Season 2/ Episode 49: When You Need to Talk Someone off the Ledge
In All Seriousness
Offer Relief
In this week’s podcast episode, Jill and Tony talked about a place we’ve all been: on the ledge. They discussed how they help each other step away.
Tony advised listeners to let their loved ones vent and release.
Jill told everyone to know their loved ones well enough to recognize what they need. Solutions aren’t a one size fits all.
We Want to Hear from You
Post a Comment or Call 404-594-2247 and Leave a Message
What do you do to help your partner when they are agitated? Let us know in the Comments section or leave a voicemail message when you call 404-594-2247.
We also want to know your ideas for how to safely exchange Christmas gifts in person this year.
Gift giving outside,masked takes care of everything!
Talking anyone off a ledge is a delicate dance. During a pandemic/ presidental election year. Lots of time to reflect and be thankful.
Keep it up yall. We are listening🤩
Thanks, Lucinda. We like your suggestion for how to handle exchanging Christmas gifts this year. We also agree with what you said about talking someone off a ledge. Thanks for taking the time to comment. We appreciate you!
Lucinda is right. I have a friend who lives alone, so the isolation is a challenge. For Christmas she and her family are watching the weather and will be together outside. She has a screened porch where they can social distance. This leaves the date up in the air, but no one is especially booked these days. She expects it will work well and is so looking forward to it. However, now is the time to be the most careful with cases on the rise. I read in the Washington Post this morning that being responsible can be a hard road.
Now about that other thing. As you both so wisely say, we must learn to recognize the signs and learn how to deal with them. Recognizing the signs can be difficult for couples who haven’t been together for long or for even for those who have been together years. Some (who shall remain nameless) have a tendency to withdraw leading their partner jump to conclusions–perhaps that they are no longer loved. It can take a lot of perseverance to work these issues out. However, if a couple can learn to interact well, growth surely happens.
I’ve read that women want a sounding board and men want to solve their wives’ problems. This can lead to suggestions from a husband that a wife is not comfortable implementing. A husband may feel undermined by his wife’s rejection of advice. But as you both say, we must be true to ourselves. I imagine it can work both ways, women wanting to solve men’s problems and men only wanting to be heard.
I so agree that the worst thing you can say to person on the ledge is calm down. If you want to escalate a bad situation by all means tell the stressed person to calm down or say don’t get mad. I mean if a person is upset, who has the right to order them not to be angry. It says that the “ledge-ee” is overreacting and that their trauma is not worth the trouble, that it is insignificant. It can only make matters worse.
Yes, yes, yes to everything you said. 👏🏽👍🏾
I really enjoyed this segment. Your views and words on mental health issues are very insightful and fascinating. Thank you.
Thank you for your praise and for commenting, Coyote. We appreciate you.