I’m looking for creative ways to help spread awareness about suicide.
Different and creative things that may help somebody with suicidal thoughts, ways to reach those people and help them remember their worth somehow.
Is there anything that anybody around could have given you or provided you with to feel better in the moment?
Depression/suicide?
- Posted:
- 3+ months ago by Azackloved
- Topics:
- different, creative, depression, spread, suicide, thought, bout, suicidal
Details:
Responses (5)
My best friend suffered from major depression and attempted suicide at one point in her life. First, I had to become a good listener, and then not be judgmental. she appreciated that more than anything. Being a Christian of course I directed her to the Bible. I found scriptures that would bring comfort to her. I worked in the department of Psychiatry at the time and referred her to a psychiatrist that I knew would work well with her. Working with the psychiatrist and having a weekly bible study helped tremendously. She was able to cope much better with her situation.
Two factors are often noticed in suicides.
1) It's a male.
2) Nobody knew him.
It appears that a major contributor to the tendency is simply that nobody cares about males in our society, and those who do care only want to get rid of the misfits without bettering them in any way. There have been some examples in history where someone rounded up the bums, took them to some sort of housing, cleaned them up and put them to work. The results were always good. But nobody cared.
Since you are not trained, are not a professional and have no understanding of depression or suicide and have to ask for help, I would say you are more enthusiastic than you are qualified.
Go volunteer and get trained and work a suicide prevention line. Without knowing what you are doing you can cause more harm than good. It takes a lot more than just being interested in the topic to be able to help.
There is no magical solution, if any. It doesn't even have a universal manner of manifestation or cause. If you wish to aid, you must listen to them very carefully. Not just the problems, but also their general perspective. Sometimes the sensation doesn't quite connect to any specific issue to which one could offer a solution; it is related to the intensity of affinity (or losing it) with everything in their life. You use what to know to guess what might elicit a positive response. Hackneyed optimism is everywhere and likely to lose its lustre after the first few times a depressed person tries to reach out.
I'd like to think that at the very least, even if all words fail, attempting to assist earnestly isn't in vain.
Check out the video "Brené Brown on Empathy" if you haven't.
In my personal experience, I hadn't felt like I could talk to anyone about anything beyond work. I think it helped, at the time, to glimpse into other people's problems and have a chance to make a minor difference for them.
Tell them they are not alone, you may never know what they're going through, but you'll do your very best to be a good friend at this dark time. Tell them you will help them any way you can. Tell them they are beautiful, no lie. They are wonderful, kind, tell them their virtues. Tell them God will always love them and be there for them.