I’m Joanna Scott Satterwhite. I’m thrilled to be joining HealthyPlace as one of the new writers of the "Living a Blissful Life" blog. It remains to be seen whether I actually know how to live a blissful life, but I’m out here trying, and that’s at least half the battle.

While self-injury can sometimes be a precursor to suicide, self-harm and suicide are not inextricably linked. Blindly assuming one always leads to the other can potentially hinder, rather than support, the healing process. (Note: This post contains a trigger warning.)

September 10 is World Suicide Prevention Day around the world. With the more prevalent talk of suicide, mental health, and available resources, old thoughts can be triggered, as they have for me. I believe there needs to be more education, awareness, and increased help for anyone who struggles with suicidal thoughts or ideas of inflicting harm on themselves. I wonder if maybe more accessible options may have been the help I needed when I was younger and struggling. (Note: This post contains a trigger warning.)

Suicide prevalence in the eating disorder community is a serious concern. Eating disorders are some of the most lethal forms of mental illness—in the United States alone, one person dies every 52 minutes as a result of eating disorder complications. But this high mortality rate is not just a reflection of the various health risks that eating disorders cause. Suicide accounts for many of those deaths as well. In fact, the prevalence of suicide attempts is a tragically common trend among those who suffer from eating disorder behaviors. (Note: This post contains a trigger warning.)

As someone with an anxiety disorder, trying to enjoy life is not easy. My anxiety stole a lot of the fun I could have had in high school, and at university, like all the clubs I wanted to join but decided not to because I was uncomfortable. Day-to-day activities were a struggle. It made my life two times harder and got me overthinking every social interaction I had. It kept me up at night, made me worry about everything, and made me doubt myself. My anxiety made me feel like life was not worth living. (Note: This post contains a trigger warning.)

I've considered suicide in the past, several years ago. More recently, I've had disturbing intrusive thoughts. Having experienced—and survived—both, I know how intrusive thoughts can easily bleed into thoughts of suicide. (Note: This post contains a trigger warning.)

Suicide is a challenging topic to discuss. However, it is extremely important. Today, I'd like to talk about low self-esteem indicators that can be early signs of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. (Note: This post contains a trigger warning.)

When someone dies by suicide, condolences pour in both online and offline. People grieve the loss of the deceased individual via statements like, "If only they had reached out to me before taking this step, I would have helped them." Unfortunately, this is untrue. It is trendy to pay lip service to mental health (or the lack thereof). Whether it's organizations or individuals, #MentalHealthMatters as long as it doesn't inconvenience anyone. (Note: This post contains a trigger warning.)

Suicide is difficult to talk about, yet, most of us have experienced suicidal thoughts or grief in the wake of suicide or suicide attempt. Even though we can never fully understand the depths of someone else's experience, it's important to acknowledge how universal experiences with suicide are. September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, and the purpose of acknowledging suicide is to push through silence and discomfort to remind each other we are not alone. (Note: This post contains a trigger warning.)

When you live with borderline personality disorder (BPD), you live with the BPD relationship dilemma. What is the BPD relationship dilemma? Well, I just made it up. But, it might sound familiar if you or someone you know has BPD. For me, at least, relationships used to feel like an impossible paradox.