World Suicide Prevention Day: Changing the Narrative with Each Other

I have delayed posting this blog in response to World Suicide Prevention Day, as commemorated on 10 September. The reason for this is that I often get quite stuck on the word “prevention” when thinking about this day. Of course, “prevention” is key when focusing on suicide, but I am also aware of how evocative it is for those left in the wake of suicide.

There is often one shared emotion amongst loved ones, friends, family members and colleagues of those lost to suicide: the excruciating pain of guilt.

Thoughts laden with guilt, the belief that they could have done something to prevent their loved ones from ending their lives. The guilt that their loved ones didn’t feel there was a space or a person to turn to for hope. The guilty feelings and remorse-filled thoughts that perhaps they should have been different or done things differently to prevent the painful loss.

In these moments, those left behind may not realise they share profound commonalities with those who died by suicide: the feeling of isolation and the feeling of overwhelm.

Recognising these shared feelings of isolation leaves me wondering about the broader societal and contextual factors impacting suicide, and how we can possibly take a few thousand steps backwards to trace the multiple factors contributing to it.

I find WHO’s theme for World Suicide Prevention Day for 2024–2026, “Changing the Narrative on Suicide," somewhat reassuring. I do, however, find myself stopping with the phrase “Changing the Narrative.” Changing the narrative of “being,” of “interacting,” of “belonging”… the list is endless, and each ends with some framing of what it means to be human in the world today.

The world isn’t in the best state right now. Perhaps it never has been, but social media has made us more acutely aware of its fractures.

It has also introduced new ways of “being,” and I’m not always confident we are ready for them. This excludes the debates regarding children and access to devices, though cyberbullying and teen suicide are urgent concerns. It’s about how we all interact, perform, and process our lives in digital spaces. Moreover, it is how this translates into how we process our lives in physical spaces as well.

For now, my mind has traced beyond suicide, pondering its deeper origins. Most messages concerning suicide reiterate the fact that people shouldn’t think they are alone; they are encouraged to talk and open themselves up so that someone can help them… Messages of hope and reassurance of help. And of course, while all of this is true, these aren’t the messages that are practised broadly in our media- and social media-dominated world.

So, when I reflect on the theme “Changing the Narrative on Suicide,” I think about the collective need to change the narrative with each other. And whilst I recognise that suicide ideation and intent is not fuelled by a single story, I do believe that living in a world that’s a little kinder and a little more humane may be a good place to start.