This is not an article to yell at anyone or make anyone feel bad if they say or gesture this saying, "I want to kill myself." This is an article to hopefully bring the seriousness back to these words and change why someone might say it.
Today, we hear this sentence, or see the gestures of the fingers to the head, and now even in technology with the gun to the emoji. Most of the time when I see or hear these, it is to make a joke. There was an awkward moment, homework was hard, the exam you have to take is harder than you thought it would be or you made a fool of yourself could be reasons why we say this. I understand moments get hard; there are moments we wish didn't happen but saying, "I want to kill myself," jokingly or not meaning it seriously, is not okay. This is taking away from someone who is struggling, who needs someone to see that they need a friend, family, or just a little reassurance that their worth is important to the once in their lives. It takes away from someone who is struggling with depression, anxiety, the feeling of being completely alone, or someone who is being bullied. When we say those five words, it influences that it makes it seem that it is the easy, simple way out. When someone who may be struggling, this may be the most difficult decision they will ever make.
I have had friends in my past that have wondered their worth. They have thought that the world would be better without them. That they would be happier and the people in their life would be better off. How do you tell someone who has that mind set that their presence makes this world a better place? How do you tell someone that if they were gone that no one would ever be the same and no one would be better off? I have lost a friend to suicide, when he passed we sort of fell out of touch, but I still considered him a friend. When I heard the news, my heart sank and I just couldn't believe it. This was for a friend that I had sort of lost touch with. This made me wonder what the ones that were closer with him felt. If he could of only saw how much he was admired by the ones he had in his life.
So if you say, "I want to kill myself," because of a joke, know that someone may be struggling. There are people who believe the words that come out of what the person around them says, so when they heard jokes being made about this, it takes away from someone who will say it, mean it, and not get the help that they need. Know that someone feels more alone, like no one understands them or understands them. If you could, please try to change the sentence to someone that you are actually feeling. "I want to take a break from what I am focusing on right now," or "I just want to relax for the night." Maybe even, "I just need to be alone right now." Maybe by changing the way we word a sentence of what we mean, we can bring the seriousness into someone who actually wants to kill themselves. The world will get better. That pain does not last forever, and that their story isn't over yet.
If you know someone struggling to see their worth, tell them and reassure them how important they are to you and the ones in their life. No matter how close you are, if they are in you life, if you are in their life, you both have an impact on each others life. No one should feel like they are unneeded or alone in life. Everyone has someone that won't give up on them.
