Let's Talk About Suicide

Suicide is not an easy topic to talk about, and unfortunately it is too often avoided. Every year, nearly 40,000 lives are lost to suicide in the United States alone. Many of these suicides could have been prevented if only a conversation about suicide had taken place. There is an urgent need to increase the dialogue in this country about suicide and mental health issues in general. To begin with, suicidal thoughts are not rare; in fact, almost every one at some point in their life will have the thought of suicide cross their mind. This means that we should not be ashamed if we have a thought or are seriously considering suicide. It is more common than most people think and it is about time that we talk about it with our friends and loved ones as a common and acceptable feeling to have. So if you are feeling suicidal or the thought has crossed your mind, don't be afraid to seek the assistance of a friend, the help of a professional, or to reach out to a hotline (National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255).

A common misconception about suicide is that if you ask someone if they are suicidal, you might actually introduce the idea into their head when they were not suicidal to begin with. This is not the case. Ask directly about suicide and even use the word "suicide" if you can. If your loved one is not suicidal, they will probably let you know that they aren't and will let you know how they are feeling. Additionally, if they do become suicidal in the future, they will know that they can come to you to talk about it. On the other hand, if your loved one is suicidal, they will very likely feel a huge sense of relief and will tell you just how bad things have been. The sense of relief can be so intense that they may even break down into tears (if they aren't crying already). And more importantly, you might have just saved your loved one's life. Remember, the costs of asking directly about suicide are almost none, but the cost of not asking can be the greatest cost of all.

The ultimate goal, of course, is to live in a world without suicide. To move toward this goal we must make suicide less of a taboo, allowing those suffering to feel more comfortable to share that they are suicidal, and making loving friends and family unafraid to ask directly about suicide. If we make it less of a taboo topic and the stigma attached to it begins to fade, we can bring about a significant reduction in the number of lives that are tragically lost to suicide each year.