Full Hearts, Clear Eyes, Can’t Lose: The Story of To Write Love on Her Arms

In a world where depressing headlines get the top spots on the evening news, its always nice to see a magazine pay homage to someone who is doing something right.

An example of this came in the most recent issue of Rolling Stone, which features an article on the suicide prevention help organization To Write Love on Her Arms (TWLOHA) and its’ founder, Jamie Tworkowski.

While I had heard of TWLOHA previously, and had a basic idea of what they were about, I didn’t gain a full understanding until I read the article. To Write Love on Her Arms was something Jamie thought of after he went with friends to help Renee Yohe, who was suffering from addiction, depression, and attempted suicide. After seeing the self-inflicted cuts on Yohe’s arms, he came up with the name.

As you can see by this photo, the literal interpretation of the words have caught on:

TWLOHA is a non-profit organization that specializes in helping people who are in the midst of self-injury, suicidal thoughts, depression, and addiction. Over the last two and a half years, TWLOHA arms has responded to over 80,000 messages from people in 40 different countries.

Rather than rehashing the entire background of Jamie and TWLOHA, click on the link below to read the Rolling Stone article; which is fantastic.

I felt that this was an important post to write, not only because I love what Jamie is doing, but also because some of the bands featured on this site – or their counterparts – are the a-typical bands that are associated with people who cause themselves self-harm. As these bands say in interviews over and over again, this is not the way to deal with your pain.

There IS a better way…and TWLOHA is an excellent place to start.

If you are worried that you or someone you know may be at risk for suicide, please call 911, contact a mental health professional, or call and talk to someone at 1-800-SUICIDE.

Read the full Rolling Stone story on Jamie Tworkowski.

Learn more about TWLOHA at http://www.twloha.com, including links to Facebook and Twitter pages, and a link to the merchandise store.

Intro Video from TWLOHA

NBC Nightly News – Web Footage

NBC Nightly News Televised Segment

All photos, music, and videos copyright of their respective owners. Used only for promotional purposes and to gain notoriety for the artists featured.

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