Tag: end the stigma

#PressRelease: Sticks and Stones Mental Health Month Tour!

Posted on by The Smart Cookie

For Immediate Release

April 12, 2023

Chelsea DeVries

Publicist

chelseadevries@thesmartcookiephiles.com

Sticks and Stones Mental Health Month Tour

    Chelsea DeVries, author of Sticks and Stones, is going on a 3 stop book tour. On May 6, 2023, DeVries will appear at the Community Appreciation Event at the Gulf View Square Mall, 9409 US 19 Port Richey, FL 34668, from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. She will be selling her poetry stanza artwork and copies of her award-winning poetry collection Sticks and Stones. 

On May 10, 2023, DeVries will appear at the Spring Hill Library 9220 Spring Hill Drive Spring Hill, FL 34608 from 3-5 p.m. for a poetry reading and presentation of her collection Sticks and Stones: Full Story Edition. On May 24, 2023 DeVries will appear at New Port Richey Public Library 5939 Main Street, New Port Richey, FL 34652 from 3-5 p.m. Books will be available to purchase at this event on May 24. Past appearances for Sticks and Stones Poetry readings include Centenniel Park Library, Hudson Library, and Neat Coffee Bar. For more information about each event, please email chelseadevries@thesmartcookiephiles.com

About The Author: Chelsea DeVries wanted to be a writer at the age of 7. Her first publishing credit came at the age of 14 with a poem in a student anthology. She then wrote nonstop while doing IB classes in high school. She published two YA novels while still in high school which after over 10 years she rewrote as a NA romance that she looks to put out as her next publication.She is a seeker of justice and uses her words to free this world’s outcasted, peculiar, and underdogs from the chains that bind them. When not writing she runs and does PR for authors and musicians with her bookish brand The Smart Cookie Philes. Though she’s Florida born and raised, she has New Jersey in her veins. She currently lives in Port Richey, FL with her squad of two dogs.You can follow her on Instagram and Facebook at @chelsealynnpoetry, and her squad at @dasquad26. In October 2020, DeVries was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome which is a form of Autism.

About The Book: In Sticks and Stones, DeVries paints a poetic picture of rising above toxicity, love found and love lost, and delves into what it means to find strength in the human spirit. Through poetry, the reader finds a voice of strength and the rebuilding of one’s heart a home with all the sticks and stones thrown upon it. Newly expanded with more full color photos, 41 new poems, and a rewrite of Drowning in An Ocean of No Tomorrows, DeVries shows a full poetic picture of turning pain into poetry in order so you can rise above whatever is pulling you under.

#SuicidePreventionMonth: Four Reasons You Should Vote For Jen Ervig for Book of the Year!

Posted on by The Smart Cookie

Why hello there!

If this is your first time on my site, I welcome and offer you a virtual yet warm chocolate chip cookie welcome. 🙂

In case you didn’t hear, Jen Ervig’s amazing book When My Mind Winds Up is up to win Book of the Year!

Here are four reasons why

Vote now HERE and make sure after you vote you check your email and verify otherwise that vote you just placed does not count toward Jen’s rank in the contest.

Feel free to save this graphic and share it on your favorite social network!

book-of-the-year-press-release-jenDownload

#GivingTuesdaySeries: Why I Chose Project Semicolon (New Merch Product Reveal) #EndTheStigma

Posted on by The Smart Cookie

Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the US for all ages. (CDC)

Every day, approximately 123 Americans die by suicide. (CDC)

There is one death by suicide in the US every 12 minutes. (CDC)

Depression affects 20-25% of Americans ages 18+ in a given year. (CDC)

Suicide takes the lives of over 44,965 Americans every year. (CDC)

The highest suicide rates in the US are among Whites, American Indians and Alaska Natives.

Only half of all Americans experiencing an episode of major depression receive treatment. (NAMI)

80% -90% of people that seek treatment for depression are treated successfully using therapy and/or medication. (TADS study)

An estimated quarter million people each year become suicide survivors (AAS).

There is one suicide for every estimated 25 suicide attempts. (CDC)

There is one suicide for every estimated 4 suicide attempts in the elderly. (CDC)FB_IMG_1574286804756

I was recently diagnosed with anxiety and depression but have battled it my entire life. At the age of 12, I attempted suicide, and have had recurring episodes of suicidal thoughts since. I also battle symptoms of anxiety and have suffered multiple panic attacks. It can be crippling and you almost feel as if you can’t discuss it.

Most sick days I’ve ever called out of work have been mental health days.

Yet, it’s not yet globally accepted to use a sick day for your mental health.

One thing people don’t know about me is I suffer with social anxiety. In public places, I hate calling attention to myself. And if I have to address groups of people it makes me anxious. I believe I have always suffered this since I was young but started noticing it while in college which makes sense because I actually had a lot of people emotionally abuse me and socially reject me in some sense while I attended school there.

We should end the stigma.

Every purchase of this backpack will benefit Project Semicolon which is a great cause that uses a semi colon to show that your story has not come to an end…you can keep fighting.
We have to help people everywhere understand that help is available, mental health is vital for well-being, and suicide is never the answer.

You can purchase a backpack here and 100% of profit goes to Project Semicolon.

I am also running a Facebookfundraiser that you can donate to and all money raised will be donated by Facebook to Project Semicolon.