One suicide is a tragedy. But what happens when a community is rocked by a series of suicides, one after another, all of them young people? Do the families mourn in private, fearful that expressing their grief publicly could result in more deaths? Or does the community come together, so that individual families can tell their stories and in turn do something to combat the insidious face of depression and its consequences?
Until now the accepted wisdom has been to publicly downplay suicide but in speaking to families who’ve lost children, reporter Liz Jackson found that young people are in fact talking about suicide all the time on facebook. Social media has the potential to influence behaviour, for better or worse, and it’s now accepted that suicide prevention strategies need to deal with this. As one parent explains, it was only after the death of her child that she realised her daughter had been discussing her depression and suicidal thoughts on facebook…
I watched this exceptionally powerful and moving program last night. It is a must-see for anyone with young people in their family – and for anyone who cares for their mental health and how apparently easy it is for teens to fall through the cracks in the mental health system.
It should also be watched by struggling young people, in the hope they might seek help before it is too late. Perhaps the program would help them see how much they are loved and needed and to see the cavernous yawning hole of pain and anguish left in their absence.
I watched it with my 16-year-old daughter and her friend. One of the strong messages to come through was that there is no changing your mind, you can’t come back, it’s final, over, and your friends and family can’t call you: there is no 3G in heaven…
To the family and friends of those who took their lives, you are so brave. You have offered your suffering in a desperately needed act of community service. I hope improved suicide prevention methods will be developed and lives will be saved as a result.
Watch program here
2 Responses
Hear, hear Melinda – it was very brave of those affected and terribly sad. I guess there are comparison statistics but one wonders if the prolific electronic communication used these days adds to a subconscious misbelief that they will somehow still ‘hear’ their friends. Maybe ‘there is no 3G in heaven’ is a thread at least that needs exploring and repeating. I take my hat off to the workers in this field who are dealing with such complexities and must suffer heartbreak over and over along with the dear ones of those who are in so much pain they see no other way. It seems to me that not talking about it hasn’t been helpful. We should at least try a new way.
This is my family’s community. It is breaking my heart to see so many young people feeling hopeless and struggling with depression and anxiety; resulting in so many taking their lives. It is my generation and our education system that is letting them down. We need to arm them with the skills and resilience to navigate this rapid expansion of social media. They see the worst of the world instantly. No wonder they are depressed. They may well be too young to understand that behind all the bad they see on the screen their is much good in this world.
On a practical note, I also think they need drop in centres where they can talk to councillors more their own age. Where they are accepted and told they are worthy and ‘doing okay’. What I find honestly heartwarming as these young people tell their heart-wrenching stories on a suicide prevention FB site is their willingness and generosity to help others. They often offer words of love, encouragement and advice to others when they themselves are hurting so badly. I think we need to harness this unconditional willingness to help others. This may well be the key to helping themselves. A drop in centre where they can be both counselled and where they can feel good about themselves by offering to help others. It may be to only get someone a cup of tea or simply to say ‘I know how you feel’. But by doing this I believe they will be able to see that they can contribute to this world in a meaningful way.