Robert Bogue [MVP] Blog
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Robert Bogue is Author, Speaker, Consultant, Crazy, MVP of SharePoint.
Robert Bogue [MVP] Blog
1d ago
Suicide is the most destructive thing that most people will encounter. It can destroy families. But It can save others. It can also be a powerful statement that can be used to transform the world. The question that Suicide: The Social Causes of Self-Destruction aims to answer are the motivations and desired outcomes people have for ending their lives.
Cry for Help
Attempted suicide is a cry for help. Signals sent about suicidal ideation are a cry for help. The question is what is it a cry for help for? In other words, what is it that the person is seek ..read more
Robert Bogue [MVP] Blog
2d ago
I’ve never met a suicide survivor who wanted to congratulate the person they lost on a great decision. Universally, the word that they wanted to tell them was “Stay.” That’s why Stay: A History of Suicide and Philosophies Against It was so interesting. What has history said about suicide and its acceptability to society?
Jennifer Hecht, who also wrote Doubt, starts by recounting a few of the influential people in her life whom she’s lost and some of the impact on her. She longingly calls out to the people she’s lost to stay.
Suffering
I firmly believe that people who di ..read more
Robert Bogue [MVP] Blog
2d ago
Some books acquire their own mythology. Groups become so polarized about them that they gain their own mythical qualities. In the space of suicide prevention, Final Exit: The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance and Assisted Suicide for the Dying has this air to it. It’s a book that many people in suicide prevention won’t get near or read. Some claim that they don’t want to financially support instructions for suicide – others just can’t get past the sticky, taboo feelings. I have no such prohibition. If I am to speak completely and honestly to people who are ..read more
Robert Bogue [MVP] Blog
1w ago
It’s not a morbid curiosity (or maybe it is). One of the key aspects of suicide work is the psychological autopsy or fatality review. It’s an attempt to understand the intent of someone who died to determine whether their death was an accident – or if it was intentional. If I was going to understand the psychological autopsy, I felt I needed to understand how the overall autopsy process worked, which led me to Postmortem: How Medical Examiners Explain Suspicious Deaths.
It starts with an understanding that, even though it’s performed postmortem (after death), it’s done for th ..read more
Robert Bogue [MVP] Blog
1w ago
As a cisgender, old, white guy, I have no doubt that I come from a different place than Alexandre Baril in Undoing Suicidism: A Trans, Queer, Crip Approach to Rethinking (Assisted) Suicide. I’ve had the honor of sitting on a few diversity panels as an ally. Despite my honest attempts to understand, I recognize that I am falling short. The good news is that my friends – and fellow panelists – are often gentle in nudging me into a more understanding position.
I enjoy having my perspectives challenged. I’ll often read from both sides of an argument or speak to parties on o ..read more
Robert Bogue [MVP] Blog
1w ago
We’re trapped in a view of suicide that conceptualizes it as a psychological problem. We can’t see how to integrate multiple views of the problem from separate sociological and psychological standpoints. Suicide and Social Justice: New Perspectives on the Politics of Suicide and Suicide Prevention aims to remove the barriers and allow us to see the problem of suicide from a wholistic perspective. In doing so, it directly challenges some of the false narratives that we’ve been led to believe.
Mental Health Conditions
Going back to the idea that someone would need to be “mad” t ..read more
Robert Bogue [MVP] Blog
1w ago
It’s dangerous to look at a multifaceted problem like suicide from a single lens, but if you had to pick a single view, Suicide as Psychache is a better place than most. Before continuing, it’s important to recognize that Edward Shneidman is credited with founding the American Association of Suicidology and has written several other books. (I’ve reviewed some of his other books: Clues to Suicide, The Cry for Help, The Suicidal Mind, and Autopsy of a Suicidal Mind.)
Gestapo
The German Secret State Police are no more, but that doesn’t stop people from imagining similar organizations ..read more
Robert Bogue [MVP] Blog
1w ago
Each year, for most of us, spring brings light to the world both literally and figuratively. Those with seasonal affective disorder (SAD) begin to feel their spirits lifting. Flowers start to bloom, and we see the world reemerge from its winter slumber. However, unfortunately, we also see a rise in suicide rates.
This is our third year of sharing daily posts about suicide prevention books for the start of spring. It’s a time when we can share how much work has been done to prevent suicide and create a reminder about both how and why we can make a difference.
For the nex ..read more
Robert Bogue [MVP] Blog
2w ago
“Ambivalence is our constant companion.” It’s my first highlight from On Second Thought: How Ambivalence Shapes Your Life. This isn’t the first work of William Miller that I’ve read. He coauthored Motivational Interviewing and Quantum Change. I’ve learned to trust his insights and recognize that there’s more to the story than we may have thought or been told. I’ve learned that, sometimes, the power comes from the conflicting thoughts that drive ambivalence.
Indifference, Ignorance, and Ambiguity
It’s important to recognize that ambivalence is a conflicted, contrad ..read more
Robert Bogue [MVP] Blog
3w ago
It’s not a Norman Rockwell picture. There’s no wholesome family sitting in a well-furnished home. It’s the picture of capitalism that created a market for weapons of destruction. Gun Country: Gun Capitalism, Culture, and Control in Cold War America explains the engine that’s driven America to own more guns per capita than any other country on the planet – by a wide margin.
Army Surplus
As World War II wound down, there were suddenly a large number of handguns sitting in boxes on shelves in warehouses. When every member of the military wasn’t carrying a sidearm, they nee ..read more