Grief | Grieving | Death of a Child

Dear Friends and Family,

I want to thank each and every one of you that helped support the campaign against GMC.
Our actions have helped raise awareness about depression, the number one cause of suicide!
 
I have had e-mails from NAMI, (National Alliance for the Mentally Ill )
*GM’s decision is a victory for all of the mental health and suicide prevention community,” said NAMI executive director Michael J. Fitzpatrick. “We’ve made the point that mental illness and suicide are to be taken seriously and that we will not be marginalized.”
and AFSP ( American Foundation for Suicide Prevention)
*Thank you to everyone who joined with us in expressing concerns about the ad.  Our collective actions have raised awareness, and will help make our country more sensitive to the issues of mental illness and suicide. Bob Gebbia Executive Director American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

We made our voices heard loud and clear and for that I owe you thanks.
 
Thank you for speaking out. We Did it!!!
 
Carol Loehr
Thegiftofkeith.org
My Uncle Keith Died

Earlier this week the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention asked General Motors to pull an advertisement and cease any further promotion and marketing of an ad, which featured a GM factory robot who gets laid off, becomes depressed and then makes a suicide attempt.

This morning our Foundation had several constructive conversations with GM Executives, and I am pleased to announce that GM has decided to pull the ad, including plans to air it on upcoming television programs and on the company’s website.

GM has indicated that they will be revising the ad, removing the scene with the suicide attempt and any implication of suicide before re-releasing the ad in the future.

AFSP and GM have issued a joint statement about the company’s decision and our support of it.

AFSP applauds General Motors for taking these actions.  It is difficult to find organizations that listen. GM did by responding to the concerns of those touched by mental illness and suicide.

Thank you to everyone who joined with us in expressing concerns about the ad. 

Our collective actions have raised awareness, and will help make our country more sensitive to the issues of mental illness and suicide.

Bob Gebbia
Executive Director
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

Dear Carol:

While I did not see this commercial, it sounds completely inappropriate.  Thank you for bringing it to my attention, as you pointed out depression and suicide are very serious problems in this country and not something to make fun of.  I just e-mailed GMC.

Thank-you for making a difference, Keith is touching lives even though he is no longer here.

Sincerely,

Heidi Horsley, PsyD, MSW, MS
Columbia University - Adjunct Professor
Radio Show CO-Host - http://thegriefblog.com/
FDNY-CSU/Columbia University Family Guidance Program - http://fdnycolumbia.org/new/

Dear Heidi,
 
I am a survivor of suicide. My son Keith took his own life on March 29, 1999 at that time I knew nothing about depression the number one cause of suicide.
 
I have been trying to help stop the stigma that accompanies the word suicide. Depression is the leading cause of suicide. A depressed person may feel hopeless and see no reason to live.
 
In the 2nd quarter of the Super Bowl there was a commercial from GMC about a robot that was no longer needed for his job so he jumped off a bridge. I found the ad so offensive. I am asking others to  E-Mail GMC about their ad. Depression is a real illness and can lead to a death by suicide. I am not sure why a commercial like this would be shown on National Television. Let’s take a stand!!
 
Super Bowl Commercials 2007 - AOL Sports
 
This is a link to the GMC site where you have to type in your comment to GMC.
 
GMC | Contact Us | Advertising Comment
 
Thank you,
Carol Loehr
www.Thegiftofkeith.org
My Uncle Keith Died

Since the airing of a General Motors advertisement during last Sunday’s Super Bowl, which featured a GM factory robot who gets laid off, becomes depressed and then attempts suicide, our Foundation has been inundated with calls and emails about the offensive nature of the ad.
Our position is that this ad is insensitive to people who have lost a loved one to suicide. Further, while the commercial stresses GM’s “obsession with quality,” we feel the ad showed carelessness by portraying suicide as a viable option when someone fails or loses their job. This is the wrong message to send to adolescents in general, or to young people and adults alike who may be depressed and thinking that suicide is their only option, rather than seeking help.
 
We have expressed our concerns to GM in a letter to the company ’s executives requesting that GM pull this ad and cease any further promotion and marketing of it, including taking the ad off the company’s website. Our Foundation also encouraged GM to issue a statement of apology to those offended by the ad.
 
Also, the Foundation  issued a press release today publicly stating our concerns, and posted an article about the ad on the AFSP website homepage.
 
The link below will direct you to the AFSP website where you can read more about this issue, and also find a link to the GM website where you can send the company an email expressing your concerns. Read AFSP’s statement to General Motors.
 
It is important for GM to hear from families and friends affected by mental illness and suicide.
 
Thank you,
 
Bob Gebbia
Executive Director
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

HEALING THE GRIEVING HEART
Aftermath of Suicide: Then and Now
Host: Dr. Gloria Horsley
With guest: Bob Burt
July 6, 2006

G: Hello. I�m Dr. Gloria Horsley with my co-host Dr. Heidi Horsley. Each week, we welcome you to Healing the Grieving Heart, a show of hope and renewal for those who have suffered the loss of a child or a sibling, and our message as always is we have made it and so can you. Well, good morning, Heidi.
H: Good morning, mom.
G: Today I want to start with an email, letting you all know that we love getting your emails. It�s great and you can email us through our website www.healingthegrievingheart.org and we also want to remind you that these shows can be downloaded on Ipod and they�re archived on our website as well as www.thecompassionatefriends.org website and as I said, you can download them on Itunes and also we have a quote of the week on our website so we hope you�ll visit it and we also have Library of Life on there. On Library of Life, we created a site for Scott, Heidi�s brother and my son, and you can go on there and light a candle for him, and we love it when people come on and do that don�t we, Heid?
H: Yes, and I went on the site last night and noticed there were more people on the site that have lit candles for their own children as well and talked about their own kids and I love seeing that.
G: Absolutely. So please feel free to go on and light a candle for your child as well as Scott. We love to have you do that. Well, Heid, our email today is from Kim and she�s from Houston, Texas. And thanks, Kim, we love people also to give us the site where they�re from because with the internet, if you�re listening on the internet and not land radio, it goes all over the world. One thing I wanted to say, too, Heidi, is that if you are listening to our Thursday show, that it is live and you can call in and our toll-free number is 866-472-5792. So our email from Kim says:
Dear Dr. Gloria and Heidi:
I have been listening to every one of our shows ever since I discovered them after my 24-year-old son, Trevor, took his life in February of 2004. Your shows have been a lifeline to me no matter what the topic. I always come away with some new understanding of this grief journey. I was so grateful when I heard your show would continue and that Heidi was added as your co-host.
G: And I�m really happy, too, Heid.
H: I am, too.
Even though Trevor was our only child, I like to hear her perspective on profound loss as well. Very early on, I was able to get my husband to listen to some of the programs and it was helpful when we were both so shut down in our own grief. We were able to say at least, yes, that�s how I feel and not feel we were losing our minds. I remember just wanting to hear your introduction when you say you will make it, I did and so will you. I loved the last show about the sisters who lost their older brother in 9/11. When they said they could talk about their brother forever, I feel the same way about Trevor, a bright light who is loved and missed forever. Thanks for all your support. Kim.
G: And then she also asks if we could possibly have an expert on bipolar illness in regards to suicide and that her son went off his medication in grad school and fell into deep despair. And Kim, yes, we will certainly look for somebody on bipolar illness. We�re going to have a psychologist on in September and we�ll certainly have him talk about it, too. Read the rest of this entry »

HEALING THE GRIEVING HEART
Suicide�s Legacy of Complex Grief and Compassion
Host: Dr. Gloria Horsley
With guest: Dr. Cay Randall-May
March 9, 2006

G: Hello. I�m Dr. Gloria Horsley. Welcome to Healing the Grieving Heart, the show that deals with the realities of surviving after the loss of a child. You may feel that your life has ended and that you can�t make it another day, but hold on. My guests and I are here each week to tell you that we have made it and so can you. We realize that what was important to you before your child died no longer has meaning. You are going to be changed. Today I wanted to start with a quote from my show on September 22 with Father Al Johnson, a bereaved dad. Father Read the rest of this entry »

HEALING THE GRIEVING HEART
Honoring a Child Who Died by Suicide
Host: Dr. Gloria Horsley
With guest: Carol Loehr
October 6, 2005

G: Hello. I�m Dr. Gloria Horsley, and welcome to Healing the Grieving Heart. Our show today is Honoring a Child Who Died by Suicide. I am pleased to say that our show, along with The Compassionate Friends, has a new sponsor, the www.libraryoflife.org is the way you would pick it up on the Internet. The Library of Life is a wonderful organization dedicated to helping us preserve shared memories forever through the Internet. I myself just used the Library of Life a couple of days ago and created an on-line memorial website for my deceased son, Scott. You know, I�m not that big a computer expert and I was actually able to create the site in under fifteen minutes. It�s a one-time cost of only $55, that�s American dollars. I don�t know, probably about 75 in pounds and I don�t know, you add on the Internet what other currency you�ll be using, but it�s $55 in America and you�ll have a fourteen-day trial to see if you like the Library of Life site. They also guarantee me that Scott�s web page will be on the net forever. Well, that�s not to say I have a full website now, but my family and Scott�s friends can continue to work on the site and save those precious memories and pictures. And another thing happened to me today, on the Internet I received from New York City a picture of a Chinese baby from my daughter in New York City. She�s going to be adopting a Chinese baby and immediately I remembered something on the Library of Life and I went again to their website, www.libraryoflife.org, and there I went to what they call their celebration of life site and I actually created a website for my new granddaughter and was able to email that off to my other daughters and to friends so that they can look at the memories and I was able to tell my new granddaughter from China, log in there and write about how it was to know that I was going to have a little baby granddaughter from China and tell her what we were doing and how we felt about it and really wonderful memories that will go with her forever. Well, you know as bereaved family members, I know as a therapist Read the rest of this entry »

HEALING THE GRIEVING HEART
Surviving the Death by Suicide of a Sibling
Host: Dr. Gloria Horsley
With guest: Michelle Linn-Gust, M.S.
September 15, 2005

G: Hello. I�m Dr. Gloria Horsley. Welcome to Healing the Grieving Heart. Today my guest and I will take on a most difficult topic, Surviving the Death by Suicide of a Sibling. There are no simple or quick solutions to dealing with the death of a sibling. Each of us is unique and special as are our relationships and our responses to loss and the circumstances surrounding a death. Death of a sibling by suicide is compounded in its difficulty. As siblings left behind are not only having to be good kids for their parents but must also deal with anger, confusion, and guilt as to why their sibling would take their own life. The natural ambivalence and competition between siblings is cut short and unable to be played out. This makes it especially difficult for brothers and sisters who are left behind. The family after the death is singled out. Questions regarding why and how abound in the community. Friends are questioned and suicide support teams are moved into the school and neighborhood, a tension that no family would desire. Our guest today has been in this situation and she and I are here today to tell you that we have made it and so can you. Remember that just getting out of bed, going to school, the office, or working in the home is an accomplishment. The heart will heal. It�s a matter of letting it happen. Healing the Grieving Heart is about nourishing the heart and removing the blocks that slow the miracle of renewal. Please join us on this show today by calling our toll-free number 1-866-369-3742 with questions or comments regarding the losses in your life, or email me about this show, past shows, or future shows at gchorsley@aol.com. The shows are listed on The Compassionate Friends website and on VoiceAmerica. They are archived there so you can listen to them day or night. Today our topic is Surviving the Death by Suicide of a Sibling, and my guest is Michelle Linn-Gust, writer, speaker, teacher, and Read the rest of this entry »

HEALING THE GRIEVING HEART
Suicide Changes Hearts
Host: Dr. Gloria Horsley
With guest: Joyce Harvey
August 4, 2005

G: Welcome to Healing the Grieving Heart. I�m your host Dr. Gloria Horsley. Healing the Grieving Heart is dedicated to those who are struggling through their days without the presence of that special child. Our topic today is: Suicide Changes Hearts. I am a bereaved parent and a psychotherapist; however, I don�t claim to be an expert on the topic of suicide. It has long been my belief that it matters not whether a child dies of a long-term illness, sudden accident, murder, overdose, or by their own hand in a bout of depression or mental confusion. We will miss them and hold them in our hearts endlessly and forever. For whatever reason or action, our children have left our lives and will never return. As parents and siblings, we all ask ourselves, why did this have to happen? Why must we suffer so? What could we have done to have made it different? These are universal questions. No matter the cause or events surrounding our child�s death, the fact is they are Read the rest of this entry »