Many have internalized the positive encouragement to “Do your best!” Unfortunately, constantly trying to do our best can also become a source of the absence of self-compassion. Until we pause and ask, “What does it mean to do your best?”
Digging deeper into the CDC report regarding suicides, I find that the factors that appear to be significantly correlated with suicides today are the same as I was taught on the first day of my psychiatry residency training – male gender, access to firearms and current substance use.