THE STIGMA OF SUICIDE



If you have lost a loved one or a dear friend to suicide, you have felt the sharp, scalding sting of the stigma of suicide. The stigma is not attached to the person who committed suicide but to those who loved the person who died.

You are in a supermarket, pharmacy, library, church or any place in public, suddenly you feel uncomfortable, that people are looking at you. You feel a silent stare that penetrates your soul - from the corner of your eye you see an acquaintance whose eyes are not looking at you but inspecting you.
And when you turn towards that person, they look away.

We feel such eyes upon us every day when we are out in public - for months after the suicide. It's like we have a Scarlet S branded on our foreheads. We are not paranoid but fully aware of what is happening. Acquaintances, maybe even some friends, do not shun us but do what they can to avoid us - to even make eye contact.

It's not that they don't feel sorry for us, sorry for our lost, it's that death by suicide frightens them. Maybe they find it offensive to their beliefs, maybe they have had thoughts of suicide sometime in their lives which they keep secret. Maybe they feel as alone as we do, and just can't come forward to say, "I am sorry." So they stare silently, instead.

But what is most important is this: the stigma of suicide is not within the heart, soul and being of those who lost a loved one, but is truly carried by those who stare, turn their backs and silently walk away.

Contact: fortheheartcries@gmail.com

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