Guilt Is Not a Suicide Prevention Strategy

AFSP - create a world without suicide - cartoon of people joining arms
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

A blogger I knew died by suicide yesterday. She scheduled a blog post and a Twitter share of the post to go live after the fact. One of the things mentioned in her post was that her plan was to be struck by a train.

Today I was looking at the Twitter comments in response to her tweet, and there were a number of people who were essentially trying to guilt-trip her into not going through with it because it would traumatize the train driver.

I call bullshit on the guilt-tripping and the whole suicide-as-selfish perspective. It doesn’t help people in any way, shape, or form. Saying crap like that places the importance of everyone else ahead of the person who’s feeling suicidal. And how is that doing anyone any good?

And I don’t want to dignify this Tweet with a response; instead, I’ll call bullshit on this asshat’s comment here:

“I sincerely hope you didn’t jump in front of a train and then in all likelihood cause the person driving said train to suffer from lifelong Mental Health issues, that is extremely selfish and cruel considering you know how awful it is to live with.”

There are just no words.

RIP Becca.

Becca was transgender, and one of the massive stressors in her life was being frequently misgendered by others. This post on sex and gender can help to clarify some of the terminology that relates to gender identity.

transgender pride flag
Straight talk on suicide - graphics of phoenix and semicolon

The Straight Talk on Suicide page has crisis and safety planning resources, along with info on suicide-related topics from the perspective of someone who’s been there.

72 thoughts on “Guilt Is Not a Suicide Prevention Strategy”

  1. There are many reasons to hope, and many resources. I should have shared these resources, as others have shared, for if some lives are saved, it’s well worth the time, each life precious: 1) Never ever end yourself. Tomorrow brings hope, but sometimes you must be willing to go through difficult times, even years if necessary, for life is precious, 2) I have had friends who found help, hope talking to ministers and the church. Not always, but if you’re searching, 3) There is fhu.com. The Foundation of Human Understanding, which has been around for decades, have helped veterans recover from PTSD, and have helped millions overcome depression, anxiety, and hopelessness. 4) For some people, eventually they just need to pray. You may not know what you’re looking for, but if in earnest, pray for real hope and understanding. 5) And lot’s of books out there, but one must know how to wade through disinformation,

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