After 11 seasons on the air, Supernatural not only has one of the most loyal fan bases on television, but it also has one of the most active. From winning EW’s Fanuary to helping multiple charity campaigns to succeed, the SPN Family is a close-knit community, and it’s one that actors Misha Collins, Jensen Ackles, and Jared Padalecki care about deeply.
All three actors have worked on charity campaigns in the past, but now, the actors are launching a campaign aimed to specifically provide the fandom with support.
“We have this interesting exposure to our fandom in the form of conventions, where we go and we meet fans face-to-face pretty much every other weekend,” Collins says. “And we have occasion to meet thousands and thousands of Supernatural fans and at every event, every one of us encounters as many as a dozen people who share really heart-rending stories about self-harm or addiction or depression or suicide attempts. We see a lot of people with tattoos of semicolons on themselves – the semicolon is where the author could’ve chosen to end a sentence but instead chose to carry it on so it’s a very potent symbol for somebody who’s struggled with near-death situations and forged on.”
And after years of hearing those stories, Collins has partnered with his fellow actors to launch The SPNFamily Crisis Support Network, a community support system to help fans cope with mental health issues such as depression, self-injury, and addiction.
Specifically, Collins and Ackles have recently launched You Are Not Alone, a T-shirt campaign from which proceeds will help launch the support network. Furthermore, they’re working with a number of nonprofits to get the network off the ground. “The nonprofit Random Acts is housing this network in partnership with two other nonprofits, IMAlive and To Write Love of Her Arms, which are helping us,” Collins says. “They have experience in this realm so they’re helping us build it in a an efficacious way.”
And in doing so, they’re hoping to create a space for fans to turn to one another in times of need. “For whatever reason, it seems to be something that is prevalent, or at least bubbles to the surface in our fandom. It’s just something that seems to be affecting a lot of people,” Collins says, adding, “I think one of the big problems that people face when they’re struggling with these things is not knowing where to turn. But if you are part of a community and you know that that community is offering help in a certain way and it’s something that you know is there, I think it might be really helpful. Anyway, that’s what me and Jared and Jensen thought.”
And after about six months of working on pulling everything together, The SPNFamily Crisis Support Network is becoming a reality. “We have psychologists, psychiatrists, therapists, and so far, about 1,500 people have volunteered to help man the hotlines,” Collins says, noting that part of the network is fans being trained to help fans, but that’s only after each person who volunteers is thoroughly vetted and trained.
But for now, this is just the beginning. “I’m really excited to actually see this thing hit the ground,” Collins says.
Supernatural airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on The CW.
Just went into my room to cut and I open my box where I keep my blades and this is what I found
Parenting; you’re doing it right.
Queued
no words needed
Beautiful.
every parent should see this and take notes omg
This genuinely made me cry. Holy shit. I’ve struggled with self harm for six years, and I’m now expecting a baby girl a few months from now. I hope my daughter never has to go through this, but if she does, this is EXACTLY what I’ll do.
I swear our generation is going to be the best parents when it comes to dealing with our kids’ depression…
Mental health disorders are common in the United States, affecting tens of millions of Americans each year, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Yet only a fraction of those people receive treatment. Without treatment, mental health disorders can reach a crisis point.
Some examples of mental health crises include depression, trauma, eating disorders, alcohol or substance abuse, self-injury and suicidal thoughts. If you suspect a friend or family member is experiencing an emotional crisis, your help can make a difference.
Spotting the Signs
One of the most common signs of emotional crisis is a clear and abrupt change in behavior. Some examples include:
Neglect of personal hygiene.
Dramatic change in sleep habits, such a sleeping more often or not sleeping well.
Weight gain or loss.
Decline in performance at work or school.
Pronounced changes in mood, such as irritability, anger, anxiety or sadness.
Withdrawal from routine activities and relationships.
Sometimes, these changes happen suddenly and obviously. Events such as a natural disaster or the loss of a job can bring on a crisis in a short period of time. Often, though, behavior changes come about gradually. If something doesn’t seem right with your loved one, think back over the past few weeks or months to consider signs of change.
Don’t wait to bring up your concerns. It’s always better to intervene early, before your loved one’s emotional distress becomes an emergency situation. If you have a feeling that something is wrong, you’re probably right.
Lend an Ear
If you suspect your loved one is experiencing a mental health crisis, reaching out is the first step to providing the help he or she needs to get better. Sit down to talk in a supportive, non-judgmental way. You might start the conversation with a casual invitation: “Let’s talk. You don’t seem like yourself lately. Is there something going on?”
Stay calm, and do more listening than talking. Show your loved one that you can be trusted to lend an ear and give support without passing judgment. When discussing your concerns, stick to the facts and try not to blame or criticize.
Seek Professional Help
Reaching out can help your friend or family member begin to get a handle on an emotional crisis. But professional help is the best way to fully address a mental health problem and get that problem under control. You can explain that psychologists have specialized training that makes them experts in understanding and treating complex emotional and behavioral problems. That training is especially critical when an emotional disorder has reached crisis levels.
Psychologists use scientifically tested techniques that go beyond talking and listening. They can teach their clients tools and skills for dealing with problems, managing stress and working toward goals.
To help your loved one find a psychologist to speak with, you might encourage your loved one to speak to his or her primary care provider about available mental health resources in your community. If your workplace has an employee assistance program (EAP), that can be a useful resource and referral service. You can also find a psychologist in your area by using APA’sPsychologist Locator Service.
Concerns About Suicide or Self-Harm or Threats to Harm Others
No emotional crisis is more urgent than suicidal thoughts and behavior, or threats to harm someone else. If you suspect a loved one is considering self-harm or suicide, don’t wait to intervene.
It’s a difficult topic to bring up, but discussing suicide will not put the idea in someone’s head. In fact, it’s not abnormal for a person to have briefly thought about suicide. It becomes abnormal when someone starts to see suicide as the only solution to his or her problems.
If you discover or suspect that your loved one is dwelling on thoughts of self-harm, or developing a plan, it’s an emergency. If possible, take him or her to the emergency room for urgent attention. Medical staff in the ER can help you deal with the crisis and keep your loved one safe.
If you think someone is suicidal or will harm someone else, do not leave him or her alone. If he or she will not seek help or call 911, eliminate access to firearms or other potential tools for harm to self or others, including unsupervised access to medications.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is also a valuable resource. If you’re concerned about a loved one’s mental state or personal safety, and unable to take him or her to the emergency room, you can talk to a skilled counselor by calling 1-800-273-TALK.
If you’re concerned about a loved one, don’t put it off. You can make the difference in helping your friend or family member get back on track to good mental health.
For anybody with issues with binge eating, purging, and/or self-harm (or any other type of urge), an “alternatives” jar is a good project! It is a jar filled with popsicle sticks that have things written on them that you can do when your urge hits, as an alternative to the urge.
You need:
A glass jar (I used a small 8 oz old jar that I had left from a jar of jam- you can get these for $1 in some places with the jam)
Popsicle sticks (I used 70 regular-sized ones from a pack of 1,000 craft sticks that I bought for $5)
Markers (I used Bic Mark-It Permanent Markers, but any other marker should work, even dollar-store markers)
Paints, as many colors as you want (I used Apple Barrel brand acrylic paints, which run for $0.50-$0.57 per 2 oz container at Wal Mart).
Paint brushes to use for the paints (I used Plaid brand sponge brushes, which I got for $1 for 4, and a pack of 24 different brushes which were $5 each)
Ribbons and washi (decorative/paper) tape ($0.50-$3.50 per roll, however you want)
Items 4-6 are optional! You can use as much or as little paint as you want. You should only need one bottle if you are doing one color; however, you may want more!
Instructions:
Gather your materials 🙂 (not too hard!)
Decide how many sticks your jar will hold. Mine held 70 craft sticks; some can hold more!
Decide how many colors you want to use, and if you want the colors to mean anything.
Paint the craft sticks!! Do this on a surface easily cleaned, thrown away, or that you don’t mind getting messy! I used a lid from a plastic tote. You can either put the paints on a palette (if you have one), or dab it onto the sponge brushes and then paint.
Let your painted sticks dry.
While you are letting them dry, you can decorate your jar. Some permanent markers work on glass; others don’t. You can try them though! Acrylic paints don’t always work on glass, also. I used washi tape and ribbons, using a hot glue gun to attach the ribbons to the jar. The tape and ribbons can be removed from the jar if I so choose (so that way I can re-use the jar or re-decorate if I want to)
Once the sticks dry, write on them!!
Ideas for how to use color:
You can see that I used 7 colors, each with 10 sticks. Colors can be used to denote:
Type of urge (especially useful if you have multiple types)
Type of emotion behind the urge or activity (feeling sad, guilty, angry, lonely, wanting sensation, etc)
Amount of time the activity takes (5 min, 10 min, 15 min, 30 min, 1 hr, over 1 hr)
Amount of money you’d have to invest (ie, totally free things, things you can spend $1 on, things you’d have to spend $5 on, etc)
How to use:
When your urge hits, pick a color or colors to represent what you need. For example: red for me are things to get anger out, so if I’m wanting to purge because I am angry, I will choose the red sticks.
Pick one stick of that color. Do that activity, and put the stick to the side. If, after you’re done with the activity, the urge is still there, pick another stick.
Keep choosing sticks until the urge is gone (or you have other things you have to do)
If the urge hasn’t gone away, but you are done with your sticks: choose another color and keep going.
This is what happens when you search the tag suicide, depressed, self harm, and eating disorder. To anyone struggling with any of these things, please reach out and seek help.
You are worth it and you deserve it.
Also, please reblog this so more people can see this. It could save a life.
Holding the Bowl 