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Dennis Gillan worked in suicide prevention for years without telling anyone about his own two brothers. He brings that story to Mountain Home on Sept. 12 for a free talk hosted by Baxter Health.
The event runs from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Vada Sheid Community Development Center, 1600 S. College St. on the ASU-Mountain Home campus. No registration is needed.
Gillan lost both of his brothers to suicide, 11 years apart. By his own account, he handled the first loss badly and turned to drinking. After the second, he went to therapy and got sober.
He started volunteering on a crisis hotline in Chicago. He kept the reason to himself.
That changed at a fundraiser in 2010, when Gillan talked about his brothers in public for the first time. He has been speaking ever since, and he founded the Half a Sorrow Foundation to do it full time.
The foundation’s name comes from an old saying that a shared joy is a double joy and a shared sorrow is half a sorrow.
Gillan is careful to say what he is not. His own website carries a line stating he is not a licensed counselor and that his views are observational rather than medical advice.
What he does have is training. According to the foundation, he is certified in QPR, ASIST, safeTALK, Talk Saves Lives and SoulShop, which are all programs that teach ordinary people how to spot warning signs and ask direct questions.
People who have booked him describe a talk that moves between hard material and humor. He is also a TEDx speaker, where his subject was loneliness.
The Mountain Home event is called “It’s a Tough Subject: A Conversation About Suicide.” That is the same name as the podcast Gillan co-hosts with Jessica Seel, which takes on mental health topics people tend to avoid.
His other projects run in the same direction. He wrote a children’s book called “Nice Shoes!” about how far a small compliment can go. He also started the Camo Hat Club, a men’s group built around getting guys to talk to each other.
Gillan lives in South Carolina and sits on the board of the state chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
The Mountain Home talk falls on the same day as the second Run for Tomorrow 5K, which starts that morning at ASUMH. Money raised at last year’s race helped bring Gillan here.
For more information, contact Jamie Leach at Baxter Health at (870) 508-6465 or [email protected].
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, a free service available 24 hours a day. Veterans can dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255.
