We are finally at a place where we are moving away from the term “committed” suicide, and replacing it with “died by” suicide.
Okay, it’s not everyone yet. It’s not all the folks in day to day conversation, in social posts, even in media articles, but it’s more and more each day who are getting “it”.
We went away from “committed” because that word – like how it’s used with a crime, implies SHAME. Someone DID something WRONG. That’s not how suicide works. Something HAPPENED to someone – just like any other death. If someone’s brain breaks down from brain cancer or dementia, we don’t shame them. Same should be the case here.
So I took five of the most common ways suicide is referred to – in the media, on posts, when sharing stories of those we have lost, and asked: can we get rid of these? They too imply rational thought and action – that projects SHAME. And shame is a killer because it prevents future help seeking behaviours.
If we are going to use: died by, or passed by, – can we do it to replace all cases where choice, and decision are part of the language so that we can truly start to open up about this topic and prevent as many of these tragedies as possible from happening?
I shared L.I.F.E Saver Tool once again (see in instagram story) – a tool being used around the world in schools and offices, to provide first person plans of what to do when these thoughts come over us. Thank you to those who have shared and please continue to do so.
It’s a free tool with an accompanying video. We can save lives, together, using tools like this, posting them everywhere, and normalizing this conversation. 15 million people in the US alone reported major suicidal ideations last year. If you get them, you are far from alone. So many get them and EVERYONE is susceptible to them.