Dr. Mark Goulston, Suicide Prevention Expert

Mark Goulston (0:00)

Hundreds of millions of people are depressed. They don't all kill themselves. It contributes to suicide.

But one of the things almost all suicidal people feel at the moment they do it, is they feel despair. And if you break the word despair into D-E-S-P-A-I-R, it means unpaired with the reasons to live. Hopeless, helpless, worthless, meaningless, useless, pointless.

Michael Gervais (0:28)

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Mark has specialized in psychotherapy for more than 30 years. One of the focuses that he spent a lot of time on is suicide prevention, death and dying, depression, anxiety, personality disorders, PTSD, and marital therapy.

After a recent string of high-profile suicides in America, death by suicide is a topic that's been on a lot of people's minds for sure.

Most of us are likely to know or love somebody who has been affected by suicide. September is Suicide Prevention Month, so the timing is eloquent for this conversation. It's just a good time to better understand what is happening internally for people that are struggling. It's not what you think.