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 The fundraiser at Culver’s will be held from 5
p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday evening with 10 percent of the restaurant
receipts during that time to be given to Allison for her walk.
Allison recently talked about this important cause and what it means
to her personally to help person's who for whatever reason, may be
considering taking his or her own life. Allison has been there,
twice trying, and twice rescued by people who recognized her
distress and sought to help her.
Allison shared her story that began in December of 2015, when her
life began to unravel. She was married and a mother, but in that
month something began happening to her mental well-being. She didn’t
want to be married, she didn’t want her husband in her life. She
pushed him away, and he did move out of their home.
She thought that would make things better, but it didn’t. Within a
few months, she was desperate to relieve herself from the anguish
she was going through, and concluded that taking her own life was
the only way out. She had planned for her demise, she would take
pills and end her life. However, it was her husband, whom she had
pushed away, who would come to her rescue on a night in February,
and prevent her from following up on her plans.
For a short period of time, Allison and her husband got back
together, but by summer she was agitated again, and once again
insisted that he leave. Allison said for a while, she felt good, she
thought that she was going to be alright, but by fall, her life was
a shambles again, and she wanted to find a way out.
This time, it was a co-worker who became concerned and decided to
reach out the Allison’s family and talk to them about Allison’s
mental state. The co-worker contacted Allison’s mother who in turn
contacted Allison’s estranged husband.
Allison’s husband once again came back into her life, and this time,
he convinced her that she needed professional help. He drove her to
a hospital, and helped her find a doctor who understood the physical
situations that were attacking her mental stability.
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Allison was finally diagnosed as
suffering from bi-polar disorder, severe depression and anxiety
as well as insomnia.
Allison said before she found help, her life was a wreck. Her
kids were unhappy, her husband was unhappy and she was unhappy.
She spent a week in the hospital and another two weeks with
daily doctor’s appointments. She was given medications to help
combat the physical and emotional problems that were making her
the way she was. And things got better and better.
Today, she and her husband are back together, Allison decided to
go back to school and further her education, and most of all,
she says her children are the happiest she has seen them in
years and years.
Allison said when she was going through all of this, she didn’t
know there was an organization that could have helped her. She
learned about the AFSP, and the work the organization does to
help people like herself, and she knew that she had to be a part
of that good work.
Allison commented, “Suicide is a taboo subject. No one wants to
talk about it. You don't see it discussed anywhere, not in
public, not on social media, nowhere. People need to talk about
it. They need to know that there is help available for them.”
Allison says that her future looks good. She needs to maintain
her medication schedule and with that, she once again feels like
she has control and that her life is good.
She said she’ll be walking in the Out of the Darkness walk on
September 7th, and is very excited to be participating. She is
hopeful that the community will turn out this Thursday evening
at the Culver’s fundraiser and support her as she works to
support an organization she believes in.
To learn more about the American Foundation for Suicide
Prevention visit https://afsp.org/.
[Nila Smith] |
