| No Images? Click here   Hello Highliners,I remember when I finished this story for the first time. Or rather, I don't remember much. The next couple hours were hazy. I had gotten so lost in Clancy Martin's beautiful telling of his experience in a psych ward immediately following his sixth suicide attempt that, for a while there, the whole world felt as if it'd been knocked a few degrees off-axis.Clancy's words have that kind of power. What's crazy about his piece is that it's the furthest thing from depressing. It's funny, it's knowing, it's even hopeful in its way. Most of all, it's honest. I've been lucky enough not to have a chronic urge to die. I now know what that feels like. I know how the medical establishment treats you when you're at your lowest. I know how loved ones can retreat. I know a whole hell of a lot more about ghosts than I ever have.This piece is actually a perfect complement to our last one, about the best way to save people from suicide. That story focused on a therapeutic approach that works. It got at the big picture of a problem that has become a national crisis. This one focuses squarely on the inner-life of a single patient, and as such, it helps you better understand why the approach the last piece advocated for is so effective—and why it might occasionally fall short. Humans are messy, and what Clancy has done here is remarkable. I hope you enjoy it.Best, |
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