Join Me in Supporting the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Dear Friends,

This year is the 9th year I will be partaking in the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Walk in Washington DC. 

I am joining hundreds of thousands of people across the country who are walking in the Out of the Darkness Community Walks to prevent suicide and support AFSP's mission to save lives and bring hope to those affected by suicide.

I may not be present in DC for the Walk this year, but I still wanted to participate. As this has been a cause that is very special and dear to my heart, and for a long time.  

My support for this cause starts from deep within and extends to the collective. 

For most of my teen and adult life, over 20 years, I have been struggling with severe depression, anxiety disorders connected to PTSD, OCD, and GAD, and suicidality. I am a survivor of multiple suicide attempts. And while I fight for my own life, I will continue to find ways to help others. AFSP and mental health advocacy became a part of my own survival, as it has for others. 

Beyond that I put together a blog over 7 years ago in part for this purpose, warrioretkqueen.com to chronical my journey of survival in mental health and other aspects of my life to involves curing stigmas. Over the years I blogged about my experiences on the walks. Here is one blog post at the DC walk in 2019:

https://www.warrioretkqueen.com/why-i-walk-to-fight-suicide/ 

I wanted to share my story with the world, honestly, sincerely, and boldly, and encourage others to do the same. I wanted to educate and encourage people to be brave and understand the transformative power in communication and conversation. While some progress has been made, there remains a lot of work to do to reduce the stigma in every domain in society, which reinforces the suffering and prevents people from getting support and living a fulfilling life. 

With the global pandemic, it was an opportunity for us to address this issue head on. Unfortunately, it was just a small dent on the larger problem. We cannot address the stigmas in our communities if we do not have open and honest conversations on a consistent, ongoing basis, surrounding mental health and specifically suicide awareness and prevention. 

And we have to do better in being there for each other. We have to try harder, and make the effort to be better. 

I hope this year, whether in DC or nationally, the people I know will walk for me or with me. I am also gifting paintings, some depicted here for my "Painting Heals" fundraiser (paintingheals.elsatkhwaja.com) to the donors this year. The one listed above is just an example. You can choose from several paintings which I will provide in October. I also do not like to call them incentives, just a gift for your generosity. I hope to send your chosen painting to you by the end of this year.   

Please help me reach my goal by clicking the "Donate" button on this page. All donations are 100% tax deductible and benefit the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), funding research, education, advocacy, and support for those affected by suicide.

If you would like to donate by check, please download the offline donation form HERE and mail it with the check.

Thank you for your generosity and support! 

May we continue to spread peace, hope and love to those who are suffering from suicidality and suicide loss, as well as chronic and debilitating mental health conditions.  

"Sometimes even to live is an act of courage." - Seneca

“No matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow." - Dr. Maya Angelou

with heart and sincerity, 

Your sister, 

Dr. Elsa T. Khwaja

www.elsatkhwaja.com

www.warrioretkqueen.com