Suicide is the second leading cause of death for the ages of 10 and 34. This alarming statistic has been steadily increasing an average of 1% per year from 1999 to 2006, and 2% per year from 2006 through 2018, for all age groups, making suicide the 10th leading cause of death in the United States.

These numbers all point to lives that were cut short because the individuals could not see a way forward, and chose a permanent end to what had the potential to be temporary challenges. They were sadly unable to believe there could be a light at the end of the tunnel.

Suicide is viewed by those with suicidal tendencies as a solution to how they are feeling. Many times people will say they have tried everything, and nothing worked to alleviate the flood of thoughts and emotions. Most often these people do not want to hear that how they feel is temporary – they don’t believe that could possibly be true. They’ve been mired in the negative emotions for so long that those become easier to feel, and any positive emotions are pushed aside and labeled as undependable or “too good to be true”. People with suicidal thoughts tend to look for evidence to support this belief system, and what the brain seeks it shall find.

The root of the issue lies in society’s learned suppression of emotion. We are not taught how to process feelings openly, but rather from a young age we are encouraged to “be strong”. As though expressing emotion indicates some sign of weakness to be avoided at all costs.

As the rising suicide rates show, this approach is to our own detriment, effectively stunting our emotional growth as we attempt to navigate life the “right way”. We label some emotions as negative, to be eliminated, and others as positive – the ones we “should” be feeling all of the time. This naturally creates more disappointment, self-judgement, self-criticism, and shame if we aren’t feeling happy all of the time, as though it’s further proof that something is wrong with us.

How You Feel Is Temporary

Feelings are always temporary, stemming from an emotional response to a particular stimuli. At Pathwaves, we believe that emotions are an integral part of how our bodies process the importance of events that enter its awareness. By ignoring this important aspect of our biological function, we perpetuate a range of medical issues, each of which cost us more heartache, and more money to try and fix.

The body is a wonderful processing machine. It is able to integrate how we feel and function, and then change physically to automate the creation of these feelings and functions. This is why those viscous loops of negative feelings and functioning feel so out of our control.

Thousands of studies have proven the psycho-neuro-physiological fact that the mind-body (brain) connection is in a constant state of change. Science calls this neuroplasticity.

Neuroplasticity shows that nerves and synapses are created inside of us as we think, feel and function. So, there is no just thing as something existing “only in your mind” because the mind is housed in the body, and the body is physically changing as a result. As humans, we are both mind and body, so it is important to treat both at the same time.

Through the Pathwaves NeuroEmpowerment™ program, we use a proprietary form of integrative neurofeedback – what we call Neurofeedforward™ – to influence the nervous system, and recondition your responses in order to address the negative loops that lead to suicidal tendencies. Our method has been able to effectively help more than 95% of our clients change how they feel and function, so they can live happier and healthier lives.

If you’d like to learn how you can accelerate change through our methodology, we are here to help. Schedule a free 30-minute consultation today and begin your journey away from just surviving, and into thriving.