Each day in January that i head to office i aim to get one significant thing done. In theory, this means that by the end of the month i will have accomplished enough to justify my wage (not to mention knock off all the annoying jobs that get shoved onto the back burner during the last year).
Today i printed all the random articles i have horded on my computer over the last few months and filed them away. One such article was this one on suicide and it reminded me of this article i read during the week.
Whilst i may not have agreed with everything in the later article, i was reminded of a few valuable things to tell those who are thinking of harming themselves.
1 - Suicide is a permanent answer to an, often, temporary problem. Death is pretty long-lasting. Quite a few teen issues dissipate over time. Feelings will pass. A successful suicide attempt does not.
Sure, some problems are more complex and time does not heal all wounds, but a large chunk of problems that teens face have not been unique to them and will desist/vastly decrease once school is over.
2 - Suicide removes the good things from life. Suicide is seen as an escape from pain. But it is also an ending of anything that brings joy, happiness or meaning.
3 - Suicide denies hope. Sure, today hurts and you may not see a clear way out, but the next day can be better. Next week can be better. Next year can be better. Sometimes, you just need to make it to tomorrow.
4 - Suicide hurts those who care for you the most. You may not feel like there are many people who care for you, but those who do (are there are sure to be more than you are aware) will be deeply upset.
On average, any death directly affects 50 people. Take time to track down the people who will miss you. Who will mourn for you. Your family. Your friends.
Go to them for help.
I think those four points are very helpful and, obviously, in a very sever case you might want to get them help from someone who knows more about teen suicide.
ReplyDeleteI think it could also valuable to talk about with those who are doing fine.
As a 14 year old I had a friend who talked of suicide a lot and there wasn't a gret deal I could think of to say to her, other than your fourth point.
SEVERE.
ReplyDeleteNot sever... :S