September 10th is World Suicide Prevention Day. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are more than 700,000 deaths by suicide every year. The WHO’s theme this year is “Changing the Narrative on Suicide.” I’d like to take you through a different approach than they probably intended but one that is important to me.
I’d like to bring attention to how often we reference suicide in our language and gestures. Before Tony died, I didn’t realize how ingrained these things were into our lives.
I’d like to call on my readers to think before you joke using suicidal connotations and ideally change your narrative.
Comments like: Just shoot me; I need that like a hole in my head; I’d rather kill myself.
Gestures that mimic hanging and finger guns to the head.
It’s been three and a half years since he passed, and I occasionally still catch myself at times starting to use one of these. No one expects anyone to be perfect all the time. However, we can work to change our narrative even while making mistakes.
When I hear people use these, it sucks the air out of me for a moment in time. It’s not always easy to verbalize in that moment in time. I am working on being better and asking people to be aware when they say things that hurt.
There isn’t anything funny about suicide, and using those idioms are unnecessary. There are plenty of ways to express ourselves without relying on an outdated phrases. Please help me in changing that narrative on suicide.
