I wish I could go back to simpler days. Days when I had innocence. Days when I was naïve and guileless. Days before September 10th would have been so important to me. Today has been World Suicide Prevention Day #WSPD. There was a time I thought that would never effect me. How I turned out to be wrong.
First of all there are the odds stacked against me. They say 800,000 suicides take place each year… it comes out to about every 40 seconds somewhere around the world another person takes his or her own life. Odds are in your lifetime you WILL know someone who wants to do it, tried to do and succeeds in doing it. I have all three in my lifetime already.
So I write in remembrance of those gone, in compassion for those who feel that alone and empty and for the suicidal ideation I suffer from with my depression. The hardest thing I ever did was pick up a phone to dial 911 for a dear friend of mine who tried to end it all. I already wrote about that here. And I felt an unending emptiness when a boy I used to babysit took his own life. And there was a day I tried everything I could to keep a friend talking when he was ready to jump off a bridge.
Suicide is so hard on others, but it is hard on the victim too. The only thing I can not stress enough is you are NEVER alone. Talk to a friend, family, clergy or doctor. Call a hotline. Text someone. Even reaching out on social media is an option. So, as the day wraps up I leave you all with a wish to stay in touch with others. You never know what others are going through. Your call, note or text could make all the difference in their day.
Be safe, be well, TALK to someone!
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8155
Written for Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (FOWC) – guileless
I never realized that there are 800,000 suicides a year. That is a huge number. I assume that’s world wide. Unbelievable.
That is a very startling number… yes, world wide.
I’ve known three people who mentioned the idea. One was a good friend from high school, and this was about a year after high school (after her first year of college away). She had always felt high pressure for perfection in academic areas and in terms of career. I think she got completely past it, but I’m not sure (with regard to depression) as she married someone whose career takes them to various locations all the time; we’ve lost touch by now. But she got to seeming fine. I do think she actually was.
One of my sons drove for hours after a friend of his from high school, away at college, called and said he had an actual plan. My son took the tools away and stayed with the friend until he withdrew from school and left. He then followed the friend for hours all the way back home.
I don’t remember where I read in the last week that depressed people don’t need their “space respected” (to be left alone); they need to spend time with people…
… one way or another. Good post.
Thanks so much for commenting on this Marleen. It is true that suicide touches so many lives. Kudos to your son for being with his friend until he was out of crisis. Thanks for the complement too!
Great post. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Sadje!
You’re welcome 😉
Yes, you are so right about staying in touch!
Thank you Sandy!
Excellent post. Such a shame those numbers are astronomical. More awareness needs to be shared worldwide.
Thank you Beckie!