Suicide Awareness - September Posts

Warning: This post is going to cover a very sensitive topic, so please click away or read yesterday's post if you are triggered by suicide or talk of suicide.

If you or somebody else you know needs to seek out professional help, please contact one of the companies listed below. There is a website and telephone number for each, with an email listed where I could find one.


The Samaritans

Tel: 116 123
Website: samaritans.org
Email: jo@samaritans.org



Mind

Tel: 0300 123 3393
Website: mind.org.uk



Papyrus

Tel: 0800 068 4141
Website: papyrus-uk.org



CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably)

Tel: 0800 58 58 58
Website: thecalmzone.net



ChildLine

Tel: 0800 11 11
Website: childline.org.uk



Kooth

Website: kooth.com



YoungMinds

Tel: 0808 802 5544
Website: youngminds.org.uk



The Mix

Tel: 0808 808 4994
Website: themix.org.uk



Maytree

Tel: 020 7263 7070
Website: maytree.org.uk


I did initially have a different post up today (Advice to Ignore) and this is definitely not the usual type of post that I usually make, but something happened today and I feel the need to speak out about it. For those of you who did not have the chance to catch the post I made originally for today, do not worry! I have rescheduled it to be posted a little bit later in the week so you will definitely be able to read it!

So today I travelled to Newcastle to see Les Miserables, which required getting a train. And the train I get goes across a bridge into Newcastle Train Station. Now there are a lot of bridges that go across the  River Tyne, and when I looked out of the window on the train I saw multiple police cars and a guy standing on the other side of the bridge ready to jump off. Out of respect to the man, I did not take any photos, although trust me, many people were at the train windows with their phones, taking pictures and filming the man. They have been posted online and all over social media which I believe is wrong. Fair enough, tweet to inform people of a traffic delay, but do not post footage of someone in a desperate state all over the internet to be seen.

The bridge in question was the Redheugh Bridge. Just in case you are unsure what it looks like, here is a photo:

Now that is quite a fall should you lose your footing along there. It is not certain whether the person was stuck or did intend to commit suicide according to sources, but that is not important. What made me want to write this post today is the reaction of the people on that train.

It was about 11:30am when the train went past this particular bridge, and some of these people had been drinking quite a lot. I am about to quote some of the disgusting things I head people shout - yes not even quietly comment to themselves or the people next to them, these people were full on yelling across the train. If you have read ahead and you do get triggered by suicide, I strongly recommend to not continue reading this post.

"SUICIDE LOL"

"Why is he choosing to do it on one of the busiest bridges in the city. He's just looking for attention."

"You know, jumping off a bridge just isn't really a manly way to go, he should have found a more manly way to kill himself"

"Why doesn't he just jump. If he really wanted to kill himself he would have done it already."

These comments came from both men and women, and there were many more comments going around the train, but you probably understand how disrespectful these people were already.  You would think people would be more considerate about situations like this, especially when a massive topic going around social media is about the amount of men who commit suicide in a year. So many people share links and posts about being aware that they are always there to speak to someone if they are feeling suicidal, what is the point of posting things like that if when it comes to the real situation you are just going to be rude about the person you see. Surely you are looking for attention more than the poor guy who's debating throwing himself of a bridge; trying to see how many likes you can gain from sharing a post with minions on saying "I CARE ABOUT SUICIDE".

Suicide is serious. It kills way to many people everyday. Do you want to know how I feel, coming from the Suicide Capital of the UK. It is absolutely devastating to think that people are so down and depressed with their life that they think killing themselves is the only way out, and to think what their life could have been had there been one person who reached out to them to talk them out of it and told them to get the help that they needed.  Suicide is not girly. Suicide is not manly. It is not glamorous and people do not do it to seek attention. Grow up and realise that these are real people with real lives that they are about to throw away. Why are people so against abortions but just brush over that person who lost their job and killed them-self. Because they were seeking attention? That person might have stopped texting their friends back, and may not have left their house in a week; nobody reached out to them to prevent them from causing their demise.

So if there is anything you take away from this post, its that you should check on all of your friends to make sure that they are okay, and if they are having suicidal thoughts, direct them to getting the help they need. And if you yourself have suicidal thoughts, please speak out to someone! I understand that it is very difficult to make that first step, but I promise you that it will be worth it! Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary issue.