Aging Well with Dr. Dan Blazer, Part 6: Holistic Mental Health @TheHighCalling

When my son first began exhibiting symptoms of anxiety and depression as a sophomore in high school, my husband and I both worked at a California mega-church whose leaders openly preached against psychiatry and psychology. The message reached… Read More

Aging Well with Dr. Dan Blazer, Part 2: Successful Aging @TheHighCalling

In his 2002 book, Depression in Late Life, Laity Leadership Institute Senior Fellow Dan Blazer, M.D. retells a story from the life of Siddhārtha, who would come to be known as the Supreme Buddha. The young prince left his palace… Read More

A Father’s Admonition

Here is the impromptu message that Jeff gave at Gabriel’s memorial service in New Jersey. It’s only 12 minutes long, and it’s full of wisdom … jeff-scheller2 If you’d like to respond to the invitation at the end… Read More

Depression: Out of the Shadows on PBS

I wish I’d seen this documentary months ago … then I might not have missed or misread the warning signs for suicidal depression that Gabe was exhibiting. These symptoms are used to diagnose adolescent depression, but could just as well… Read More

Grieving a Suicide

  Wheaton College professor John Walford gave a passionate testimony about his brushes with suicide at a recent Wheaton chapel service. There have been three recent alumni suicides in the past year, and the university is rightly concerned about a trend that reflects an… Read More

Marathon Update

In the week after Gabe’s death, we were asked on several occasions if we really preferred a donation to the Children’s Tumor Foundation (CTF) to flowers. We said yes. I’d like to publicly thank the following parties for responding with generous… Read More

Gabriel’s Memorial Service: Dr. Aaron Kheriaty

I am posting this video, despite the fact that it somehow got rotated. (We’ll try to correct the problem.) Turn your computer sideways or close your eyes and listen. Update 7/9/08: A friend kindly rotated this video for… Read More

Spirituality and Suicide Prevention

On Tuesday, I attended a lecture at UC Irvine Medical Center called “Spirituality and Suicide Prevention.” The speaker was a psychiatrist named Aaron Kheriaty. Dr. Kheriaty is the director of UC Irvine’s unique Psychiatry and Spirituality Forum. As… Read More