This Is How We Break The Stigma Surrounding Suicide

For every suicide, 25 attempt.

Despite it being the 21st Century, despite the number of public figure suicides, despite the conversation and the support that’s offered; there is still a culture of silence, a stigma that it isn’t okay to talk about.

On average, there are 123 suicides per day.

People ask me how I’ve been able to talk about my depression, how I’ve been able to openly talk about the times I’ve tried to end my life. I talk about it, because we need to, it is that simple.

At some point I realized that if I don’t talk about it, if I don’t tell my story then who will?

The problem so many people who are suicidal have is that the don’t feel like they can talk about it, they feel ashamed that they are going through it and are even more ashamed to bring it up. Because, for so long we’ve made mental illnesses out to be something weak people have, that it’s just an excuse.

Society has been told that if you feel alone, don’t talk about it. If you feel stressed, don’t talk about it. If you feel depressed, don’t talk about it.

Then, when someone takes their life we say how we never saw it coming, how they took the easy way out, how they were cowards and how they clearly didn’t think about the people it would impact.

Then, when someone takes their life, after we’ve told them to stay silent about their feelings, or when they tried to talk to us but we joked about it to them, we’re confused about why they did it.

Break the silence. Tell your story.

That’s how we save lives. We talk about it — we break the silence.

The stigma will never change if we don’t change (or start) the conversation around it.