Dear Editor,
During the past week, I became aware of two teenagers whose lives were cut short by suicide. I also learned that there were two adults’ suicide cases prior to and within the last week. While I am unaware of what the triggers were for a permanent end to those lives, I am concerned that persons are voluntarily ending their lives. Every life lost to suicide could have been saved. We cannot let suicide win. Please, anyone out there, if you are thinking of suicide…please read this…you may be feeling very lonely, lost, frightened or confused. You may be feeling that there is no solution to your problem, difficulties, worries or whatever caused you to contemplate taking your life. It may be that at the moment you are so overwhelmed that you are not able to think clearly about other possibilities, other solutions, other alternatives, other ways of coping. Suicide is final – if you succeed in taking your life – there are no second chances and nobody really knows what will happen when they die. It may be difficult to take in at this moment in time but the feelings you have may be temporary – you may not always feel this way. There are persons who have been in the exact same position as you and have found the strength to come out of it and have gone on to find happiness and fulfilment in life and are able to cope with life more easily. They have found alternatives to suicide and were glad that they did not take their own lives.
You may feel helpless because the pain you are experiencing has become unbearable. Just talking to someone else about how you are feeling can take some of that weight off your shoulders. There may be other things you can do to help yourself to cope, to change things, to survive. It is incredibly sad that you feel so bad that you want to die. You may be telling yourself that other people would be better off without you but those people would not want you to take your life. You may feel that nobody cares about you anyway but there are people who will care if you allow them to care for you. We care deeply that you are thinking of ending your life, that you see no hope, no alternative, but something as final as death. You may be trying to convince yourself that your loved ones would be better off without you but if you were able to see the devastation that it causes families and friends of persons who commit suicide you would not think that way. If you cannot see a reason to carry on living, try and give others the chance to explore with you whether they can help you to find a reason for you to carry on. Give someone a chance to do that for you. You have nothing to lose. If you are determined to kill yourself there is no hurry – there is no need to take immediate action. Give yourself the next few days to see whether there are any alternatives, talk to a friend, a relative, a helpline, a social worker, and look at some of the websites where other people have felt suicidal but found alternatives to killing themselves. There are alternatives to suicide so give yourself some time to find some support, some help with coping and talk to others about how you are really feeling. Allow others to care for you just as you would if your best friend came and told you he/she was suicidal – talk to yourself as you would a friend.
Please see your life as precious and valuable. Call the Suicide Helpline on 223-009 or Childcare and Protection Agency Hotline on 227-0979. You don’t have to have airtime in your phone to call. The call is free. Please reach out….we need you. Don’t let suicide win.
Sincerely,
Shaundell Shipley
Key Populations Programme
Coordinator
National AIDS Programme
Secretariat
Ministry of Health
Tel: 592-226-5371/592-227-8683/
ext. 219