Every 6th Hour Someone Commits Suicide In Sweden.
By this time tomorrow, four people will have "chosen" death before life. I say "chosen", because it's not really a choice you make, even though people seems to think that. It's usually the last resort, because you are left without options. You don't feel like you have any other choice.
Most people would choose life over death, if they could. Many of these people don't want to end their lives, but they don't want to live the way they do. They are stuck without options, so they see death as the only way.
The craziest part of everything is that we are still having something we call "zero vision" in correlation to any traffic related death, which is basically a zero tolerance. We aim to have 0 traffic deaths, but the government seems to be ignoring mental health problems. Despite the fact that the suicide rate are 4 times more.
The zero tolerance to traffic related deaths came in 1997. The zero tolerance regarding suicides came in late 2017...
How Stupid Is That?
Myths & Facts About Suicides
Myth: Once someone is suicidal, he or she will always remain suicidal.
Fact:
- Heightened suicide risk is often short-term and situation-specific. While suicidal thoughts may return, they are not permanent and an individual with previously suicidal thoughts and attempts can go on to live a long life.
Myth: Talking about suicide is a bad idea and can be interpreted as encouragement.
Fact:
- Given the widespread stigma around suicide, most people who are contemplating suicide do not know who to speak to. Rather than encouraging suicidal behaviour, talking openly can give an individual other options or the time to rethink his/her decision, thereby preventing suicide.
Myth: Only people with mental disorders are suicidal.
Fact:
- Suicidal behaviour indicates deep unhappiness but not necessarily mental disorder. Many people living with mental disorders are not affected by suicidal behaviour, and not all people who take their own lives have a mental disorder.
Myth: Most suicides happen suddenly without warning.
Fact:
- The majority of suicides have been preceded by warning signs, whether verbal or behavioural. Of course there are some suicides that occur without warning. But it is important to understand what the warning signs are and look out for them.
Myth: Someone who is suicidal is determined to die.
Fact:
- On the contrary, suicidal people are often ambivalent about living or dying. Someone may act impulsively by drinking pesticides, for instance, and die a few days later, even though they would have liked to live on. Access to emotional support at the right time can prevent suicide.
How are we supposed to prevent suicides and decrease the attempts if we can't even talk openly about the subject? How can the government still focus on traffic related deaths and put every little cent they have into that, when four times more people are taking their own lives at the same time...?
If we can't see or understand the warning signs, how are we supposed to help anyone? I have lost two friends. Both of them committed suicide at the age of 14 and 15 respectively. I was too young and inexperienced to see the warning signs, and I still, almost 2 decades later blame myself to some extent. I wish I knew better... I wish I could go back and change things...
- But I can't.
Are People Actually Okay With All Of This?
The Government Might Ignore This, But I Can't.
The Golden Gate has warning signs. I don't know if that actually works or not, but even if it saves one person, it's doing wonders. In Sweden, we have "Västerbron". There were a discussion previously about putting up signs on Västerbron too. Just like they've done on the Golden Gate.
They decided not to do it, because they felt like it would give people that extra push to commit suicide. They seriously thought that a healthy man or woman, smiling on his or her way home back from work, would read the sign and decide to jump...
- That's how stupid our government is.