Here’s my take on suicide and suicidal thoughts from my personal experience. #worldsuicidepreventionday2020

I never wanted to die. I just wanted to stop thinking. Overthinking, thinking about thinking when I wasn’t thinking. I wanted to be able to sleep at night without flashbacks and nightmares.

I wanted to end the overwhelming feeling of worthlessness, guilt, shame, inferiority and constant feeling of being drained. I just wanted to be ‘normal’.

I’ve since learned normality doesn’t exist. I’ve since learned about coping mechanisms, the need to challenge your thoughts. The negative impact of too much stress. The impact Trauma has on your life. That 1 in 20 people are thought to have suicidal thoughts.

You ain’t alone in this. Your overwhelming and irrational thinking tells you this. You’ll learn the skills to challenge these thoughts, to cope a bit better, learn that it’s up and downs. Focus on the here and now when you do get a bit overwhelmed.

You’ll learn grounding techniques, you’ll learn we’re all vulnerable, it’s common to feel like this. It feels like you’re the only one in this bubble, you ain’t. Life can change pretty quickly.

Oh and you’ll learn the value of and the need for connections and staying connected.