Just Live – Simply Take the Next Breath with Jeff Morris - Inspired Living

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:17):
Welcome to Inspired Living with Mark Lainhart, the Intuitive Prospector.
Every Wednesday, Mark, along with his special guests, will explore
thought provoking topics and ideas that promote creativity, self help, healing,
happiness and well being to inspire you on your spiritual journey.
Each week, Mark will discuss different paths to achieving a

(00:38):
more spiritual, balanced, happy, and healthy lifestyle. Topics will elevate
consciousness and range from metaphysics, to the human and social
experience and all things spiritual. Welcome to an inspired community
that offers support, encouragement, and new ways of thinking. Mark
is a tested, certified and professional spiritual medium, metaphysical teacher, healer,

(00:59):
and spiritual advisor with a spiritual practice based in Seattle, Washington.
You are the inspired and the inspiration.

Speaker 2 (01:13):
And good morning, good afternoon, and good evening wherever you
may be in this magical, magnanimous, magnificent, majestic, marvelous, metaphysical, miraculous,
mind awakening, mind boggling and mind blowing planet of ours.
This is another episode of Inspired Living Radio where we'd
like to say you are the inspired and the inspiration.
So let's be inspired, Let's inspire others and inspire before

(01:36):
we expire. Today, we're going to be talking with a
special guest first time on the show, mister Jeff Morris
and his new book called Just Live Simply Take the
Next Breath. And today's episode is a very important episode,
near and dear to my heart as we explore mental health,
mental illness, suicide prevention, and we're going to have a

(01:58):
long conversation about some of the tools that we can
work through and some of the resources that we.

Speaker 3 (02:05):
Have right at our fingertips.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
And I just want to you know, for our inspired
listeners out there around the globe, thank you for listening.
But I want you to know that there are lifelines.
If you're struggling a loved one, a friend, or yourself.
There is a crisis line that you can call now
that is a national crisis line. That number is nine
eight eight if you need to talk. The nine eight

(02:27):
eight lifeline is now available to those that are suffering
with depression, crisis, suicide, life's challenges and it is available
twenty four to seven, three hundred and sixty.

Speaker 3 (02:40):
Five days out of the year. I'll also later in the.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
Show'll be given a resource for our veterans out there
as well. But I just want to say thank you
for joining us for this very special episode talking about
mental health and suicide prevention. And we're going to talk
more about Jeff's book, a very fun, intriguing, interesting, simple read,
and again it's called Just Live, Simply take the next breath.

(03:05):
I am your host, mark Leineheart, the Intuitive Prospector, here
with you yet again for another soul adventure and inspiring
episode to explore, discuss, and discover the many diamonds within
each and every one of us and the many gems
in our world that.

Speaker 3 (03:17):
Have yet to be revealed.

Speaker 2 (03:19):
So let's get comfortable, grab your favorite drink, coffee, tea,
protein shake, whatever that may be. Kick back, sit back,
or lie back, take in a nice, deep, healing, cleansing
and peaceful breath, and let us prospect and learn together
as we discuss today's topic, which is again all about

(03:39):
mental health, suicide prevention, identifying the triggers, the signs that
can impact anybody, and the journey of the many pathways
of life to help us dream, discover, explore, and experience
what I like to say, through the body, the mind,
and the spirit, for another inspiring, uplifting and educational episode.

(04:00):
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Speaker 3 (04:06):
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Speaker 3 (05:05):
So as I like to say, as we.

Speaker 2 (05:06):
Get ready to go prospecting and learn more about amazing
people around our planet that are bringing inspirational, encouraging, motivational
content to the airwaves and ripple effects that take us
beyond ourselves. I always like to say, a new day,
a new opportunity, a day we've not seen before, to
use our intuition to prospect this world, wonderful world around us.

Speaker 3 (05:28):
Let's do some prospecting.

Speaker 2 (05:30):
So today on the show, we're inviting for the first time.
His name is Jeff Morris, and he wrote a book
called Just Live and Simply Take that Next breath. Very
simple title, something I think a lot of us forget
to do.

Speaker 3 (05:43):
And I just want to read a little.

Speaker 2 (05:45):
Bit about Jeff in his journey to write this book
and be on today's episode. So he is a retired
educator who has dedicated twenty years as a math teacher
and a high school principal. For the past thirteen years,
he has shifted his focus to teaching suicide prevention to
student across the Midwes mid Midwest in grades six through twelve.
Jeff lives in Saint Louis, with his beloved dog, Griff,

(06:06):
and is the proud father of two children, Chloe and Quinn.
He enjoys reading, writing, working out, watching movies, following sports,
and quoting Seinfeld in his spare time. Through his work
in personal life, he continues to inspire and support others
in their journey towards mental towards mental wellness. Jeff Morris
is a mental health advocate. He released his new book

(06:28):
called Just Live. It's a heartfelt and practical guide aimed
at helping individuals struggling with severe depression and suicide ideations.
Drawing from his own experiences and extensive career education, Jeff's
book offers valuable insights and resources for anyone affected.

Speaker 3 (06:43):
By mental illness.

Speaker 2 (06:45):
Jeff struggled with depression started in middle school, leading to
his first suicide attempt at the age of thirty, and
then between the years twenty two and twenty ten, he
made five more attempts, resulting in numerous days in psychiatric
wars wards and a stomach humping due to a sleeping
pill overdose. Jeff's unique background is both an educator and

(07:05):
suicide attempt survivor allows him to connect with readers on
a deeply personal level, and we're so excited that he
is here with us today.

Speaker 3 (07:13):
To share this story with all of our listeners.

Speaker 2 (07:17):
Just Live combines personal antidotes with research from Jeff's dissertation,
including insight from experts doctor Thomas Thomas Joyner and doctor
Paul Quinnette, and more than a decade of teaching suicide prevention.
The book provides readers with a comprehensive information about suicide prevention,
debunking common myths, and offering practical advice for managing mental health.

(07:40):
Despite these difficult experiences, Jeff found solace and purpose in
sharing his story, which inspired him to write Just Live,
Simply Take the next breath. Through his forty five year
journey on managing mental health, Jeff has gained valuable insights
that share in the hope that he can help others,
including suicide is preventable. There is a significant amount of

(08:02):
misinformation about why people attempt suicide.

Speaker 3 (08:05):
The most effective way to prevent suicide is.

Speaker 2 (08:07):
For those close to the individuals to recognize the warning
signs and know the steps to get them to help
and Jeff is. His book is available through several resources.
You can also go to our social media pages.

Speaker 3 (08:20):
Where the.

Speaker 2 (08:22):
Content is now posted, but you can find the book
at Amazon, Barnes and Noble in Words Matter Publishing, or
you can contact Jeff directly at Jeff Morris JD MO
sixty seven at gmail dot com and his number is
three one four four one zero nine six three five
if you want to get in contact and learn more again.

Speaker 3 (08:41):
That's j D.

Speaker 2 (08:43):
MO Moe six seven at gmail dot com. And I
want to open up the show, Jeff by welcome you,
but also open up with a quote that you had
put in the book, and I think it's very fitting
to open up the show, and it's quote quote you
said this mental health. Mental illness is very manageable, but
it can be hard and frustrating at times. I want

(09:04):
to help others who are going through what I've been through,
and to educate people about the facts and myths related
to suicide prevention. There is hope that anyone can live
a happy life with mental illness.

Speaker 3 (09:17):
End quote.

Speaker 2 (09:18):
So, Jeff, my friend, welcome to the show, and thank
you for writing this book and sharing your knowledge and
your experiences with my listeners today and myself.

Speaker 4 (09:26):
Well, thanks for having me. I've been really looking forward
to this and I have to say that my publicist,
Susie has made me sound a lot better than what
I am. She wrote up that little and Troby gave
me so But no, I appreciate and you having me here.
And I love talking about this stuff and helping educate people.

(09:47):
And my thing is and more than anything is And
I just enjoy helping people.

Speaker 2 (09:54):
Yes, And that's why we love people like yourself being
on the show, because this show is also about not
just inspiring people, but you know, helping people, you know,
pointing them to like I said at the opening of
the Diamond Within, but also the many gems that are
in our world. And mental health as we are seeing
in today's society, it is as far up as even
the Olympic. Mental health has become a very what's the

(10:18):
word I want to say, a very interesting topic of
discussion because it's not a topic that you know, you know,
growing up as a child of the seventies, if you
said mental health back then, you know, there was this
vision of you know, gentlemen showing up with white coats
and a patty wagon and putting you in and taking
you away. And today we've come so much farther. Part
of that's, you know, education, you know, being transparent and awareness,

(10:42):
which is the greatest agent for change, is to being
able to talk about mental health. And you know what
drives mental health to where even our athletes today at
the highest levels are talking about their struggles.

Speaker 3 (10:53):
But with this book that you wrote.

Speaker 2 (10:54):
What I loved When I started reading this book, I
was on a vacation action. I took it with me
for my vacation read and I love that you opened
the book with your parents talking about their perspective as
far as your introduction and tell us a little bit
about that the forwards in the book, because it's not
every day that you have your parents write your forwards
for your book.

Speaker 4 (11:16):
So when I was thinking about, you know, having somebody
write the forward, I had a couple ideas, and for
some reason, it just it just made sense to have
my mom and dad write the forward because they've been,
you know, with me throughout this journey that I've been on,

(11:39):
and they've been with me even when they didn't even
know and I didn't even know what I was going
through as a kid. You know, I was not diagnosed
with a mental illness until I was about thirty three,
so I spent probably two decades struggling with depression and
growing up from the time I was probably in middle

(12:01):
school as a teenager up to the time I left
home and went away to college and then you know,
got married and got a job and so forth. My
parents were divorced, but I still spent a lot of
time with my dad too, and so you know, they
saw what I was, what I went through as a kid,
and you know, we all just thought I was I
was moody, and but you know, looking back, I think

(12:25):
and so it just made sense to have them, you know,
even now, they're part of my I have a really
good support group, you know, my my parents, my kids,
some other close friends, and so I'm very open about
what I go through and and I lean on them.
We we communicate with each other almost daily via text,
and I talked to my mom and dad, and I'm

(12:46):
very lucky, even at my age of fifty seven, to
have my both my parents still alive and and they
were very young when have had me, which is beneficial now.
And so it just made sense to have them, uh,
you know, right, the right the f And you're not
the first person that's commented on that, but I was
thrilled to have them do it, and I thought they

(13:07):
did a great job.

Speaker 3 (13:09):
Yeah, I agree, And it's not every day.

Speaker 2 (13:11):
Like I said, I read a lot of books, had
a lot of guests over eight seasons of doing this.
I was really pleased to see both parents talking about
their journey and some as well as their perspective of
not seeing some of the signs, some of the triggers,
you know, just thinking that you were, you know, maybe
a little bit more introverted or a little bit more
shy and not really wanting to participate. And I think

(13:31):
that's going to lead me to my first question about diagnosis,
because we know and from your experience and your expertise
about an early diagnosis, because that can help. You said
you didn't get diagnosed, And I think part of that's
based on society too. We really have grown and moved
out of our ignorance into our education on this topic
and this.

Speaker 3 (13:50):
Subject to where some people are really late in life
getting diagnosis.

Speaker 2 (13:54):
What's your perspective and experience with early diagnosis to help
treat and help the bring awareness to mental health for
those that are listening today's show.

Speaker 4 (14:06):
Well, I think that's really a big part of why
I wrote this book. Was my idea was to be
able to help. The initial impetus for this book was
I was thinking it could be a resource that could
be given by because of my background in education, I

(14:26):
was thinking, like, you know, school counselors, especially in rural
areas like where I grew up, don't have a lot
of resources, and I thought this might be a resource
that they might be able to give to parents or
even you know, high school students. I think they're old enough,
mature enough to read something like this and use it
as a way to help either themselves or somebody they

(14:47):
care about get the help they need. And I think
that even for myself, I think if I would have
been diagnosed at a younger age, that I would have
reached where I'm at now and managing my mental health
and a much healthier and just an overall better way.
I would have done that, you know, much sooner in life.

(15:09):
I don't have any regrets about that. I don't look back,
and you know, spend a lot of time thinking I wish,
because it's a waste of time to.

Speaker 3 (15:15):
Do that exactly.

Speaker 4 (15:17):
But I think that early diagnosis, I think one of
the misconceptions about mental illness and mental health overall in
the US is that, you know, our mental health system
is just completely broken. I don't necessarily agree with that. Now,
that's not to say it doesn't have some you know,
it's not perfect, and it can use some improvement. But
I think that overall our system does a decent job

(15:41):
of helping people who get into it and then do
what their doctors, their counselor their psychiatrists whoever they're working
with ask them to do, and they communicate. Because I
think that's a key point of mental illness more than
other illnesses, is communicating with your doctor and you're you know,
if you're on medication, if you're having side effects or

(16:03):
it's not working, making sure I let your doctor know,
because I think too many people just give up too quickly.
And but back to your original question, I think I
think early diagnosis, I think that is improving. I think
it improves the quality of life for people because once
they get that diagnosis, they can learn how to manage

(16:24):
their mental health and work with the doctor in a
much more effective way.

Speaker 2 (16:30):
Yeah, and I totally agree with you know what you
just said for the fact that the mental health system,
because we've really only been having a serious conversation from
my experience maybe in the last twenty years, where it's
been more transparent, more out of the public actually talking
about because it was a faux pas. It wasn't something
you know, just even twenty maybe even ten years ago,

(16:50):
you didn't talk about it openly. Where we're seeing that
and so the system has to be able to catch
up to that, right when we're having more of resources,
you know, the overall you know, healthcare system, even how
police respond to certain situations may not necessarily need a
police officer, but maybe a social worker or mental health

(17:10):
counselor to deal. You know, I as a former retired
you know, firefighter MT first responder, that there were calls
that we had really no business or expertise being on
because it was more of a mental health psychological issue
that you know, where we're starting to see at least
here in Seattle. I'm not sure in other parts of
the country, but we now have teams that are being

(17:33):
dispatched with first responders, both police and fire, that are
social workers and psychologists and mental health counselors based on
how the call comes in. So the system is improving.
I don't think it's broken either. I think there's a
lot of resources, and you don't build Rome in a day.
But we have to be also honest that we didn't
have these truthful, you know, conversations of transparency and awareness,

(17:55):
you know, not more than a decade ago.

Speaker 3 (17:56):
So you know, things do have to catch up.

Speaker 2 (17:59):
And you know you said in your book, you said, quote,
educators need resources for parents and students who are depressed.
And I hope that counselors, administrators, and other school personnel
can use my book as a resource to help them
support their communities. And that's also why we're doing the
show today, is to bring awareness to the topics of
mental health, depression, anxiety, suicide, awareness because it is very

(18:23):
prevalent in today's society, and you know that's just not
in the education system. I pulled up just to see
where we're at with our veterans on how many veterans
a day commit suicide, and as of currently right now,
on average, it's seventeen point five veterans every single day
take their.

Speaker 3 (18:43):
Lives, and that's way too many.

Speaker 2 (18:44):
Now, it's down from what it used to be, but
seventeen point five on average is still way too many
across the nation. So throughout this show, we'll be offering
resources and feel free, Jeff, if you have resources that
you want to throw out there as well, but in
conjunction with your book, again, just live, simply take the
next breath. Because in the book there's also which I
appreciated when I was reading.

Speaker 3 (19:05):
You know, I took I did some of the.

Speaker 2 (19:06):
Exercises, you know about the activities that you enjoyed doing
to help relieve stress, anxiety, and depression.

Speaker 3 (19:13):
You had a section that was talking about worrying.

Speaker 2 (19:16):
I even marked it because it says this quote by
Glenn Turner quote worrying is like is like sitting in
a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but
gets you nowhere end quote. And so there's some really
good topics and gems in here. And so let's talk
about the book and really what you want to share
on today's episode about mental health and suicide prevention. Because

(19:39):
you took those steps, you did it several times, and
I'm glad that you were not successful, because you're here
today to share this story.

Speaker 3 (19:45):
And do you think, Jeff.

Speaker 2 (19:48):
It would have been less than five if you would
have been early diagnosed. You think, not going back in
the past, but just based on that analysis of early diagnosis.

Speaker 4 (19:55):
Lot. Yeah, I absolutely look back on when I was younger.
I think, you know, granted I was I was a
high school kid. I graduated high school in nineteen eighty five,
so I really didn't even know what depression was, you know,
that was I mean, we would you would hear things.
It was very common. This I don't want to sound sexist,

(20:18):
but I think it was more common for someone to
talk about a female having dark days, and uh, you know,
you didn't hear much about men dealing with depression. And
they did, they they did, but it was you know,
it wasn't mainly to talk about being being depressed and

(20:38):
you just suck it up and you know, go forward.
And I think that a lot of it. There was
a lot of men who were self medicating with alcohol
and those types of things. But I think definitely if
I would have grown up, if would have grown up
in the way things are today, that that things would
have been a little bit different. But I also look

(21:00):
at you know, I look at what I've been through,
and I I take it as a positive because I
think that I hope I can make an impact, a
positive impact with people, you know, because somebody needs to
somebody needed to write the book that I've written, Not
that it's the greatest book ever, but I think that

(21:21):
it's something that I hope is helpful to people. And
so I wouldn't change anything with with my life and
the way things have turned out for me.

Speaker 2 (21:34):
Well, I again, for the listeners out there, it's a
very easy read.

Speaker 3 (21:39):
It's it's I have to look how many pages. It's not.
It's not a big read. Ninety two pages.

Speaker 2 (21:44):
Yeah, And you know, sometimes that's all it's needed, right,
Sometimes less is more. You don't need this big dictionary
that you get lost in, you know, in definitions and
labels and content. And I sometimes appreciate I always say
things are born twice, first in our mind and then
what we do to bring out into other people's realities.
And what you're doing, Jeff, as you're bringing those difficult

(22:04):
dark days of what you experienced before you were diagnosed,
of sharing that story, because I guarantee you somebody listening
right now or in the future is going to resonate
with today's episode and the book if they go and
purchase it and have it on their their their library shelf,
if you will for a reference guide, so you know

(22:26):
it's it is simple, and I think sometimes less is
more and I really enjoyed it. While I was on vacation,
relaxing in a meditation garden, I was reading this. I
was like, this is this is brilliant, This is this
is perfect synchronicity as our you know, synergy, as I
like to say so, just like I said, for our
listening audience out there, the National Line Lifeline is out

(22:50):
now that's been around for a couple of years. It's
nine to eight eight and if you need to talk,
the nine to eight eight Lifeline is here. It's a
suicide and crisis lifeline and it's you have carrying counselors
twenty four seven three sixty five. And if you're a
veteran listening to you can call the same You can
dial nine eight eight and then press one and that

(23:11):
will actually get you with the Veteran Crisis Line.

Speaker 3 (23:14):
You can also do a chat.

Speaker 2 (23:15):
There's a chat online at Veteran Crisisline dot net, forward
slash chat, or you can text eight three eight two
five five.

Speaker 3 (23:23):
Again, these are all.

Speaker 2 (23:24):
Available twenty four to seven three sixty five, and I
hope that you can use these resources. Do you have
any other resources that you're aware of that you'd like
to throw out there for today's show.

Speaker 4 (23:34):
You know you've mentioned the biggies. I have one. Yeah,
I always talk about one locally here in Saint Louis,
so I think it's really cool. So it's there. There's
actually the group that I got my start in teaching
suicide prevention. It's called Kids Under twenty One and they're
actually the only suicide prevention hotline that is manned completely

(23:59):
by high schools students. Uh The students are trained on
how to talk to people who are struggling, and so
the kids. There's some programs in Missouri that require kids
to do volunteer work, and so a lot of the
kids in the Saint Louis area who are looking to
volunteer will work with KUDO Kids Under twenty one k

(24:22):
U t O. And uh So it's just a it's
it's a local organization, but I think it's really really
a neat thing that they do. You know, it's a
great thing about the Internet is if somebody needs help,
always just google a suicide suicide hotline and pop it
right up. But you know, I was so happy that

(24:44):
they they added the nine eight eight line so people
didn't have to remember the old number uh and uh
and and I also think that that another one that
we uh that people can't remember that you. I wanted
to mention this when you talk about the police. I
tell people all the time that, and it's part of
the training that you know, if you if you're with

(25:06):
somebody who's suicidal, dial nine one one. The police, I
think in almost every state or trained to deal with
suicidal people. And if they have evidence this actually happened
to me, If they have evidence that someone is suicidal,
if they have text messages or voicemails and they know

(25:26):
that the person is suicidal, they're going to they're going
to take them into custody and require them to go
to the hospital and they're going to keep them. You know,
they're not going to be arrested per se, but they
are going to be forced to go in for at
least usually I think it's seventy two hours. So it's
not something that people enjoy, but it could save somebody's life.

(25:47):
And so you know, I tell people, if you have
to do it, use that as an option.

Speaker 2 (25:53):
Yeah, great, great resource. Yeah, welfare check is usually how
it can get toned out.

Speaker 3 (25:59):
Yeah, and you.

Speaker 2 (26:00):
Know, for our listeners out there too, a great you
know something that we're going to think about. You can
check your local areas wherever you live in the world
or here in the United States, check your local resources.
We have social media, we have the technology, we have
the communications and the transparency to get those resources. But
in the end, if you need help, call nine one
one and they will be able to. Dispatchers are very
well professionally trained to get you to the right resources.

(26:23):
So we're going to go to our first and only
break of this show, and when we come back, we're
going to pick up this conversation today with our special
guest Jeff Morris, talking about his book Just Live. Simply
take the next breath. We'll return here in just a
few minutes. This is inspired Livy Radio.

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Speaker 3 (29:39):
Welcome back to you.

Speaker 2 (29:40):
Aspired Levy Today's guest mark with this book, Just Live,
Simply take the next breath.

Speaker 3 (29:47):
He's a retired educator who has.

Speaker 2 (29:49):
Dedicated twenty years of his life both as a math
teacher and as a high school principal, and has written
this book, just Live, simply take the next breath to
share his insights, and you know his unique background as
both an educator and as a suicide attempt to survivor,
which allows him to connect with his readers and his

(30:09):
interviews on a very deeply personal level. And Jeff, I
threw out your contact information, but is there a website
that you want to also besides Amazon, Barnes and Noble
and Words Matter Publishing that people might be able to
pick up the book.

Speaker 4 (30:25):
They can also contact me through my website. It's Jeffmorris
dot net.

Speaker 3 (30:31):
Okay, yep, so I didn't see that here in the
right EPI so yes.

Speaker 2 (30:34):
Jeff Morris dot net if you want to reach out
to Jeff and another way to get this book. As
we picked this second part of the show up, one
of the things that I wanted to talk about is
some signs, the warning signs, some of the you talk
about in the book, some of the misconceptions. And you
put this quote in here, which I think was very
fitting from Les Brown that says, this quote nothing exalts

(30:57):
the soul or gives it a sheer sense of buoyancy
and victory. So each of us owes someone we all
benefit by reaching out and helping others end quote and
that was from Les Brown, and I thought that was
very fitting for that chapter about the warning signs, because
what would you tell somebody that doesn't know the warning
signs of somebody, whether it's a family member, a friend,

(31:19):
or yourself, you may not know the warning signs that
you're in crisis. What would you would you say to
help our listeners out for today?

Speaker 4 (31:27):
Well, I think that that's a really good question because
I think my experience is that a vast majority of
people can tell when someone they care about is struggling.
They may not be able to pinpoint why they feel
that way, but they can just tell somethings off that
the person they care about is, you know, feeling bad,

(31:51):
feeling sad, feeling depressed. And so I find that most people,
it typically happens with people you know really well because
you know their normal mannerisms and how they act. And
I think that most people find that they can tell
when somebody's struggling. But you know, most of the most
of the most common thing is that when people are

(32:14):
suicidal or people are really depressed, they start doing things
that they don't normally do, like isolating themselves, you know,
giving stuff away, and their their personality changes. They're they're
they're just not as outgoing. But you know, I think,
like I said, I think most people can tell when

(32:36):
something is off with somebody that they care about.

Speaker 2 (32:41):
Yeah, and you know, from personal experience, both family and
friends that have you know, been successful in committing suicide,
you kind of think back and go, should I could
I have recognized the signs? Could I have recognized you know,
the triggers? And and I know from my experience as
a retired you know, first responder of being a veteran myself.
One of the things that we were trained to do,
and for the listeners out there, it's called the SAVE

(33:04):
training S A, V, E. And the S stands for
no the signs. The A stands for ask the most
important question of all, and that is quote, are you
thinking about killing yourself?

Speaker 4 (33:14):
End?

Speaker 3 (33:14):
Quote? The V stands for validate the.

Speaker 2 (33:17):
Person's experience UH, and E stands for encourage treatment and
expediting getting help. And that's again the SAVE.

Speaker 3 (33:26):
Training that I had gone through.

Speaker 2 (33:28):
But some of the other things, you know, to look
for A good one is you said, given a lot
of stuff away, they you know, people that have committed suicide.

Speaker 3 (33:37):
A lot of times I hear.

Speaker 2 (33:38):
And I don't know if you can relate to this, Jeff,
but they just wanted the pain to stop. There was
just so much pain, and they didn't think about the outcome,
the consequences. That just there was just so much pain.
They wanted the pain to stop. Would you agree with
that or offer a different perspective?

Speaker 4 (33:53):
Actually I agree, I could even expand on a little
bit because one of the questions.

Speaker 3 (33:58):
Yes please.

Speaker 4 (34:00):
Is and I think I talk about this in the book,
is why do people die from suicide? You know, suicide
goes against every I think natural instinct that we as
human beings have. I mean, you know, I know for myself,
I go to my doctor, uh when I have a
health issue, I ask for medication. I take medication for

(34:24):
my depression and for my mental health because I want
to live. You know, we go for pre screenings for
cancer and get get physicals and do all kinds of
things to extend our life as long as we can
because we want to live a long time. And then
suicide goes one hundred and eighty degrees against that, and

(34:45):
we can we can find reasons why someone gets down
and gets depressed, like going through a divorce, being diagnosed
with uh uh a terminal illness, moving a kid, moving
to an town, losing your job. There's all kinds of reasons,
but most of the time, lots of people go through

(35:07):
those things and never even consider suicide. The number one
the main reason, the real reason people die from suicide
or attempt is because of what you just said, and
that is they're just in so much pain they don't
know what else to do, and so suicide is really
about one thing, and that's about ending pain.

Speaker 2 (35:28):
Yeah, and that's why we're doing today's episode to give
you these resources and those support networks that are out there.
Like you said nine to eight eight lifeline, there's mental Health.

Speaker 3 (35:39):
Dot VA dot gov.

Speaker 2 (35:40):
There is veteran crisis lines for our veterans out there.
There's keep it Secure dot net. There is your local
reach out to your city. Wherever you find your local
city services, I guarantee you that they will actually have
resources available for any kind of counseling and including training.
I know that Seattle has a training where you can

(36:03):
actually learn to how to deal with somebody that's in crisis,
whether it's yourself, a family member, a friend and you know,
learn some of these training techniques to help people with
And again, that's just what we talked about earlier in
the show. It's just the network and the system is improving.
I don't think it's broken either. I just think that

(36:24):
it needs tweaking, and it needs understanding, and it needs time.

Speaker 3 (36:28):
Again, you don't build Rome in a day.

Speaker 2 (36:30):
And we are just frankly having these open, transparent conversations
within just this last decade. The one person that really
jumped out to me that really kind of put this
on the map for me from a from a professional
standpoint was Michael Phelps, the greatest swimmer to ever jump
in the pool and swim a lap. You know, he
came out publicly years ago and really started talking about

(36:51):
his you know, he had such a huge platform as
one of the greatest swimmers of all time as an Olympian,
and that reached a.

Speaker 3 (36:56):
Lot of people. And I remember that being like, Wow,
he's really bold.

Speaker 2 (37:00):
For coming out, and you know, because you worry about
the risk of losing your endorsements and what my you know,
people are always gonna have something to say, right, But
I really remember Michael Phelps stepping out on his big
platform to really talk about mental health and suicide prevention.
Do you did you have somebody that really resonated with
you that kind of helped you during your your your
days of struggle and getting through those dark days that

(37:21):
really inspired you.

Speaker 4 (37:24):
You know, when I when I had my first suicide
attempt for my family, it was actually my second attempt
where my family knew what I was going through when
I was hospitalized, I really didn't have anybody that was
at that point someone that I looked to and thought,

(37:46):
you know, if they can come out and deal with this,
I can. But I just now that you mentioned that,
I was just thinking about recently, someone who I think
has really been a positive impact mental health awareness is
a congressman from Pennsylvania, John Fetterman. Uh and right, yeah,

(38:09):
right after he was elected, he went into the hospital
for a couple of weeks, and I when that happened,
I was like, although I felt bad for the guy
happened to go through it, I thought, that is such
a great thing to happen for someone like him to
be open and honest about what he's going through, because
you know, the last people in the world who admit

(38:31):
that they had a mental illness would be someone in
a political environment and so for him to do that,
I thought that was amazing. And you know, I think
that the other end of the spectrum is where you're
at in Seattle. You all have seen so many lost
so many famous musicians, Chris Cornell and Keith Kirk, Kirkain

(38:55):
and yeah, all the Laane Staley from Alice in Chains. Know.
I was thinking, you know, and so it's been on
the opposite of the spectrum. But I think one of
the things that I remind people is that just because
you're successful doesn't mean that mental illness doesn't impact them.
You know, people think that, well, just if you've got

(39:17):
all kinds of money and fame and resources and everything
you want in life, but that's going to take all
that pain away, And that actually is not the case
at all. It can actually be the opposite. Having a
lot of stuff and being depressed can make a person
feel worse. So yeah, you know, I I think anytime
anybody like Michael Phelps, like John Fetterman, anytime somebody comes

(39:41):
out and talks about as a celebrity dealing with mental
illness is a good thing.

Speaker 2 (39:49):
Yeah, I think, you know, whether you're an Olympian swimmer
from from swimmer to state senator. I do remember because
he had he had a severe stroke. To be able
to use their platform, Simon was Boyle, I can't. I'm
talking twisted today, the goat of the Olympics. She, you know,
last last round was struggled with mental mental awareness and

(40:13):
mental illness and really took a break. And you know,
it's using these platforms to reach out for people to
be one the transparency.

Speaker 3 (40:23):
It's not a faux pod. It's not you know, something
to be embarrassed about.

Speaker 4 (40:26):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (40:26):
And to get the resources and to get the support
network up and running because again, you know, I guess
what talking to us a suicide survivor what was kind
of going through your mind? What was like the mind
chatter when you had done this, you know, the first,
second or third time. What were your conversations that you
had going that might offer some perspective to our listeners

(40:49):
about what's going through the mind at a time, such
as what.

Speaker 4 (40:52):
You experienced, right, you know, I was just thinking of this. Uh.
I had a conversation with somebody on a different podcast
a couple of days ago, and and it's very hard,
and I think it's a good thing because I know
I was in so much pain mentally and emotionally and

(41:13):
even physically with the anxiety I was going through. But
I can't remember what that feels like, and so but
I know it was. It was the worst, you know,
thing that I've been through. And sometimes it would last.
I can remember it lasting even you know, pretty much
weeks where I would go through that kind of just torture. Uh,

(41:36):
and it would affect it would affect my sleep. I
would go you know, sleeping an hour to two a night.
I wasn't eating. I lost. I went through a period
where I lost probably you know, I'm pretty big guy,
and i'd lose twenty five to thirty pounds. And the
depression diet is no fun, no fun to go through.
So you know, it's a it's a very isolating feeling

(42:00):
and I would not wish it upon my worst enemy,
for anybody to have.

Speaker 2 (42:07):
Yeah, I never I've never heard it called that. The
depression diapadem makes a lot of sense. So yeah, not
one of the diets that you want to be on.
So I you know, and I can definitely my personal
experience with you know, PTSD, anxiety depression is definitely something
I've experienced and it can be a but at the
same time, having that support system in place and having
people that care about you and check in.

Speaker 3 (42:28):
On you is very important.

Speaker 2 (42:30):
I do want to just throw some tips out there
for our listeners. Is you know, if you're experiencing somebody
that's in crisis, some of the things to just think about,
some of the you know, the the nuggets the diamonds
to think about. Is one is to remain calm, listen
more than you speak, maintain eye contact, act with confidence,
do not argue with the person that this is you know,

(42:51):
use open body language is very important. To limit your questions,
let them do a lot of the talking, be supportive,
you know, hopeful comments, but also be on with them.
And you know there's no quick solutions, but let them
know that help is always available. And you can also
get right on the phone with either local nine one
one nine eight eight Veteran crisis line, and then people

(43:11):
of you know, these social workers that are trained and psychiatrists.
They can really ask the right questions. So if you
know somebody or you yourself are experiencing severe pain that
Jeff was just talking about, that pain will pass, but
don't let that pain be the end of your story.
Let it be a semi colon to that sentence, but
let your sentence and your story continue on. So that's

(43:36):
something I learned in researching for your book and the show, Jeff,
is there's actually a tattoo.

Speaker 3 (43:41):
If you see somebody with a semi colon tattoo on.

Speaker 2 (43:44):
Their body, that means that they are a suicide survivor
or they continue their story, and it's called the semi
colon movement to where it's not the end of the sentence,
it's just a pause of the sentence and the sentence
continues on. So I thought that was kind of inspiring
to learn as I researched for this show. So with

(44:04):
the time we have left, Jeff, I just want to
I want to turn the platform over to you now
and really anything you want to talk about in the book,
something that really you think is important for our listeners. Again,
if you want to get this book, you can go
to our social media sites.

Speaker 3 (44:17):
All the links are there.

Speaker 2 (44:18):
You can also go to Jeff Moore Jeff Morris dot
net and you can get the books where books are
sold on Amazon, Barnes and Nobles and Words Matter Publishing.
But this is the time I want to give you
to really highlight your book and something to you that's
near and deer and inspiring to you.

Speaker 4 (44:36):
Well, first of all, I want to tell you you
mentioned the semicolon. I have a number of tattoos and
I have several multiple semicolons, so a goodness I've been
part of give me well. And it's interesting. I was
a very so I didn't get my first tattoo till late,

(44:57):
but a lot of my tattoos, especially ones that people
can se on my arms, have have a mental health message.
And and I didn't. I just did it because it
was important to me. But it actually worked out to
where when people see those, especially when they see the
semicode line, and I also have the old suicide Prevention

(45:17):
hotline eight hundred and two seventy three eight two five five,
and I have nine to a eight on my arm
and when people see those, it usually starts a conversation.
And one of these and one of the things I've
learned is, you know, suicide prevention, mental illness. You know,
mental health touches everybody. In fact, I think I think

(45:40):
every person has had a a situation where they've suffered
a mental illness. I like to keep things simple. I
think there's two kinds of mental illness or two kinds
of depression, situational and then him what I have is chemical.

(46:01):
I'm one that I'm going to have to deal with depression,
you know, on a regular basis, because it's just kind
of the way I'm wired. It's kind of cyclical for me.
So I like to joke that it's kind of like
my own minstrual cycle because it happens about every month
six weeks. And so, you know, I'm one that it's
more chronic for me. But even someone who only deals

(46:26):
with has dealt with depression because of something that's happened
to them. And I'll give an example. A lady, a
good friend of mine, her name is Kim. She went
through She'd never dealt with any mental illness, but her
son went away to college, and when he went away
to college, she got really depressed and even had to
go on medication. She was only on medication about six months.

(46:46):
She recovered quickly and she hasn't had to take medication
since she still dealt with a mental illness for that
period of time. So I find that that mental illness
touches everybody. Everybody has to deal with it at some point.
Doesn't mean they're gonna be you know, she never became suicidal,
was never hospitalized, never even you know, but she did

(47:08):
have to ask for some help, and so, you know,
I think that I also think that, as we've discussed already,
we're doing a much better job of talking about mental health.
And one of the things that I think we've we've
almost eradicated is the stigma attached to mental illness. I

(47:29):
find that people still think there's a stigma people, you know,
people think that's out there. But I have yet to
find anybody in the last probably seven or eight years
who doesn't take mental health seriously and doesn't know that
it's a real thing that people have to deal with. So,
you know, as far as the book goes, you know,

(47:51):
I just I'm an educator. I get my greatest joy
and I get a high from helping people. And that's
you know, whether it's helping somebody into their car, helping
someone across the street, or helping someone who is having
a mental health crisis. You know, there's no greater joy
for me than being able to help somebody. And that's

(48:12):
what I hope comes out of this book.

Speaker 3 (48:15):
Brilliant. I love it. You just said that you get
a high helping people, and I'm in the same category.

Speaker 2 (48:20):
All the years I've been on this planet, firm you know,
my days early in the Coastguard to being a you know, firefighter,
to doing this you know podcast now, it's always about
being in service and helping others, and you know, getting
a high from helping others.

Speaker 3 (48:32):
So I love that.

Speaker 2 (48:33):
That's a great you should You should tagline that for
your next book, getting high.

Speaker 3 (48:37):
To help others. You know, what are the other things?

Speaker 2 (48:40):
Because you make some good points, whether it being chemical
or environmental.

Speaker 3 (48:44):
You know, your your material world.

Speaker 2 (48:46):
One of the things you know for the listeners out
there is pay attention to the weather as well, because
that's something over the last decade plus to where you know,
being in Seattle, I was actually affected by what's called
the seasonal affective disorder, which is called SAD for sure,
and that is a type of depression that is triggered
by seasonal changes.

Speaker 3 (49:05):
So if you're in a place where like Seattle, where.

Speaker 2 (49:09):
It's it rains a lot, and it's it's it's overcast
and gloomy, that can trigger the the nervous system as well.

Speaker 3 (49:18):
So more vitamin vitamin C, vitamin D uh.

Speaker 2 (49:22):
You know things that you can do when the weather changes,
because we're right in that middle of you know, the
equinox has now come and went and we're now moving
into the deep fall season. So uh, you know, the
hours are dark, you know, the hours are the days
are darker.

Speaker 3 (49:37):
Uh, and the and you know, it's just it can
really impact.

Speaker 2 (49:40):
So just you know, another thing to pay attention to
is the you know, the seasonal effective disorder.

Speaker 3 (49:45):
Uh. And that's something I experienced.

Speaker 2 (49:46):
I didn't know until you know, I lived in Seattle,
because I traveled all across the country and we ended
up in Seattle. And after a couple of years, I'm like,
I just I just feel like, you know, sad all
the time, and it didn't know that it was actually enough,
you know, a disorder that can be triggered based on
the weather. And then of course you said chemical yourself,
because you said you were diagnosed. I think in the
book you said bipolar two if I remember correctly reading that.

(50:09):
And you know that's important also that getting that diagnosis
to help you treat that because one of the things
that I went through with the SAD but also low testosterone,
which is a hormone. So no testosterone, no energy, sad
you know, depression couldn't.

Speaker 3 (50:25):
Figure it out.

Speaker 2 (50:25):
And that's where you know, we had these conversations to
where my natural path said, you need testosterone and you
need to be aware of the seasonal disorder that's impacting you.
So great, great reference there as well. So just with
the last few minutes that we have here, I always
like to say who or what inspires you, Jeff, and

(50:46):
anything else you'd like to point out from the book,
let's let's uh, let's finish up the show, inspiring, encouraging,
motivating others. And again the resources we've listed and said today,
please reach out to those resources because they are available.
We are having open, transparent conversations of awareness when it
comes to mental health and suicide awareness and anything else

(51:10):
you'd like to add to that joint.

Speaker 4 (51:14):
No, Well, one thing, uh, the thing I always love about.
So another thing I enjoy is learning, and you've taught
me a few things today. One was the save acronym
that you mentioned, Uh oh yeah about Yeah, so I
know there. So you're actually in the same state since

(51:36):
you're in Seattle. The program that I use to teach
suicide provision is called question persuade refer and the acronym
for that is obviously QPR, and the QPR Institute is
in Spokane, Washington and a wonderful organization. Yeah, and if
anybody is looking so. One of the other things that

(51:59):
I tell people is helping somebody who is suicidal is simple,
not easy, but it's simple. And the acronym QPR simply
stands for question. If you think somebody suicidal, somebody who
care about suicidal, you mentioned it. The first thing you
want to do is ask them the question, are you suicidal?
If you don't feel comfortable asking is that bluntly, you

(52:20):
can ask him are you thinking about hurting yourself? Or
do you wish you'd never been born? But ask it
in some form. The P persuade means you want to
after you've asked them the question, you want to persuade
them to get help, Persuade them to give you time
to help them get help, and let them know that
you know you've taught you're you're you're pretty educated on
this because you talked about the same things, just in

(52:42):
a different form. But you want to persuade them to
give you time. And then the R stands for refer
and that just means you want to refer them to expert,
Refer them to the professionals, the doctor, counselor take him
to the hospital. Call nine one one, call nine eight eight,
give them the on the hotline. And the other thing
that you mentioned that I agree a thousand percent with

(53:03):
is when it comes to dealing with someone who is suicidal,
the most important thing you do is not what you
say to them, that you listen, let them talk, Honor
what they're saying. Don't be judgmental, even if you you know,
if somebody says they're suicidal, they are. That is not
something that people typically do for attention. I've seen in

(53:26):
all my years in education, I've seen one instance where
I thought someone was doing it for attention, and that
you know, it just doesn't happen very often where it's
because some people think that. So be a good listener.
And the example I give is, even if you've never
been suicidal, you can think about a time where you've

(53:47):
felt bad about something and just being able to talk
about it help you feel better. And you didn't solve
the problem, you didn't really change anything. You just got
it off your chest and so when somebody is suicidal,
just being able to open up about it is the
first step and getting them, you know, on the road
to recovery.

Speaker 3 (54:07):
Yeah, that's brilliant.

Speaker 2 (54:07):
I love it you said QPR from Spokane because I
was actually born and raised.

Speaker 3 (54:10):
In Spokane, Washington.

Speaker 2 (54:12):
So small world, and I love acronyms just because there
are great ways to remember when you know the time
of crisis to help people, whether it's a QPR or
the Save Again, know the signs, ask the most important question,
validate the experience, and encourage.

Speaker 3 (54:28):
And expedite on getting them help.

Speaker 2 (54:30):
Jeff, it's been a pleasure talking with you today, my friend,
and I just want to thank you for sharing and
being very open and transparent for today's show and sharing
this wonderful book again. If you want to get the book,
you can go to our social media sites. The links
are there. You can also go to the major sites,
whether it's Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, Words Matter Publishing, or

(54:52):
Jeff Morris dot net. The book is called Just Live,
Simply Take the Next Breath, and it's a good read,
but it's also a interactive little workbook where you can
actually fill out little things that inspire you things that
you want to prevent, things that you want to be
aware of, and kind of a journal in book all
in one. So it's been a pleasure talking with you today,
my friend. Keep up the great work, keep inspiring people,

(55:14):
or you like to say, be inspired, inspire others, and
inspire before we expire. And I just wish you much
health and success in your future.

Speaker 4 (55:24):
Thank you very much, Morren. I appreciate it. Thanks for
having me.

Speaker 3 (55:26):
Hi, I appreciate you.

Speaker 2 (55:28):
Until our next whole adventure together here, be kind, be caring,
be compassionate, and most importantly, wherever you're at in this world,
dare to dream, there to explore, dare to live and
discover the diamond within. We'll see you next time here
on inspired. Let me pick everybody,

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Just Live – Simply Take the Next Breath with Jeff Morris

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Just Live – Simply Take the Next Breath with Jeff Morris