If you care about mental health and suicide prevention; read this right now.
“It’s as though we’ve seen someone having a heart attack, but we start asking what they had for dinner the night before, or kicking ourselves for not offering them aspirin that morning.”
As both a suicide attempt and loss survivor, I need to climb up onto my soapbox for a minute.
Suicide attempts, from a “preventative” standpoint, are rarely, if ever, as easily prevented as calling a hotline or a loved one. “Reaching out” — while incredibly important — is not the be-all-end-all of preventative strategies.
Especially considering the fact that many of us have a history of asking for help, and not getting the care that we needed.
I understand the impulse to ask, “Didn’t they know they could call me?” I asked myself that many times when I lost one of my best friends earlier this year. But this shows a very big misunderstanding of the emotional experience that many suicide attempt survivors have described.
Speaking from my own experience, when you are in a very acute amount of emotional distress, your thought process is not as linear…
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Human Beings Godammit 