothes that my mother had collected from her co-workers.

One day, while walking home from school, a eighth-grade boy started harassing me. He’d call me names, comment on my clothing, and taunt me nearly the entire ten-block walk. My entire repertoire of comebacks, unfortunately, came straight from Full House.

“How rude!” I’d exclaim to Mr. Eighth Grade. (Ugh. I couldn’t think of anything better?)

Then, one day, he actually approached me from behind. My backpack, a navy blue Jansport, had two zippers — and on each zipper, I’d clipped at least five different neon plastic lanyard keychains. He grabbed a fistful of them, pulled hard, and ran away with most of them. I was so mad and I hadn’t the slightest idea how to get this jerk to ignore me.

So, the next day at school, I reported him to the assistant principal. As I sat down in her office, visibly upset, waiting for him to arrive for our “mediation session,” the assistant principal turned to me.

“You know,” she said, “don’t worry. The boys start wising up soon. People start doing this kind of thing less and less as you grow up.”

Now, as an adult, I’m not sure if I believe those words. From Jenise Harmon’s new “Sorting Out Your Life” blog:

Like many problems that exist throughout life, bullying doesn’t end at a certain age or level of maturity. Bullying does exist in adulthood. Sometimes it looks different or is called by different names: sexual harassment, stalking, workplace aggression, or scapegoating. But, like in childhood, bullying is one person controlling or harming someone else by use of power.

So, under that definition — as an adult, have you ever been bullied?

If so, check out these six effective ways for us grown-ups to deal with bullies:

This video is based on Jenise Harmon’s blog post, 6 Steps For Dealing With Adult Bullies. 

photo credit: IvanClow

Likewise, you are not the only person with an anxiety disorder.

But it can sure feel that way sometimes, eh? Especially on days when everyone else at the party is acting super sociable, but you’re slunked (is that a word?) down in a corner and too dizzy to talk to anyone.

It’s easy to feel alone on days when everyone else seems to be gathering their groceries from the store shelves just fine, but you’re still hovering in the breezeway, leaning on your cart, and trying to muster up the courage to walk inside.

And it’s easy to feel alone at work, too. Everyone else can pay attention to the corporate PowerPoint presentation in the conference room, but you’re sitting next to the closed door, thinking about how far you are from the office restroom, and flexing your leg muscles for a quick escape.

Every time we say “I am alone!” we are lying.

We are not alone in our struggles…and I made a video, just for you, to prove it:

Links:

• Panic! A Blog About Panic, Anxiety, Depression, and Related Topics
• She Gets a Little Nervous
• Prozac Withdrawal
• Panic About Anxiety
• Angst in Anxiety
• Anxiety & OCD Exposed

I’ve had well over… um… well, I’m not exactly counting, but it’s certainly more than 300 or 400. And I mean bona fide panic attacks. Not high anxiety — true panic.

Even after 8 years, I’m still working on coping with it effectively. A series of heart palpitations in the cereal aisle will still send me dashing for the exit of the grocery store. A twinge of nausea on a car ride will send me reaching for Xanax.

And a little unwelcome heat & humidity will make me clammy and lightheaded… just like it did today. Just as I started filming this video, I panicked. My apartment was too warm and I couldn’t get the AC to work. Frustrated, I started feeling woozy and like I needed to sit down, lest I panic. Then, when I finally did sit down, I became worried that I would simply grow hotter and hotter until I finally passed out. So, feeling even woozier, I stood up again to plead with the thermostat, shaking, and extremely fearful of passing out.

Fun fact, eh? A panic attack distracted me from recording a video for Psych Central about how to distract yourself from a panic attack. Go figure.

But anyway — on to the video. While distraction isn’t the best long-term solution, certain distraction techniques can help you to get through a difficult panic attack. Ideally, desensitizing yourself to panic triggers is key — and that can be accomplished via Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. But until your figurative “Coping Toolbox” is well-stocked, these distraction techniques can help.

In a pinch, what helps you to get through a panic attack?

(This video is based on an earlier blog post of mine from Panic About Anxiety called “6 Ways to Distract Yourself From Panic”.)

“While I know of suicidal youth as young as 5 or 6 years of age, the youngest suicidal patient that I worked with was 11 years old. She felt as though no one understood her pain and no one loved her and she felt hopeless about her life.”

That was part of Richard’s interview with Dr. Alec Miller, a professor of clinical psychiatry and behavioral sciences and co-author of Dialectical Behavior Therapy with Suicidal Adolescents.

Eleven years old! And not to mention five. Five years old! It’s heartbreaking to imagine someone that young — someone who is so new to our world — feeling hopeless enough to consider suicide.

But it happens, sadly. According to Dr. Miller, suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death among 10 to 18 year olds.

Check out this week’s videos for more facts about adolescent suicide and the resources that are available to help prevent it:

For even more statistics on adolescent suicide, check out this data.