NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State University will host “Live This Through: Changing the Conversation Around Mental Health and Suicide,” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 11 in the Sylvan Friedman Student Union Ballroom. The event is free and open to the public.
The forum will feature Dese’Rae Stage, a photographer, writer and suicide awareness activist. Stage earned a degree in psychology at East Tennessee State University and is trained in various aspects of crisis intervention techniques. She is a self-taught photographer. After struggling with self-injury and a suicide attempt, Stage was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder. She was also affected by the loss of friends to suicide and discovered a lack of resources for attempted survivors that led her to work with Live Through This and a campaign to photograph 166 suicide attempt survivors in 29 cities.
Stage’s work has been covered by many national publications and she has spokne about the project at universities and conferences nationwide. She currently lives in Philadelphia.
NSU Cares, an initiative of Northwestern State’s Office of Counseling and Career Services that promotes suicide prevention, mental health and wellness.
For more information, visit Livethroughthis.org or nsula.edu/nsucares.