“If I have to work in that district, I’ll shoot myself…” I say, a grin on my face, feeling that I’ve sufficiently communicated my distaste for a school district I really don’t want to teach in.
“Don’t say that right now…” she begs, turning to me with pained eyes. My stomach drops to my feet.
"Good job," I think to myself, as I stare at the stop sign in total silence. I didn’t think… I just spoke, without even thinking about the fact that, just a week before, a friend of hers did just that, ending his own life.
I apologize lamely. “Sorry… I didn’t think…”
And she says it’s OK. But I know it’s not… And I won’t ask her to pretend it is. I didn’t know her friend, but she did, and that’s enough for me. He meant something to my friend, and I mourn him because she mourns him.
How many other friends mourn their friends today, because they could no longer bear the thoughts of what might happen tomorrow?
As Taking Back Sunday changes to Midtown on my iPod, I lean back in the seat of the car and think about everything, a rush of thoughts going through my head. I am thankful that no one I know personally has ever ended his or her own life, but I know so many people who have suffered loss in that way… Suicide has touched my family, if not me directly. Friends and loved ones of my friends and loved ones… And so many of my friends and loved ones have been close to that decision themselves, but through some strength they didn’t know they possessed, they came back, they made it. This heartbreaking choice has knocked on the door of my life through heartbroken and despairing friends, but, thank God, it has not yet entered.
Unfortunately, many people have not been so fortunate. Many people have not made it back from the edge, and many friends and family members are left behind, confused, not understanding why this happened. Statistics say that every 40 seconds, someone dies at his or her own hand… Every 40 seconds. That means, in the length of a good song, 5 people die. Close to a million people a year all over the world. That’s over double the number of breast cancer deaths in the world.
In our world, as I recently learned from To Write Love On Her Arms, a non-profit that raises awareness for suicide prevention, and fighting addictions, suicide and depression are things that we don’t talk about. We are afraid of them, as if keeping them under wraps means that they don’t exist… It’s a head in the sand reaction. But putting your head in the sand doesn’t solve anything, except your own desire to not face something head on.
So what do we do? How do we stop it? We can’t if we keep hiding our heads in the sand. Stand up, be strong, fight. Get the word out. This is what our friends and family are dealing with, and it will never stop as long as they are afraid to speak up. Suicide can almost always be prevented. But for it to be prevented, people need to know that it’s OK to talk about it. It’s OK to say, “I don’t want to live anymore.” It’s OK to ask for help. So, what is our role?
For me, it’s sharing the stories of those loved ones who made it. Sharing my own story that, while not on the verge of suicide, I went through struggles… I went to counseling to get help. I know my pain is not the same as everyone else’s. But I know that there is help for pain. There is hope beyond this world. I pray that one day, we will live in a world where people who think there’s nothing left will learn that there is something more. There is hope and help, and life does get better. You may not see it now… But always remember, “There may be pain in the night, but joy comes in the morning.”
