gonegal95
Member
- Aug 30, 2024
- 12
This month is "suicide awareness month", not sure if it's just my country or an internet fad, but I'm seeing lots of posts about to raise "awareness".
Yet, there is no awareness to be seen. No mention about the actual suffering that leads to suicide, not about the lack of support, no mention of harm reduction, and of course, nobody is going to acknowledge the very real reasons why someone may want to die by their own hands rather die a slow painful death. No no no, they can't have that, the realities of suicidal people are too uncomfortable for them to talk about. They just share the hotline numbers and self-help talk that makes them feel good about themselves but helps no one.
However I still feel suicide awareness is a nobel cause, and I have ideas about how it could be done more effectively. Start by amplifying the voices of suicide survivors and suicidal people. I can always tell when suicide awareness content is actually authored by suicidal people / suicide survivors, because they're actually relatable, unlike the generic crap we see online created by standard healthcare professionals. Suicide content from suicidal people has actually convinced me to stay alive more than once throughout my entire life. But this doesn't "trend" during suicide awareness month, it is too uncomfortable for people. Meanwhile the standard generic crap just feels belittling, and makes me feel even worse. All of this suicide awareness stuff, it's genuinely making me feel worse this month. Go figure.
My perspective is this: many suicidal people shouldn't CTB, and they could benefit from quality suicide awareness raised by actual suicidal people, not this pervasive idealist trendy crap. On the other hand, people have the right to CTB, and they deserve compassion and harm-reduction resources, which simply doesn't exist. Its bullshit.
Yet, there is no awareness to be seen. No mention about the actual suffering that leads to suicide, not about the lack of support, no mention of harm reduction, and of course, nobody is going to acknowledge the very real reasons why someone may want to die by their own hands rather die a slow painful death. No no no, they can't have that, the realities of suicidal people are too uncomfortable for them to talk about. They just share the hotline numbers and self-help talk that makes them feel good about themselves but helps no one.
However I still feel suicide awareness is a nobel cause, and I have ideas about how it could be done more effectively. Start by amplifying the voices of suicide survivors and suicidal people. I can always tell when suicide awareness content is actually authored by suicidal people / suicide survivors, because they're actually relatable, unlike the generic crap we see online created by standard healthcare professionals. Suicide content from suicidal people has actually convinced me to stay alive more than once throughout my entire life. But this doesn't "trend" during suicide awareness month, it is too uncomfortable for people. Meanwhile the standard generic crap just feels belittling, and makes me feel even worse. All of this suicide awareness stuff, it's genuinely making me feel worse this month. Go figure.
My perspective is this: many suicidal people shouldn't CTB, and they could benefit from quality suicide awareness raised by actual suicidal people, not this pervasive idealist trendy crap. On the other hand, people have the right to CTB, and they deserve compassion and harm-reduction resources, which simply doesn't exist. Its bullshit.
