Guest Blogger: Sarah Gaer, MA, Suicide Prevention Specialist
In the modern age of the medical model and science, when we are seeing so many diseases such as cancer and AIDS make massive life expectancy improvements, deaths by despair are on the rise. In fact, for the first time in American history, my generation, Generation X, will not live as long as our parents. With all of the progress in medicine, this is shocking and horrifying.
There is an element of humanity that is struggling with and ultimately often excluded from conversations about mental health in general and suicide more specifically. That element is spirituality, which may or may not be directly related to religion. Spirituality is difficult to measure and cannot be prescribed and yet for the span of modern human beings it has been a staple in understanding grief, surviving trauma and counteracting the hopelessness that we know fuels despair and suicidal intensity.
Commonly related to spirituality is the concept of the soul, which has been believed in throughout the documented history of humankind. However, through the transition from Ancient Greek philosophy into modern psychology, the concept has been mostly ignored in the fields of mental health and suicide prevention (preferring to focus on diagnosis, pathology and medical treatments). Once upon a time, the Greek word psyche, which the word psychology was created from, meant “breath, spirit, soul or mind”. Somehow in the past 100+ years, it has come only to mean mind and even brain. This is a major shift in the concept of human beings.
During this shift, the medical model of mental illness has been widely accepted within the fields of psychology, psychiatry and suicidology in the United States, but it continues to fall short for many people in our communities and among those we aim to support. For this reason, I am creating a new conceptual framework to view ourselves and others through called “Soul Exhaustion.” Soul Exhaustion explores the possibility that people's struggles are caused by the context of their lives, trauma history, relationships and sociological factors such as racism and oppression, more often than underlying disease (while not dismissing that organic disease may exist). The model also proposes that by viewing one's self through the lens of the context of their experiences, fundamental shifts can occur in both the way people view themselves and their ability to "recover" "heal" and find a meaningful life.
The fields of Suicide Prevention, Psychology, Psychiatry and Substance Use Disorders have continued to advocate that what is needed is more of the prevention, interventions and treatments that have become standard in the United States. Meanwhile, the rates of suicide and other deaths related to despair have continued to increase even as these interventions have increased. Perhaps it is time to consider that what those struggling need most is not more of what we are already doing but perhaps a journey into the ancient wisdoms of those who came before us. A journey into our souls, the essence of our being and to find what we all need to feel that we have a life worth living.
About the Author
Sarah Gaer is a clinician and Suicide Prevention Specialist with Riverside Trauma Center, a program of Riverside Community Care based out of Needham, Massachusetts. She is Co-chair of the Pioneer Valley Coalition for Suicide Prevention in Western Massachusetts and an active member of the Executive Committee for the Massachusetts Coalition for Suicide Prevention. Sarah has over 20 years working in the mental health field with a focus on substance use disorders, trauma and suicide. Sarah is a Master Trainer for the QPR Institute and has trained hundreds of public safety members in trauma and suicide. She is a passionate public speaker and author having recently published her first novel “The Price” and preparing to publish several more. Sarah is also a member of the Board of Directors for United Suicide Survivors International.
