Suicidal Thoughts as Trauma: Taking Charge of My Own Recovery
Sunday, May 2nd at 9:15 am
Trauma can be both the cause and the consequence of suicidal thoughts.
Suicidal ideation is considered a symptom of a mental illness. The mental illness model suggests that if the illness is treated, then the symptoms resolve. But often, while the thoughts themselves go away, the trauma can go unrecognized, untreated, and underground.
Willa Goodfellow approaches trauma from the perspective of having been suicidal and
experiencing lingering effects even after no longer actively thinking about killing herself. This talk will use the lens of suicide prevention to offer tools that helped her recover from her trauma and regain a sense of mastery by offering options and encouraging flexibility.
There is more than one way to do trauma work. When one path proves unhelpful, choose another.
About Willa Goodfellow
Willa Goodfellow is the author of Prozac Monologues: A Voice from the Edge. Combining comedic monologues written in the throes of hypomania with later edgy commentary and information about the bipolar spectrum, the book describes her being misdiagnosed with major depression and treated with a series of antidepressants that made her progressively more suicidal and led to her early retirement. She turned a corner as she researched her symptoms, discovered her bipolar diagnosis, and put together her own recovery.
After decades in more conventional ministries as an Episcopal priest, this graduate of Reed College and Yale Divinity School has turned her preaching chops toward mental health journalism and advocacy. Goodfellow is an author, blogger, tweeter, and public speaker. Still doing comedy, she is currently working on her next book, Bar Tales of Costa Rica.
