It pains me every time I hear the news of another soul lost to suicide. Recently it’s been 9 yr olds, college athletes, young TV stars, all the way up to 76 yr old Naomi Judd. And those are just the public ones we heard abt.
There are so many we don’t hear abt – over 40k+ in the US alone, annually. 1 Million+ globally.
Shame’s a BIG reason why. No, we can’t save everyone. We can’t save everyone from things like heart disease or diabetes even w how mainstream the talk of those diseases have become. But, in both of those cases we have treatments that make a huge dent in how many we lose.
Shame in the space of suicide prevention stops so many from asking for & getting help. It stops so many from proactively working on & understanding a FIRST person tool (➡️slide) like L.I.F.E. Saver. Having a positive plan, as to what to do if those “impulse error msgs” start to take over our mind, as happens in an intense way to over 15 Million Americans in a given yr.
I don’t believe it’s a choice…a decision…I dont believe someone just “takes their life.” I do believe our system becomes overwhelmed – like a computer that blue screens, & irrationality & error msgs in the form of self harm (almost an abort mission) take over.
In Stories I asked: will getting everyone to use “died by” instead of “committed”- bc committed implies someone took part in a crime, help us fully take the shame out of suicide. 83% of you said: No, we need more change in the language arnd this topic to fully remove the shame.
I took a stab at a number more (for this post & have a whole list beyond it w 5 more for now). But, I think this list would be a great start, & I hope you‘ll join me & share w others, so we can really make a dent in a topic – that deserves no shame.
It’s not “what was so bad that they made this choice.” It’s what all were they dealing w – the challenges in life & the ruminating thoughts abt the challenges, where eventually the dam broke – AGAINST their will/wishes.
Join me in sharing, normalizing these terms, instead of what we have used, & removing the shame so that more seek help & know what to do when these thoughts arise.
