An article about the power of survivors speaking out for suicide prevention was recently featured in the New York Times. A long-held taboo against talking about suicide attempts is being examined in an important step forward in the mental health community. The article states, “The nation’s oldest suicide prevention organization, the American Association of Suicidology, decided in a vote by its board last week to recognize a vast but historically invisible portion of its membership: people, like Ms. Stage, who tried to kill themselves but survived.”
According to the Times, mental health organizations historically have featured speakers who suffer from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression. But until now, suicide has been virtually taboo, because of not only shame and stigma, but also fears that talking about the act could give others ideas about how to do it. “This is a real shift you’re seeing,” said Heidi Bryan, 56, of Neenah, Wis., who has been speaking for years about suicide attempts she made in the 1990s. “For people working in suicide prevention, they always told us not to talk about our own experience, like they were afraid to tip us over the edge or something. Honestly, we’re the ones who know what works and what doesn’t.”
About a million American adults a year make a failed attempt at suicide, surveys suggest, far outnumbering the 38,000 who succeed, and in the past few years, scores of them have come together on social media and in other forums to demand a bigger voice in prevention efforts. Plans for speakers bureaus of survivors willing to tell their stories are well underway, as is research to measure the effect of such testimony on audiences. The fact that a new group of people will now be talking openly about suicide is a great step forward for breaking the stigma around suicide. And the more the stigma is broken, the more likely it is that those who are thinking about killing themselves will choose to reach out for help.
