Wow. Reading this article was hard. I am a person who experienced the suicide of a good friend. I was only a teen when a friend of mind killed himself. In Trinidad, at the time, there was a horrific stigma around suicide. It was as cowardly and selfish. Not knowing any better I reacted negatively to my friend's passing. I even refused to go to the funereal - only doing so because my parents insisted. It was only later in life that I really began to understand the forces that are at play when this happens. That "world closing in" darkness that seems to snub out any light. The "no other path but this" view of reality that squeezes at the heart. The "finally this will give me (or my loved ones) freedom" from this constant throbbing pain.
Indeed this was a hard article to read, but it is a necessary one. Thanks for writing this.
Our understanding of suicide can be deeply impacted by culture, social scripts and even our own confusion and fear. Throw in developmental psychology and the age people are when they experience loss by this disenfranchised grief and it can become very complex. I agree we need to talk about the things that are taboo and softened through the filters of language and ideology. Change only happens when we make room for conversations about different ways of seeing things . Thank you for sharing your experience and how that was for you.
Wow. Reading this article was hard. I am a person who experienced the suicide of a good friend. I was only a teen when a friend of mind killed himself. In Trinidad, at the time, there was a horrific stigma around suicide. It was as cowardly and selfish. Not knowing any better I reacted negatively to my friend's passing. I even refused to go to the funereal - only doing so because my parents insisted. It was only later in life that I really began to understand the forces that are at play when this happens. That "world closing in" darkness that seems to snub out any light. The "no other path but this" view of reality that squeezes at the heart. The "finally this will give me (or my loved ones) freedom" from this constant throbbing pain.
Indeed this was a hard article to read, but it is a necessary one. Thanks for writing this.
Our understanding of suicide can be deeply impacted by culture, social scripts and even our own confusion and fear. Throw in developmental psychology and the age people are when they experience loss by this disenfranchised grief and it can become very complex. I agree we need to talk about the things that are taboo and softened through the filters of language and ideology. Change only happens when we make room for conversations about different ways of seeing things . Thank you for sharing your experience and how that was for you.