Posts by Michael Vickers

This week millions of people are processing the news of another loved and admired celebrity who died by suicide.

No doubt, the world has lost too many people we love to mental health challenges. It can be difficult to understand or make sense of the news that somebody we looked up to, admired or touched our lives died from suicide.

When we read some of the online comments, we realize that we still have along way to understanding mental health and its impact on all of us.

Comments like…

“How could they do that to their family?”

“What a selfish thing to do”

“There are so many resources available for people”

“Terrible timing, so close to the holidays”

I admit that I used to have those thoughts, until I started educating myself about mental health and its impact. When someone dies from a terminal disease, we don’t say, “What a selfish thing to do” or “I can’t believe they died so close to the holidays.” When my father passed after suffering from liver cancer, I didn’t say, “What a shame, how could he do this to his family”

It might be helpful for us to think of dying from suicide, the same ways we think about dying from a terminal disease. Mental health experts teach us that just as disease can deteriorate one’s physical body, mental illness can impair the processes of the mind.

When someone has a disease that deteriorates the body, we can see it. When someone is fighting mental health challenges, they often feel shame and we are unable to see the pain they are experiencing. We need to remember that just because we can’t see it, doesn’t mean the pain they are experiencing isn’t real or overwhelming.

As Frank King mentions in this podcast interview, It is important to understand that those suffering from mental illness are wanting to end their pain and that is different than wanting to end their life. That’s why death by suicide isn’t selfish. It’s what happens when someone loses their battle with mental illness.

My guest in this encore episode teaches us to change the way we think and talk about suicide. Join me now for this encore conversation with Frank King.

Looking to build a high performance sales team? Got a product or service to promote? Want to recession proof your business? If you envision productive new growth for your organization in a challenging marketplace, you’re going to enjoy my conversation with Roy De Medeiros.

Stacey Hall has coached thousands of entrepreneurs on how to attract sales, satisfaction, and success. She is a bestselling author, a TEDx presenter, and a leading social media marketing expert.

Stacey is founder of Success with Stacey Hall and of the groundbreaking social media marketing training program, Go for YES, which has helped thousands of people attract more sales, customer, and employee satisfaction and success. Her new book is Selling from Your Comfort Zone: The Power of Alignment Marketing.

Today’s marketplace can be tough and challenging. If you’re an entrepreneur, business professional or leader, looking to expand the power of your own thinking, and achieve goals you actually desire, then you’re going to enjoy my conversation with mindset and sales coach, Dave Conway.

Branding is more than just your logo, slogan, product or service. It’s more than just a business card or a resume. So what is it then? To learn more about personal and professional branding and how to do it right, is my guest, Joe Whitbread.