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PLEASE, NOT ANOTHER.

1 suicide every 40 seconds

Worldwide.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HELP.

By Jennifer Stuart

Sometimes a smile or a simple‘how are you’? Is literally the fine line between life and death.

So I’m at a point now in my life where thoughts of leaving this world are so far behind me yet those memories are so clear in front of me that I just want so dearly, to share my hope of humanity with others; so the amount of people feeling so alone reduces to none – for we are all humans and no one deserves to feel lonely.

I know myself, especially when I was taking drugs – I’ll rephrase that – only when I was taking drugs did I ever feel those suicide thoughts or did those attempts come up.

A friend of mine; that took her life - only did so under the influence of addiction & depression.

I feel as if, and I’m sure most of you would agree; that when sober – you are clear minded and approach problems with a logical attitude. So really, when you think about it ; whether you’re an addict, a recovered one or simply someone who is dealing with someone who is suffering a mental illness or addiction – I’m 100% positive we can all agree on the fact that ANYONE in that position could possibly give up simply over that extreme feeling of emptiness & endless feelings if doubt & hurt.

Kindness doesn’t cost a thing; its 100% effortless to be a kind human being & speak with love. It’s not hard to think with good intentions & follow through with actins of the same manner. & sometimes, just sometimes; that kindness saves a life.

‘Everybody smiles in the same language’

Suicide has taken a couple of people very close to my heart and taken a handful of others who I knew personally; not to mention, admittedly - I have been there myself. So to me, suicide is more than just a statistical number or a headline in your local paper; suicide awareness & more importantly suicide prevention is such an important topic in my eyes, because it cuts so close to home, in more than enough ways – indirectly and directly – I am a true believer of kindness in humanity.

The statistics show that male are indeed four time more likely to die from suicide although females; are more likely to attempt suicide.

~ It’s not just a girl thing ~

Reference www.befrienders.org/suicide.statistics

In Australia, we know have RUOK day on the second Thursday every September. A day to raise awareness for suicide prevention. I feel a tad contradicted though because although I believe the concept of the awareness day is great – by no means a waste of time – but – do we really need one particular day in the year where we stop to think “hey maybe I should be there for people”

If another being is hurt, is it not human nature to invest in that emotional pain to some extent?

Mental health disorders (particularly depression and substancece abuse) are associated with more than 90% of all cases of suicide.

You become more of a mess as the addiction divulges deeper. & as it’s worsening – so is your mental state. & so fucking quickly it’s unbelievable.

When before you know it, you’re at rock bottom, in every way possible & you’re totally incapable of thinking straight or making logical decisions; what would you do. No doubt in my mind that anyone in that position thinking such dark thoughts; would probably benefit from hearing kind words from someone who cares. & we should all fucking care.

Kids are becoming teenagers sooner these days, as are teens becoming so called what they think are ‘adults’ & quite frankly; we all know our younger generation is growing up faster than ever. In comparison to the other age groups; youth suicide is increasing at the largest rate – it is now the third leading cause of death for young people in the ages 15-24yrs old.

Next time you’re on the subway, in the traffic, at the airport; whatever it is you’re doing or going – if you see someone looking down, smile. Even if they’re not looking glum – SMIMLE! You know why?

Because, that could save a life.

Perhaps without either person even knowing it.

Keep it humble, smile more often, take that minute to ask your colleague how his weekend was, give your brother that call you’ve been meaning to for months. Give a little kindness, with a whole lotta love.

You don’t know who you could be helping.

One love baby.