At TEDActive 2011, JD Schramm shares the story of his friend, John, who, after surviving a suicide attempt, found that there were few resources available for someone in his position to be able to communicate the hardship he experienced and the depression he continued to battle. And there are others in this position, too – as Schramm points out, ...

Inspired by JD Schramm’s powerful TEDTalk on surviving a suicide attempt, this list of resources has been updated to help you widen your understanding of mental health, depression, suicide and suicide prevention. Whether you’re an attempt survivor, a concerned family member or friend, or struggling with suicidal thoughts yourself, this list offe...

I was a foreign correspondent based in China when I attempted suicide, twice. A big factor was the fear that if anyone knew what I was feeling, I would be fired and my career would be over. Here I was, a journalist since the age of 16, whose far-flung life -- Peace Corps volunteer in Africa, extra in Bollywood films, teacher in rural Pakista...

By JD Schramm* In my TED Talk, I acknowledged for the first time that, in 2003, I tried to end my life. I wanted to share this in a public setting because 19 out of 20 people who attempt suicide will fail -- and those that make the difficult decision to come back to life need openness from their loved ones and a lot of resources. Perhaps that...

Sergeant Kevin Briggs recently retired from the California Highway Patrol after 23 years of service, the majority of which included patrolling the southern end of Marin County, which includes the Golden Gate Bridge. And that means that he has frequently responded to suicide attempts. The bridge, while an iconic structure, has also been th...

As a teenager, Kevin Breel almost took his own life. His story — so powerfully told in his viral TEDx Talk, “Confessions of a Depressed Comic” — gives voice to an often silent struggle and offers a message of hope. In honor of Worldwide Suicide Prevention Day, we spoke with Kevin about living with depression and speaking out about it. Below...

(TED is on its annual two-week vacation. During the break, we’re posting playlists from the TEDTalks archive. We’ll be back with new talks on August 29th.) Today's playlist are some of our favorite TEDTalks to come out from TEDActive in sunny Palm Springs, California. Sebastian Wernicke shares a hilarious statistical analysis of TEDTalks t...

Several members of the TED community had notable news this week. Below, some highlights: In 2010, Eben Bayer introduced a mushroom-based material that grows from agri-waste into any shape you want. It’s been used mainly as a packing material up to now, but this week, MoMA’s PS1 in Queens unveiled a soaring, sunny tower built of mushroom brick...

JD Schramm came by the TED offices this week to discuss posting his important -- but very personal -- TEDTalk. The TED Blog sat down with him to talk about healing. Because it all starts with talking ... If a friend of yours has survived a suicide attempt, it can be hard to know how to talk afterward. What are some things you can say to s...

Mental health suffers from a major image problem. One in every four people experiences mental health issues -- yet more than 40 percent of countries worldwide have no mental health policy. Across the board it seems like we have no idea how to talk about it respectfully and responsibly. Stigma and discrimination are the two biggest obstacles t...

“Let us wage a glorious struggle against illiteracy, poverty and terrorism. Let us pick up our books and our pens, and let us shield ourselves with unity and togetherness.” These were the words spoken by 16-year-old Malala Yousafzai, above, the Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman in 2012 for advocating for girls’...

Community member Ray Givler wrote this in response to Kevin Briggs' TED Talk, The bridge between suicide and life: "A lot of intelligent people watch TED talks. Bright minds face existential questions that the majority of the population don't even consider, and they face them with greater intensity. Addressing this issue is gifted education r...

The TED community has been busy in the past week. Below, a few TEDsters with news to share. Mapping by the millions. Frustrated by the inability to test his theories given the current technology, Sebastian Seung embarked on what many of his colleagues considered career suicide: he built a game to map all the neural connections in the human ...

With just over a month to go before the 2012 presidential election, eyes around the world are on the United States. Will Americans vote to give Barack Obama another four years in the White House, or will the country opt for a turnabout and vote Mitt Romney into office? The election may well come down to a few select issues. So what matters m...

We are familiar, perhaps too much so, with the adverse effects of climate change upon our natural environment. Most every day we learn of increased erosion, acidification, and some unfortunate kind of caterpillar that will not survive the impending endless summer. But that’s not even the half of it. Crime will rise ... As temperatures ...

Lon Hodge and his labradoodle, Gander, are at a McDonald’s near the Naval Station Great Lakes in Illinois, a quick stop for a bite as they travel across the United States. “He never leaves my side,” Hodge explains to a curious woman, patting Gander on the flank. “He’s special.” Hodge and Gander are on the road interviewing the families of...

This year's packed conference came to a close on March 21, 2014: Day 5 at TED2014. Here are some highlights from this Friday: Mark Ronson ruled the dance floor On Thursday night, Mark Ronson DJ'd for TEDsters. Bent over the mixing board under a neon green TED sign, he tied all the music back to his talk, playing a set list that demonst...

If you think your contraception is making you anxious or depressed, you’re not imagining things. Evolutionary psychologist Sarah E. Hill explains what happens to your brain on birth control. Most women know at least one or two other women who have had a bad reaction to the pill. In fact, the question that many of us have about the pill: “Why do...

We live most of our lives wired and wound up, rarely pausing to relax or unplug from the daily grind. Our speakers in this session discuss the consequences of our ever-hectic lives, and remind us of the qualities we sometimes forget to foster. They include an author discussing why modern parenthood is out of whack, a leadership expert encourag...

Studies show the personal health benefits of sharing your private hopes and fears with trusted confidantes. But what if you feel alone? You keep secrets from each other; you keep secrets from yourselves. Secrets bond you; secrets drive you apart. Keeping a secret can be a burden, or it can delight you. Sharing secrets can be a relief, whether i...

Getting treatment for a mental illness when you live in the developing world is hardly as easy as making an appointment with a therapist or psychiatrist. Mental illness is often not treated with the same sense of urgency as physical illness, and resources to provide care are simply not available in many areas. In this moving talk at TEDGl...

Today, Barack Obama will be naming a new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations – and sources say that it will be Samantha Power, outspoken anti-genocide official and TED2008 speaker. Power is expected to replace Susan Rice, who sources say will be named national security advisor. Power is a fascinating choice for this very important role. She...

Jason McCue takes the stage wearing a T-shirt reading "Free Yulia in Ukraine." It's a reference to the 2011 imprisonment of Ukrainian politician Yulia Tymoshenko and a hint of what's to come in his talk: a discussion of terrorism and the law. "We are at war with a new form of terrorism," he says. The traditional perception of terrorism, t...

What I Will by Suheir Hammad I will not dance to your war drum. I will not lend my soul nor my bones to your war drum. I will not dance to your beating. I know that beat. It is lifeless. I know intimately that skin you are hitting. It was alive once hunted stolen stretched. I will not dance to your drummed up war. I will no...

In an interview on the Today Show this morning, Kevin Breel reveals why he thinks his TED Talk has gone viral: not because his story is unique, but because it is so common. Breel’s talk, given at TEDxKids@Ambleside, has been watched about 1.5 million times so far. In it, the 19-year-old reveals that, while he seemed to be living a great l...

Science funding is broken. To fix it, we need to empower a new class of makers, citizen scientists and explorers The troubling state of science funding in America goes by many names: sequestration, the profzi scheme, the postdocalypse. Because it can take extensive planning over years in academia to gain research funds from the National Science...

A few years ago, Lesley Hazleton, self-described “accidental theologist,” found herself waking each morning with the same question: What happened to Muhammad the night he received the revelation of the Koran? An agnostic Jew, Hazleton was writing a biography of the man who stood in the desert outside of Mecca in the year 610 at the moment th...

On Friday, Aaron Swartz -- the 26-year-old internet innovator who helped create RSS and had a hand in the building of Reddit -- was found dead in his apartment in an apparent suicide. Swartz, who suffered from depression, had reportedly found out just days before that a plea bargain deal with federal prosecutors had fallen apart. A longtime ...

A collaboration between TED and Japanese public broadcaster NHK is bringing TEDTalks to TV for the first time in Japan -- for Super Presentation! It's a series that harnesses TED speakers' persuasive ideas to teach English, empower a new generation of independent thinkers, and build hope one year after the Japanese tsunami. Friday night a...

Each week, TEDx chooses four of our favorite talks, highlighting just a few of the great speakers from the TEDx community and its diverse constellation of ideas worth spreading. Below, give this week’s talks a listen. Let’s find the strength to change our slums: Boniface Mwangi at TEDxKibera While working as a photographer for a Kenyan news...