Hello and thanks for visiting this page. In case you have no idea what’s going on, this page is dedicated to my sister, Katrina, as well as pro-skater Ben Raemers, both of whom lost their lives to suicide. For the last three years I’ve been doing an annual mission to raise funds and awareness around the issues of mental health and emotional well-being. And I’ve been attempting to drive a more open dialogue around the subjects of depression and suicide.
This year I am collecting Sad Plants. I mean, there’ll be more to it than just that but for the sake of retaining some semblance of mystery I’ll leave it at that for now.
You can follow along on Instagram at the hashtag #whysosadmission
I am attempting a new approach this year. In years past I’ve raised money specifically for the Scottish Association for Mental Health who do great work in Scotland, where I grew up and where my sister struggled unsuccessfully with depression. This year I’m trying a wider, more global approach and have set up three separate fundraising pages and goals. If this is a good idea I’ll take full credit. If it’s a bad idea I’ll blame someone else. Either way, thanks for being here and thanks for caring. Please take a look at the options and donate to the one that resonates most closely to you personally. Thank you.
1) Scottish Association for Mental Health: Scotland
For those in Scotland, SAMH do some of the best work in mental health education, outreach and suicide prevention in the country. Following the passing of my sister, my cousin Liam found himself pursuing a career in suicide prevention and now works for SAMH doing regular workshops with schools, businesses and other groups educating on depression alertness, best-practices for mitigating suicide and intervening when we identify at-risk friends, family and colleagues. To help with the incredible work they do in Scotland please donate a few dollars, pounds, bitcoin fragments etc…click the image below:
2) Grassroots Suicide Prevention: United Kingdom
For the UK at large, Grassroots are a great organization. From their site, Grassroots is an award-winning charity and UK leader in suicide prevention. They provide training to help you promote mental health awareness, suicide alertness, and positive wellbeing. They are based in the Southeast of England right now, but they’re doing some pretty interesting and forward-thinking stuff with their mobile app and training approach.
Disclaimer: the below image is one I put together myself. The photo is from Ben Raemers’ memorial. This wasn’t a Grassroots event or anything but it represents a community I care deeply about—the global skate community. We’ve all had a recent stark reminder of the worst-case conclusion of depression, so I threw it in here. The point is please, if you are in the UK and want to see Grassroots work continue, throw a few quid their way by clicking through on the image below:
3) Psychiatry That May Actually Work: USA
For those in the USA, or anywhere in the world really, the work Tim Ferriss is supporting at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine is some of the most interesting and important work being done anywhere. Over the last few years there has been a resurgence into the formal study of so-called psychedelic compounds as therapeutic treatment for depression and addiction, led by Roland Griffiths, PHD, Psychiatry and Neuroscience.
Some may still see this as controversial, but having lost a close loved-one to depression and suicide I think this work is vital and I want to see it available to anyone to explore these powerful methods. To get a proper overview of the work, if you listen to one podcast at all this year please make it this interview between Ferriss and author, journalist, activist, Harvard professor of non-fiction writing, Michael Pollan. And then throw a few bucks in the research kitty by clicking through the image below. Thanks for reading and caring.
If you are struggling please know that help is available and your thoughts and feelings CAN change for the better.
Please check out the following resources:
UK: Grassroots Suicide Prevention Resource Page
Scotland: Scottish Association for Mental Health Resources
US/UK: Crisis Text Line https://www.crisistextline.org
Aust: Lifeline https://www.lifeline.org.au/
USA: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
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