Member-only story
Suicide Prevention — Get the Help You Need BEFORE the Hope Runs Out
A friend of mine took his own life last week.
I am sorry he made the decision he did. And I am heartbroken that his decision has devastated the people he loved the most: his wife and kids. What they are going through now is beyond horrific.
In the days following my friend’s death, this poem by Emily Dickinson kept popping into my head:
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all.
But here’s the thing: based on my personal experience, sometimes that little bird does stop singing. Sometimes the hope runs out. And when this happens, the darkness and despair left behind is unbelievably painful. I know this — because it happened to me, three months after my husband John died.
I was having an extremely difficult day and hit rock bottom….and the emotional pain that went with hitting rock bottom was nothing like I had ever experienced before — or ever will again.
Thankfully, most people will never experience anything like this. Unfortunately, however, some people do. And when it happens, sometimes the decision to take one’s life really does seem like the best option — for all concerned.
I cannot speak for my friend’s state of mind when he made the decision to end his life…
