Everyone knows that they could kill themselves.
Some of us struggle often with the thought of actually doing it.
Why is this a problem for some and not others?
As someone who struggled with that thought and survived, and who has read many stories of others, I propose simply that:
The person believes they have no other option.
This has been said and written before by many people. Yet, tens of thousands of people continually complete suicide each year.
I want to focus on the “No Option” myth because I believe that is the place to start when talking about suicide prevention, awareness, and even when talking to someone who actually is at risk for suicide.
It’s easy to say that ‘having no other options’ is a myth, but it’s not so easy to get a suicidal person to believe that.
Think of as many ways as possible to show that there are other options. That’s where I want to start fighting. Here is one:
You chose to live the whole day yesterday. Whatever happened yesterday, no matter how bad, you lived through the day. You have that choice every day. That simple, yet powerful choice to live. Whatever happens today or tomorrow, you can still make that choice. If you are able to do nothing else that day, simply to live is enough.
Matt Fried 