Olivia Podmore, a cyclist from New Zealand who competed in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, passed away yesterday. She was 24.
Olivia’s good friend – Eric Murray, 39, an Olympic Rower also for New Zealand, called Podmore’s death a “shock and a tragedy” while speaking w reporters on behalf of her family on Tuesday, the New Zealand Herald reported.
He then shared this line, on this graphic. It shook me bc, we hear it WAY TOO OFTEN. I’m tired of the narrative: “why did they choose this?” I’m tired of questions solely about “plans.”
How many suicide deaths (& I’m sorry I sound upset, but I am), do we have to see, where the narrative is “ya never would have thought…not them.”
Some stats I’ve shared from a Harvard behavioral health study – first time sharing here in a post: 87 percent of suicide attempt survivors had the ideation for less than 24 hours. 71 percent of suicide attempt survivors had the ideation for for less than an hour. 24 percent for less than 5 minutes!!
Suicide is very often (& dare I say most often) NOT a plotted out decision where we weigh the pros & cons on a spreadsheet, where we should shame ppl for making the “choice.”
It’s a breakdown of neural circuitry from cumulative stress & trauma that causes error messages – messages I have felt. They are like magnetic pulls towards self harm, that a rational mind (at the time), has a very tough time understanding. It’s why, those of us who have felt them, & fought them off, know the “tug of war” in our brains, when they have come on. We don’t WANT to do what our brain is erroneously telling us to do.
So if the above is the case, why are we not educating about suicidal ideations/thoughts in schools? In offices? Why are we not getting in front of those so that ppl know what to do, when that tug of war starts to take them over, & the impulse msgs are so strong?
We have solutions to educate…plans for the POSITIVE (I’ll continue to share till I’m blue in the face – See the LIFE Saver link in “Prpgrams”). Please let’s proactively talk & prepare ppl for something that happens to so many: these error messages.