World Suicide Prevention Day - Common Suicide Misconceptions

What do you think of when you hear the word suicide?

Suicide is one of the worst things in the world to me, and I hate the idea of anyone feeling like it's their only option left. It's not.

But you not only have to think of the person, but the people they have left behind. Family, friends and loved ones. Common misconceptions about them are the worst, the thought that people's lives will go back to normal after it. Their lives will never be the same again. Think of the gap that will be left in the family. Imagine this...

You get home from school one day, you've had a pretty good day without getting homework and now you can go home and talk to your friends, maybe a boyfriend/girlfriend, go out with friends or even just stay home and relax. You can't wait to tell your best friend what happened at lunch with the popular group and the geeks because they weren't in. You presumed they were ill right? Your mom/dad comes into the living room holding the phone, crying. You ask whats happened and they tell you to sit down. They tell you. They found them lying in bed holding a note, a blade on the floor and a bottle of pills clutched in their hand. As the tears start falling you wonder how you didn't see the signs. The plastics calling them names, they used to hide it and pretend that they didn't care. It got to them, badly. You feel guilty for not sticking up for them. The days when they used to not eat saying they weren't hungry, you never thought twice about it or noticed how thin they were getting. When they started coming out less and less with you, you thought they had met someone new realising they were probably thinking of things to write or ways to do it. How do you feel? Upset, angry, sad, broken? Your life will never be the same again without them, with the thought that everything was fine. You didn't even get to say goodbye properly.

It hurts and sadly it happens too often. People just presume that the pain will go away after a few months but it doesn't. It stays with all that knew them forever and it cannot be done. People only care when it's too late.

If you ever feel like that please, please, please talk to someone because you desevre to live your life to the full. Things will always get better I promise. #staystrong

- Ellie :) x