“Anti-suicide” reblogs always make me feel uncomfortable
A lot of them seem to come off as “Hey, do your duty and go out and make a suicidal person not kill themselves!” But sometimes you can’t help somebody with the issues that are making them suicidal (like physical/mental illness), especially if you’re some random tumblr follower.
If somebody has problems you can’t help with, what are you gonna do to “prevent suicide?” Jump in and guilt or shame or cajole them into stepping down? That’s not helpful, but it happens so much. And if somebody has problems you can help with — why are you only stepping in when things got bad enough for suicide to seem like a viable choice to them?
It might be just my neuroses, but I feel intervention-type campaigns neglect the agency of people who have reasons to consider suicide. Those people need help with the issues that are driving them to consider suicide, not people trying to “save them from themselves.”
10:40 pm • 12 February 2012 • 20 notes • #suicide #mental health #issues
