Suicide Prevention Week – Authors Care
I am indebted to author Louisa Bacio for starting up this initiative. Please visit her blog where you can read her own contribution, have a chance to win prizes and find a complete list of participants. Louisa is here: http://louisabacio.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/suicidepreventionhop.html
Detail of The Death of Socrates. A disciple is handing Socrates a goblet of hemlock (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Suicide is something people don’t like to talk about. Not so long ago it was illegal to attempt to take your own life (go figure!). It was always seen as something to be ashamed of, and if a family member tried it the whole family would be stigmatised – whether the attempt was successful or not.
As a child I remember being told that a relative had hanged himself. It happened either before I was born or when I was too young to remember anything about it, but I was told as if it explained why ‘we’ didn’t bother with a certain branch of the family. My parents were always quick to put people down (no pun intended).
I never attempted suicide and don’t anticipate doing so now, but I thought about it often enough. I won’t bore you with my coming out story again, but as a teenager I had not a clue I was gay. In my environment gays were to be despised for the aberrations they were. I didn’t know any gays, though later I was surprised to find out which of my teachers were gay and that included some of the married ones.
This meant that my formative years were a trial. I never felt as if I belonged. I wanted so much to feel part of the world around me but I just didn’t. And that’s how the thoughts of ending it all started. The pressure to conform was enormous.
I’m a survivor. A fighter. I believe in Man’s ability to live a good and meaningful life without having to do as he is told. Tolerance is the key. We must appreciate our commonalities and be sensitive to our differences. I know that things have changed but I also know that some young people still feel pressured to hide their sexuality and other differences. People commit suicide for many reasons, of course, and if you visit the other bloggers you’ll find many contributions to the discussion. Thanks for listening to mine.
If you’d like to win a signed copy of Diavolino, leave a comment here. I’ll pick a winner when the blog hop closes – last day is September 14th, my birthday 😉
Related articles
- World Suicide Prevention Day (awakenempowerment.wordpress.com)
- Media and suicide prevention (fijitimes.com)
- Suicide Prevention Week 2013 (thinkpositivenusblog.wordpress.com)
Steve Emmett 
Hugs! Life was tough back then. It gladdens my heart to see how much better things are becoming for our LGBT youth. We have a long way to go! But at least they have places to turn to for help that weren’t available before. Thank you for sharing your story and being part of this so important hop.
Thanks, Dianne. Erm – back when exactly? LOL!
Why, back in the day! 🙂
We must appreciate our commonalities and be sensitive to our differences.