Suicide.
I'm choosing to be deliberately blunt and provocative in this post because it's necessary. Government, charities, football clubs are all pushing water up a hill in highlighting what is undoubtedly a major health crisis.
You take a rope.
You put it up in a garage or a tree nearby or far away.
You're thinking about every loved one you'll leave behind as you put that rope around your neck.
Then you drop.
Some are decapitated.
Some aren't.
All are found by someone who has a lifetime of trauma that will never leave them.
A son.
A daughter.
A brother.
A sister.
A mother.
A father.
I know 2 men who hung themselves.
One was found by his Mom.
One was found by his brother.
Neither have recovered fully. 20 and 30 years on.
A life sentence for people who were already worrying, terrified their loved one may do something.
So just visualise the above and ask, "is there another way"?
A segway for a moment.
I do a few Q&A's every year. Tales of yesterday with a 99% male audience of my age group.
After the stories and fun, my last question back to the audience is..
"Hands up if you struggle with a mental health issue".
Nobody ever puts a hand up. Despite 1 in every 3 of 500 attendees statistically struggling.
"Ah, nobody, that's fucking brilliant! Well I do! ". I then graphically tell people, stunned into silence about how a rope around my neck in the middle of nowhere jolted me to go home and cry like a baby to my Mom.
After the Q&A has finished, something always happens. I'll be chatting to a few guys, saying bye and one by one, men will come over and whisper " I struggle".
Or my mailbox the next day will have 30 emails from guys, their partners or kids saying " Dad/Uncle /Brother was there last night and what you said hit them hard".
And that's how some people realise that it's time to speak to a pal or family member or even rant to me in an email. It works, I often get a follow up email a year or 6 later saying that they took responsibility for their suicidal feelings and are now flying.
Humans are programmed to want to live, to have families and to keep the species growing and thriving. So for a human to want to short circuit that desire isn't normal, and it should never be spoken of as normal. It's the ultimate red flag.
If you suspect your mate, Dad, Brother, Uncle is struggling mentally, they deserve your intervention.
They deserve a " are you OK, please tell me what's up".
They deserve an opportunity to get past wanting to hang a rope over a tree or in a garage and slowly struggle until they die and you find them.
If you've been there and trust me I have plenty, then you'll know that text out of the blue, or a footie mate or one of your kids asking jow you are can open the curtains to some sunshine.
Because when suicide is your only answer, the room is already dark, and you can't see a way out.
So please, fucking pretty please, ask that husband, Dad, Uncle, Cousin, footie pal TODAY how they are.
You may be shocked what comes back but extremely glad that you asked.
For those who struggle, you're not alone.
According to Dr. Clint Steele, Ziploc bags are linked with dementia.
"I did a video on this not too long ago, talking about 750 milligrams of plastic being found in the brains of those that have Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia."
"That's the size of a plastic spoon, folks."
"So the question is, where are all these plastics coming from?"
"There's two ingredients in this plastic bag, called polyethylene and polypropylene, that break down and turn into microplastics. These microplastics are so small that they can actually cross the blood-brain barrier."
"And this is how we're finding plastics in the brain."
"We've got to get rid of stuff like this because it's damaging our brains and it's leading to end-stage neurodegenerative diseases. So please share this."
@engineco16 How come in most fires the helicopters and planes are grounded as soon as it gets dark, but this fire the are still out ? I live in butte county where we are very familiar with wildfires in the past.
Epic Adam Carolla rant from a hotel after the LA wildfires forced to evacuate from his home, where he predicts Hollywood leftists will be so frustrated by the rebuild effort that they will not vote Democrat:
"You guys all voted for Karen Bass, the mayor of Los Angeles. You all voted for Gavin Newsom, and now you fucking get what you get. now that your house is on fire.
So here's what's going to happen. All these people who are deep blue Democrats are now going to have to pull a permit to rebuild, and they're going to get the 28 year old bitch from the Coastal Commission telling them to go fuck off and then they're going to vote for Trump or whoever's Trumpian next.
When they start getting the regulation, they're going to go nuts. And when they start running into the bureaucracy and the red tape, they're going to start going nuts and they're going to vote for Rick Caruso next time.
They're going to find out they're going to get bit by their own snake. They're going to convert. I am telling you, these are the bluest people on the planet and they're going to be fucking rip shit pissed when the City and the Coastal Commission tell them to fuck off.
We're going to have to restructure the whole thing because we can't have nine angry lesbians controlling everything that goes on in Malibu, the Palisades and Santa monica."
This is why Californians pay the highest taxes: So that their government can completely fail them in their time of need.