A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy

(An Audible listen). This is an excellent book.

I remember watching the news with horror as the Columbine shootings were reported when my first child was 18 months and I was pregnant with my second. At the time, I was thinking of the victims and the other students in the school. Now as a mother to three young adults I found this a hard listen as I know how possible it is that your children can hide their mental health struggles and the thought that anyone I might know and love could commit such an act is just horrific to contemplate. I also work in a school and know just how lacking the mental health support for students is (as it is for adults too).

Twenty four years on I don't think that America has learned the lessons we needed to, not just in regard to violence and school shootings but also with regard to suicide. Too many people think that there is a simplistic quick fix and do not want to invest in solutions they see as costly. It is too easy for people to turn their heads away until the problem hits close to home. Tech is not the solution to any of these problems. People problems need people solutions.

I like the comparison to risk assessment by one of the experts the author talked with who compared the issue with cardiovascular health. Diet, exercise, medication to reduce blood pressure and cholesterol levels will all save lives at the population level but you still can't predict who will have a heart attack and who won't. Similarly with suicide.