This is National Suicide Prevention Week. When I tell some people this, some of them ask me what they can do. Some are willing to walk to raise funds and a few people wondered about why there would be a need to have a week set aside for suicide prevention. They get surprised when I show them the statistics. They did not even realize that for some people life is very difficult and unhappy.
I learned about the hard realities of life for a teenager when one of my very close friends took her own life just a year before our college graduation. Everyone thought that she was a very funny girl, a very good student ,very helpful and outgoing. No one could ever think that she would not care about her own life. No one knew what went on in her mind. If only she knew that there were people who would be willing to help her deal with her problems she could have been alive today.
I always hope and pray that there is help for people who are feeling suicidal and now I know that American Foundation For Suicide Prevention is the answer to my prayers. I am asking my family and my friends to visit their site and see what they can do.
My daughter is fundraising for this foundation for her birthday. If you are able and interested, you can donate here: http://afsp.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donordrive.personalCampaign&participantID=1049323 But even if you can't donate, just starting a conversation can make a difference for someone.
15 comments:
Hi Munir - suicide is such a difficult thing to understand ... and I'm sorry to hear about your college student - tragic. Sadly people don't talk ... or we don't encourage them to talk and then we can get a glimpse perhaps of how they feel ... too often we shrug things off, as we're into our own worlds.
Good luck to your daughter - it's a great cause ... Hilary
Suicide is difficult to understand and also to recognize. When my nephew passed away in a car accident my Sister still wonders if it was his own doing. I see it in my job and when it's someone you know it really hurts because you wish you had been able to help sooner. How nice that your daughter has taken this worthy fundraiser on...good luck to her and hopefully it will help many.
Munir, this is so important ... I have known people that felt this desperate in their lives... who felt as though they had no one to reach out to... if more people knew there was someone who cared about them, maybe they wouldn't feel the need to end their lives.
I've heard of many people that attempted suicide and survived... they realized they really didn't want to die, they just wanted to feel heard... loved... xox
We should DEFINITELY follow your suggestions!!
I have known a few people that committed suicide and several more that attempted it.
It is sad.
Life can get very hard and they just want the pain to end.
I cannot believe that just this week we lost a young man in our community to suicide. Everyone knew he was troubled but no one had a clue he would do such a thing. It is such a helpless feeling for the survivors. Thank you for this concerning and thoughtful post.
The reality is that when depression and suicidal thoughts drag on and on, most people don't want to hear about it anymore. They become annoyed with the person who is ill. That's when the avoidance and/or nasty comments begin. Why don't you snap out of it? Flourish where you're planted. The suicidal person is very alone, or feels alone because the occasional conversation is not enough. Sometimes therapy and medication don't help. Everything you say is true, but when we deal with someone who is suicidal/depressed/anxious, we have to give more of ourselves than we ever thought possible.
Love,
Janie
Kind Munir, your compassion and activism honors all humanity. Thank you.
Hi Munir, you are so giving to share this as it may be the help someone who reads it needs. We have seen suicide in our own family and been touched with a couple friends too. It is hard to understand, we just never know the pain someone could be troubled with inside. Praying this foundation helps someone in great need. Have a nice weekend. xo
What a wonderful cause. It's a shame that some people are pushed into such a dark place in their lives that they feel there is only one way out. It speaks volumes about society as a whole.
Munir:
Just read your blog on suicide. I believe that horrendous event has touched all of us in some way. I lost an ex son in law to suicide. Beautiful young man with many problems. Suicide is not the answer folks. No way no how. Leaves so much hurt behind. My niece lost her 14 year old grandson to suicide. The most painful thing to happen to a family. God bless those dealing with this.
Just read your comment on my blog about my book of short stories. I wanted to let you know that Ezra and Other Stories is available only on AMazon both as a paperback and as a kindle download. Hope you decide to check it out. Hugs.
Barbara A. Whittington, author
Vada Faith
Ezra and Other Stories
Dear Anne: Love Letters from Nam
Very powerful post. Thanks for sharing your experience with us and helping people to see the importance of suicide prevention. Such a difficult thing for everyone involved.
~Jess
I hope we will grow, throughout the world, to accept mental illness as a sickness that needs treatment and financial insurance compensation, without a stigma or repercussions attached.
Dearest Munir,
Yes, all it takes at times is a few kind words to someone that is on the very edge...
I do have one blogger that has been there, a few times she ended in the hospital but one never knows for sure.
It would be cruel for letting someone like her off the hook.
So often I do leave her some encouraging words, often nowadays on her FB postings.
Who knows, it can make a difference and it is not even a big sacrifice for lending an ear and writing a few words of encouragement!
Sending you hugs,
Mariette
PS We were in Europa on the day you wrote this post. Attending an Indian wedding in the south of France. Our friends' daughter married a Frenchman, well born in France, having studied in the US and that's where he has his business now and where she met him. We had a wonderful time and also the Reception back home in the US for all those that did not or could not travel to France. How I indulged in the Indian food...
Munir, I just wanted to drop by and let you know I was thinking about you, I hope you are doing well and that the holiday season will be a very happy one xox
Post a Comment