Melissa Methven highlights suicide prevention month with grief book

Registered dental hygienist Melissa Methven is using National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month to spotlight her book on grief, suppression and resilience after her husband died by suicide in 2022. The book is available now in multiple formats, and Methven says the goal is to push more open conversations before private struggles become crises.

Why it matters: - National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month puts a public spotlight on suicide, stigma and the need to connect people in crisis with support. - Melissa Methven is using the month to frame grief, emotional suppression and mental health as issues that can affect families, workplaces and the dental profession. - Methven’s book is aimed at readers who are grieving, struggling in silence or supporting someone through a dark season.

What happened: - Melissa Methven, a registered dental hygienist, keynote speaker and podcast host in Tampa, is revisiting her book, The Truth Behind the Smiles: Suppression, the Silent Killer How to Find Hope, Never Give Up, and Cultivate Resiliency, during September’s awareness month. - Methven wrote the book after her husband Scott, a dentist, died by suicide in 2022. - The book is her account of that loss and the emotional suppression she believes made the crisis harder to see coming. - Methven says the book also shares the tools she used to keep moving forward. - The book has a 4.8 out of 5 star rating on Amazon.

The details: - Methven built her career in Wasilla, Alaska, where she worked chairside alongside her husband before his death changed the direction of her work. - Methven says dentistry can mirror the suppression she writes about because providers are trained to stay composed for patients even when they are carrying personal pain. - The book argues that holding everything together in a marriage, practice or family often needs to be named before healing can begin. - Methven said, “I used to think staying strong meant staying quiet. It doesn't. It means finding the people and the words that let you say the hard thing before it becomes the unthinkable thing. That's what this book is: the conversation I wish someone had started with Scott, and the one I'm asking readers to start with the people they love.” - The book is available on Amazon in paperback, hardcover and Kindle editions. - Methven also narrated an audiobook in English and French so the book could reach francophone readers facing similar grief. - Methven is also the author of The Gut God Connection, the founder of the Calm Chair System and the host of the Not Alone podcast. - The Calm Chair System is a guided-audio nervous system tool used by dental practices nationwide. - The Not Alone podcast features guests navigating grief, addiction and mental health. - Methven has appeared on Legacy Makers TV and CWTV. - Methven has more than 33,000 followers on Instagram, where she writes about widowhood, faith and nervous system health. - More information is available at melissamethven.com.

Between the lines: - Methven is tying a personal tragedy to a broader workplace issue, especially in dentistry, where emotional control can hide warning signs. - The message extends beyond one book launch: Methven is positioning her platform around suicide prevention, grief support and nervous system health. - The French audiobook points to an effort to broaden the book’s reach beyond English-speaking readers.

What's next: - Methven is using the September awareness campaign to keep directing readers to the book as a resource for people who may be suppressing grief or supporting someone who is. - Her broader media and wellness work appears likely to continue through her podcast, social channels and Calm Chair System platform.

The bottom line: - Methven is turning a personal loss into a public call for earlier, more honest conversations about grief and suicide.