Suicide – Sommer Season all year

The Real Pandemic

A commentary on the affects of pandemic fear

I (#blogger #blog #somseason #YA #authors) was recently sent a song video called ‘Covid 19’ that, in my opinion, speaks of the real pandemic. There is a line in the song that says “fear is the real pandemic.” A line that jumped out at me is “Let’s kill the fear that the news spreads.” Here is the song I am talking about.

What I find most interesting is that the mainstream media is focused on Covid and the alleged deaths caused by the virus, when there is a far worse pandemic happening. Covid restrictions and government control is mentally harming people. The truth is, fear is causing suicides, drug overdoses, alcohol and drug abuse, domestic violence, and bullying which all kill more people than the virus. The song refers to a pandemic of fear; that is the real pandemic. Let’s address how this media fear mongering is affecting the masses.

First, there is a huge increase in bullying (#bullying #antibullying). I’ve written about this in previous posts. Most recently relates to the mask debate where masking is dividing people into two groups: Those who feel safe when they, and those around them, are wearing masks, and those who want the freedom to choose. The differences of views between these groups results in bullying. Check out some of my previous posts for further clarification.

Second, is the increase in drug overdoses. CBC News’ article, B.C. records highest number of fatal overdoses in a single month, with 170 deaths, reports that British Columbia’s (BC) Coroners said May had the highest total ever recorded for a single month in provincial history, and more people have died from drug overdoses than from COVID-19 in B.C. all year. The article has a graph comparing Covid deaths to drug overdose deaths in 2020. It is quite striking to see the comparison. Partnership to End Addictions’ July article, Drug Overdoes Increasing and Accelerating During COVID-19 Pandemic, says this about the US:

…suspected overdoses soared 18% in March compared with last year, 29% in April and 42% in May, according to the Overdose Detection Mapping Application Program, a federal program that collects data from ambulance teams, police and hospitals.

The US director for the Center for Disease Control, Robert Redfield, says, “We’re seeing far greater deaths from drug overdose that are above excess that we had as background than we are seeing the deaths from COVID.” (source)

Another CBC article, Pandemic worsens Canada’s deadly opioid overdose epidemic, says Alberta, BC and Ontario have all seen increases in overdoses. It makes sense. When the media spreads fear, people become stressed and anxious, and use more substances to cope.

Third, is the increase in drug and alcohol use during Covid. Forbes’ article, Covid-19 Is Helping Make 2020 A Record Year for Cannabis Sales; a headline that says it all. The University of Southern California has an article, Pandemic drives alcohol sales — and raises concerns about substance abuse, which again isn’t surprising because fear perpetrated by the media drives people to use drugs to cope with the stress. 70 per cent of Australians report drinking more alcohol than usual since the COVID-19 outbreak in Australia (source). More than 1 in 5 Canadians who drink alcohol and have been staying at home report drinking once a day since the beginning of May (source). Clearly, Covid is causing a substance abuse problem, and substance abuse gradually kills.

Fourth, is the suicide problem. National Review’s article, Lockdown Suicides on the Rise, quotes CDC director Robert Redfield as saying,

“There has been another cost that we’ve seen, particularly in high schools. We’re seeing, sadly, far greater suicides now than we are deaths from COVID.”

Another article, Suicide deaths higher than COVID-19 deaths amid lockdown, CDC chief warns, says the same thing. Mr. Redfields is quoted saying, “We’re seeing far greater suicides’ and ‘deaths from drug overdose’ than deaths from COVID, and prolonged school closures may be more dangerous than coronavirus.”

New York Post’s, California doctor claims he’s seen more deaths by suicide than coronavirus, validates what the CDC director says.

An August research paper titled, Projected increases in suicide in Canada as a consequence of COVID-19, conducted an analysis of suicide and unemployment rates between 2000 and 2018 in Canada. Suicide mortality in 2019 was predicted using the 2019 unemployment rate of 5.7%. Suicide mortality in 2020 and 2021 were projected for three scenarios of change in unemployment rates: no change (i.e., 5.9% in 2020 and 6.0% in 2021 as published in the 2019 Federal Budget), moderate increase (i.e., 7.5% in 2020, 7.2% in 2021), and extreme increase (i.e., 16.6% in 2020, 14.9% in 2021). Clearly, with all the unemployment happening because of Covid lockdowns, Canada’s suicides will increase.

Fifth, is the increase in domestic violence. The Foundation for Economic Educations has an article titled, Domestic Violence More Than Doubled Under Lockdowns, New Study Finds. The National Bureau of Economic Research, an American private non-profit research organization, released a paper which analyzed government-mandated lockdowns in India. It found evidence of a 131% increase in complaints of domestic violence in May 2020 in “red zone districts, which are those that experienced the strictest lockdown measures, relative to districts that had less strict measures (“green zones”). Canada’s Globe and Mail News outlet reports that at least nine women and girls were killed in domestic homicides in Canada during the pandemic as of May 12 (source). I’m sure that number has increased since.

The Medical Press says the COVID-19 pandemic has led to higher levels of depression, anxiety, suicidal tendencies, and psychological trauma among American adults during the early months of its spread; that’s according to three new studies published by University of Arkansas. The article also says;

“Fear is a pretty consistent predictor…What we found is that fear, coupled with a range of social vulnerabilities, consistently and significantly predict a range of mental health outcomes.”

The Star’s article, COVID-19 having ‘profound effect’ on Canadian lives, especially psychologically: survey, says Canadians have anxiety about their loved ones’ health, fears of Canada’s hospital system becoming overwhelmed, and an alarming number of women (one in 10) are afraid of violence erupting in their home.

A RedState article says the head of CDC admits lockdown is killing way more Americans than COVID. This is the real pandemic. If this is indeed true, which seems to be the case according to my research, then why is the mainstream media solely focused on Covid numbers as opposed to the psychological trauma that Covid restrictions are causing. Do they have an agenda? Is there intent to spread fear, and if so, why? Fear is False Evidence Appearing Real. Is that what is happening? One has to wonder if the virus is as deadly as the media wants us to believe. It seems to me that the real pandemic is one of fear; a pandemic that is killing and harming more people than the Covid virus.

As the song says, “Let’s kill the fear that the news spreads.” It is very simple; STOP WATCHING THE NEWS, because as long as the mainstream news spreads its fear–the biggest bully of all–society will continue to become more mentally unwell. That leads to more people experiencing bullying because people are pitted against one another, and some people die because of it. Suicides, drug overdoses, alcohol and drug abuse, and domestic violence are all on the increase, and even the CDC is admitting more people die from the fear spread by the news than the virus itself. Why aren’t we hearing more about this in the news? This is the real pandemic!

The Ugly Reality of Bullying

A commentary on the damage bullying causes.

As I become known as an anti-bullying advocate, people send me articles and videos that they think may interest me. This week a friend sent me this video clip posted by a mother. The video is of her son crying after he was targeted at school because he has Achondroplasia, a genetic disorder. Be warned, the mother uses course language and the video is upsetting to watch; at least for me it was. Here is the video.

For those unfamiliar with Achondroplasia, it is a genetic disorder that results in dwarfism. In those with the condition, the arms and legs are short, while the torso, or trunk, is typically of normal length. Those affected have an average adult height of around 4 ft (131 cm). Other features include an enlarged head and prominent forehead. The disorder typically does not affect intelligence.

In a Huffpost article about the video called, Mum Shares Heartbreaking Video Of 9-Year-Old Son Traumatized By Bullying, Quaden’s mother describes the relentless bullying experienced by her son every day. The family, who are Aboriginal Australian, live in Queensland, Australia. The mother says in the video :

“I’ve just picked my son up from school, witnessed a bullying episode, rang the principal, and I want people to know – parents, educators, teachers – this is the effect that bullying has…Every single… day, something happens. Another episode, another bullying, another taunt, another name-calling…Can you please educate your children, your families, your friends? This is what bullying does.”

Her son repeatedly cries out that he wants to end his life in the video.

Here is a NBC news clip about the video.

The good news is Quaden and his mother have been flooded with support after live-streaming the heartbreaking video of her nine-year-old son’s misery because of bullying. In fact, one celebrity with dwarfism started a Go Fund Me page to send Quaden to Disneyland, and the page has raised over $300 000. That goes to show the number of wonderful people on our planet (see Australian boy in bullying video receives global support).

What shocks me is this a story that needs to be heard, yet people question and even attempt to discredit the story. Some on the Internet questioned Quaden’s age. Why, I don’t know. Some claimed the mother of Quaden was financially benefiting from the video. The most noteworthy was the story was twisted into a conspiracy theory that Quaden was an 18-year-old scammer (see Conspiracy Theory). Why the negativity?

In my author talks, I define bullying as “when you keep picking on someone because you think you’re cooler, smarter, stronger or better than them.” These bullies—hurting people who are taking their pain out on Quaden—see him as physically different from them, so I can only speculate that they feel entitled to harass him. They are obviously insensitive, uncaring individuals who fail to understand how hurtful their bullying is. When bullying causes someone to contemplate suicide, it is heartbreaking.

The fact is, we are all members of the human race and therefore deserve to be treated accordingly. It reminds me of Act 3, scene 1 of the Shakespearean play, Merchant of Venice, where Shylock, a Jew, confronts two Christians. Shylock says:

“I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, actions, passions…warm’d and cool’d by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die…”

Every human being has feelings, needs, and desires. We all want to be happy, feel loved and respected. We are the same physically, emotionally, spiritually and mentally. Size, shape, and colour does not matter. Why are people so intolerant of differences? I don’t get it. Talk show host, Ellen DeGeneres says:

“We focus so much on our differences, and that is creating, I think, a lot of chaos and negativity and bullying in the world. And I think if everybody focused on what we all have in common – which is – we all want to be happy.”

She is right! As she says, “…if everybody focused on what we all have in common – which is – we all want to be happy” then bullying would decline; maybe even stop. I’ve said in previous posts, there is a very simple solution to bullying, and that is following the Golden Rule which says, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Every major World Religion and philosophy promotes this rule. If only people would start following it.

A Senseless Tragedy Because of Bullying

A commentary on the absurdity of bullying

Most people that I know go into the new year with optimism, hoping that the commencement of a new year will bring a better year then the previous one. Perhaps they hope that there will be more cooperation between peoples and nations, that people are more tolerant and inclusive, and love for fellow human brothers and sisters becomes more prevalent. Or, as one New Year greeting says, “The approaching New Year brings hope to everyone for calmness, kindness and fulfillment of dreams.” I started 2020 with this hope and then I came across the Telegraph’s headline, PhD student took her own life after classmates mocked her for not being ‘posh enough’, and my hopes for 2020 were shattered.

The article reports that a 26-year-old attending the University of Kent’s School of Anthropology and Conservation in the city of Kent, England, was found deceased due to suicide. It seems this young student was vulnerable, as the third-year doctoral candidate struggled with anxiety, depression, and a low-self-esteem after allegedly being bullied because she was state-educated instead of privately schooled as her peers were. The post-graduate student also struggled with the “toxic” environment in the university laboratory, and according to her mother, was also struggling with her thesis.

What caused such a tragedy? The sad truth is the issue was the deceased anthropology student received a state education and the others received a private education. She ‘wasn’t posh enough’ her mother says. In other words, she wasn’t high-class or was considered inferior to her peers. Her mother reports that her daughter told her “about being mocked for her accent and because she’d never been sailing.”

My blood boils when I read a story like this. It brings me back to when I was in Grade 5 in the village I grew up in. In Grade Five, the farm boys bullied me because I lived in town where my dad ran a service station. The “farm boys” accused the town boys of being lazy, having no chores, and being weaklings.

The bottom line is a tragedy occurred for a ridiculous reason. This 26-year-old with the potential of changing the world for the better took her own life because her peers, who came from privilege, harassed her and saw her as inferior. I was bullied because my classmates from a farming background saw themselves as superior because they did farm chores. The bullying that happened to me and to the anthropology student is absurd.

The rock band, Simple Plan, has a song titled, “Welcome to My Life,” that I believe relays what the 26-year-old in this story was likely feeling. If you haven’t heard the song, here it is.

Here are some of the song’s lyrics:

Do you want to be somebody else?
Are you sick of feeling so left out?
Are you desperate to find something more
Before your life is over

Are you stuck inside a world you hate?
Are you sick of everyone around?
With the big fake smiles and stupid lies
But deep inside you’re bleeding

No you don’t know what its like
When nothing feels alright
You don’t know what its like to be like me
To be hurt
To feel lost
To be left out in the dark
To be kicked when you’re down
To feel like you’ve been pushed around
To be on the edge of breaking down
And no one there to save you
No you don’t know what its like
Welcome to my life

This song, in my view, captures what a victim of a bully feels. Do you want to be somebody else? Yes. Are you sick of everyone around? Clearly, as that is why victims attempt suicide. No you don’t know what its like when nothing feels alright. You don’t know what its like to be like me. No one knows what it feels like to be a bully’s victim, unless they’ve been one. Only victims relate to these lyrics. To be hurt. To feel lost… I felt like this in Grade 5. I felt hurt. I felt lost. I felt left out. I felt rejected and unaccepted. Why? Because I lived in town and not a farm. The post-graduate student from Kent, England felt this way too—I would bet on it—because she was state-educated and not privately schooled; because she did not come from privilege, and now she is dead because of it. Shameful!

There is a very simple solution to bullying. It is called the Golden Rule, which says, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Or as the Author of “If Heaven had a Mailbox”, Jill Telford says, “Start each day asking, “How do I want others to feel?” Then act accordingly.” If every single person lived their life following this very simple rule, bullying would stop. Try it!

Why So Many Bully Leaders?

A commentary on bullying

I have talked to several people lately who are disillusioned with our government leaders and who question whether our democracy is working. I must agree, as I’ve said in other posts, I believe our democracy is broken. When corrupted leaders are elected, and governments refuse to listen to the people they govern, something is wrong with our democracy. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address in which he said, “Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.”

What did Lincoln mean? Well, that is open to interpretation, but for me, “of the people” means voters elect fellow citizens to represent their views in office. “By the People” are those same voters having a say in what their government does or does not do. This means governments listen to the people who elected them. “For the People” is government taking care of every single citizen by way of human rights, education, disaster aid and providing adequate health care. It also means maintaining infrastructure and protecting the environment for the betterment of the entire community. This is what a democracy should be. Governments listen to their citizens and make decisions based on what is best for all citizens, and not exclusively on their political ideology.

As I observe our world, I see so many leaders who make decisions to benefit themselves and their buddies without listening to the people who elected them and often at the determent of the people they represent. Watching this behaviour takes me back to my teaching days when I had to deal with school yard bullies. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a bully as someone who treats someone in a cruel, insulting, threatening, or aggressive fashion, or as someone who forces someone to do something by coercion. So many of our government leaders are acting like school bullies. Here are a few examples, and there are many.

This month, our provincial leaders, the government of the province of Alberta used closure—a process in parliamentary procedure aimed at bringing debate to a quick end—and passed Bill 22. Without consulting with the owners of the various pension funds—teachers, nurses, public employees—this new law enabled the government to take over control of the pension funds. This is no different than a school bully that takes another kid’s lunch money. Our premier (provincial leader) and his government dishonourably took control of money that was not theirs to take. Over 30 000 teacher emails were sent to government members asking them to stop, but the government ignored what the teachers wanted and forced the bill through the parliamentary process in record time. No bill has ever been passed in that short of time.

Bill 22 also enabled our Premier to fire the Elections Commissioner who is investigating his party for what is called the Kamikaze Scandal; a scandal involving fraud, bribery, and more. Once again, I see a government leader bullying. It is cruel and aggressive to fire someone unjustly. (see Global News:Bill 22)

Another premier, the premier of the province of Ontario, is accused of bullying as well. Teachers in Ontario are outraged at the unfair and unreasonable behaviour of their Premier and his government who are forcing professional educators to do something they object to. When force is used, then bullying is occurring. (see National Post)

The current leader of the free world—more accurately “bully of the free world”—uses Twitter and television to bully regularly. He has done this since becoming president. The Times headline; Trump accused of bullying witness in Ukraine impeachment hearing, reveals that the US president is “accused of witness intimidation in real time” regarding the impeachment House hearings. The Newsletter has an article titled, Donald Trump Is a Simple-Minded Bully. I could go on and on with examples of bully politicians, but I’m sure you get my point.

I hear of bullying in the workplace all the time. CBC’s has an article entitled, Canadians bullied at work, which reports that an assistant professor of management at the University of Windsor’s Odette School of Business, who has spent years researching bullies in the workplace, says 40% of Canadians have experienced one or more acts of workplace bullying at least once a week.

This all got me wondering; Why do people bully? So many of these bullies claim to be people of faith or devout Christians, yet they bully. What happened to following the Golden Rule? There is an adage, “Hurt people, hurt people.” The only explanation I can come up with is bullies are hurt people who take their hurt out on others. The article 15 Ways Hurting People Hurt People lists the various ways hurting people pain others. So, I really have to wonder, are these bully politicians hurting people. I believe they are.

Many times I’ve witnessed bullying on a school playground, in a school hallway, or in a school classroom. Most often those students who bullied were hurting. Some felt rejected; rejected by their friends, or even rejected by their parents. Some were grieving, dealing with a broken friendship or even the death of someone. Many were in a great deal of emotional pain because they were feeling lonely. Some felt like failures, perhaps told by a parent, teacher or friend that they were. Some were feeling guilty about something they did or said. There are many types of hurts.

This is one of the reasons I wrote my book, “A Shattered New Start,” a fictional book about bullying. I’ve seen so much bullying in my life, been the recipient of bullies on several occasions, and dealt with many in my career. Can bullies be reformed? For starters, healing their hurt can make a difference. It can be as simple as listening to a bully so they feel heard.