Content Warning: discussion of suicidal ideation.

September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. In the past, I haven’t acknowledged the cause. In fact, I stayed as far away from any mention of the word “suicide” as possible. I felt like being in mere proximity to the word would cast a light on a part of me I tried to keep hidden. The part of me that not only has attempted it in the past, but still thinks about it more frequently than I would like.

I’ve always felt such shame about my attempted suicide when I was younger, and even more shame that I still live with suicidal ideations. I wish I could say that it’s all behind me and I never have those thoughts anymore, but that simply isn’t true. Unfortunately, thanks to the stigma that still exists around mental health and mental illness, some of the shame still lives on, too.

In a time when so many people are dealing with difficult things, why do we all still try to deny that we’re struggling? If we were all honest with ourselves and each other maybe we would see more empathy being practiced.

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