Every day is suicide prevention day
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Life is a journey that is lived moment by moment, day by day, one step at a time, and taken one breath at a time.
To experience and co-create the “miracle” of our even having been born, we need to keep ourselves “alive” over and over again, such that our next breath is taken. As it is said, “where there is life there is hope.”
These are easy words to say but not so easy to live. Albert Camus, in his Myth of Sisyphus, declared, “There is only one really serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide. Deciding whether or not life is worth living is to answer the fundamental question in philosophy. All other questions follow from that.”
With that in mind, just how well do we answer this vital question?
According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, citing the most recent data available from the CDC’s 2019 Fatal Injury Report, suicide is the nation’s 10th-leading cause of death, and for those aged 10 to 34 years, suicide is the second-leading cause of death. In addition, we must consider there was an estimated 1.38 million number of suicide attempts in 2019, according to the CDC.
These suicide statistics were gathered prior to the devastation wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic. In October 2021, a “national state of emergency in children’s mental health” was declared by the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and the Children’s Hospital Association.
Caught in the unrelenting and fierce stranglehold of despair, trauma, substance abuse, mental illness and societal injustice, there are many who no longer believe in hope, no longer believe in themselves or trust in others and who do not want to continue their life’s journey for 1 more second. For these many, be they our patients, co-workers, friends, family members or even ourselves, suicide – the death of the physical body and self – is the preferred outcome.
We will all die one day, but for the suicidal person, “one day” is too far away. Time becomes unending and excruciating suffering. To stop the pain, thoughts of suicide fill and cloud the mind.
Suicidal ideation is devious and deceptive. These irrational thoughts masquerade as insight, recommending and urging the final obliteration of our very being in response to a temporary (albeit intense) state of mind and as a solution to a problem that could (with help) be resolved. These destructive thoughts infect our minds, causing us to forget that thoughts and feelings are just passing through us, and to forget these thoughts and feelings are only a part, and not the whole, of our mind and body’s experience (the integral whole of us) that still deserves to live.
This total mind-body-heart disconnect, combined with loss of hope and disconnect from caring others can lead to suicide, a forever tragedy for the one who died and an everlasting loss for all who loved them.
I have struggled with depression and know firsthand of the “philosophical problem” Camus describes. I wrote the poem, Passionate Miracle, which was then transformed into song, as an outpouring of that inner suffering yearning to be reborn into life when one does not know how to go on. The Latin origin of the word passion is “to suffer.” Poetry, music and song expression can be ways of healing.
The “spirit of love,” as mentioned in my poem, can be many things: love of nature, love of family, love of a partner, love of life, love of God if we so believe, love of self, and our potential for continued unfolding and contribution. When that inner love is strong, we honor and take care of ourselves.
Self-care for mental illness can entail going to therapy, taking prescribed medication, being hospitalized if necessary, joining a support group, being with friends, having spiritual support, exercising, giving our body proper rest and nutrition, expressing and sharing our creativity, and so much more. Most importantly, we are not ashamed or embarrassed to be who we are, and we seek out the help we need and deserve.
When the love we are now, and yet still can become, grows ever stronger, our being alive – our life force and energy – is strengthened. Suicide no longer holds sway over us. In response and reply to Camus, and with the passion of one who has suffered, survived and thrived, I can truly profess, “Every day is suicide prevention day.”
References:
- American Academy of Pediatrics. AAP-AACAP-CHA Declaration of a National Emergency in Child and Adolescent Mental Health. https://www.aap.org/en/advocacy/child-and-adolescent-healthy-mental-development/aap-aacap-cha-declaration-of-a-national-emergency-in-child-and-adolescent-mental-health/. Updated Oct. 19, 2021. Accessed Feb. 18, 2021.
- Arts Medicine for Hope and Healing. Don’t Give Up. https://youtu.be/TXX4iUpfqjU. Posted Aug. 16, 2021. Accessed Feb. 18, 2022.
- Arts Medicine for Hope and Healing. Passionate Miracle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6D5U4l0fPQ. Posted Dec. 22, 2017. Accessed Feb. 18, 2022.
- Arts Medicine for Hope and Healing. Wishing You Were Still Here. https://youtu.be/W4J6-gHYmkQ. Posted Nov. 19, 2021. Accessed Feb. 18, 2022.
- Suicide data: United States. American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. https://www.datocms-assets.com/12810/1616589783-14155afspnationalfactsheet2021m1v2.pdf. Accessed Feb. 18, 2022.
- Suicide statistics. American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. https://afsp.org/suicide-statistics/.Accessed Feb. 18, 2022.
For more information:
Diane Kaufman, MD, is a poet, artist, child psychiatrist and Healio Honoree. She works at Mind Matters PC and is the founder-director of the Arts and Healing Resiliency Center. Kaufman is dedicated to suicide prevention. Her story, Bird That Wants to Fly, inspired a children’s opera composed by Michael Raphael, performed by Trilogy: An Opera Company and narrated by actor Danny Glover. She can be reached at drdiane@mindmatterspc.com; http://www.mindmatterspc.com/diane-l-kaufman-md.