“I can’t pretend that I’m okay. Not any more. I know I won’t ever be happy and there are more and more reasons for this every day. All I want to do is disappear from this life

And that’s what I’ve decided to do.

It can be so hard for some to understand why someone would opt to wrap up his life. Pen down a note (or not) to say goodbye and just decide it’s time to end all this.

Well until that happens to you I guess you may never understand why. Consider yourself lucky (actually, very lucky) if you have never reached that point in life. Where you just felt so messed up and shitty about yourself to consider taking your own life.
It’s really heart-wrenching to know that so many people out there have suicidal thoughts and have no one to talk to.

Statistics show that globally someone commits suicide every 40 seconds. Do you have an idea of what that translates to? About 800,000 people commit suicide annually – So sad.

Just the other day we marked World Suicide Prevention Day and the main agenda is usually to create awareness that these deaths can be at least prevented. If you happen to suspect someone is suicidal just ask them directly, like :

“Are you considering suicide?”

Uhmm… Let’s be honest.
You probably are thinking this is not a right move at all especially if you are to ask it in such a direct manner because number one, for sure you are afraid of the likelihood of putting the idea into someone’s head and number two, you are afraid of the answer is yes and then what next? You probably wouldn’t know how to handle the situation from there. What we fail to understand is that this actually provides an opportunity for them to open up about their situation.

People are constantly writing and posting suicide notes on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media platforms. But unfortunately, the kind of comments that they get…

“Usituletee shida zako hapa hivi”
“Si ujiue basi”
”Wachanga jokes nanii ”

Many are times we take it as a joke or rather think of it as merely attention seeking, hence we tend to care less when we come across certain suicide notes. If at all you feel the need to respond to such posts at least let it be something encouraging – because believe you me, you have no idea what the person on the other end is going through as of that moment.

A certain man once said – The most heartbreaking suicide note is no note. The anger of not knowing why someone took his own life breaks more hearts than a note. (Just think about it)

Okay.

After opening up, you listen and understand their situation, then what next?
It is best that you stay involved in their lives and try to connect them to some specialist or professional. By staying involved I mean checking up on them from time to time and involving them in day to day activities. This shows them that you actually do care about their well-being and they are likely to feel they have a shoulder to lean on. More so reach out to their close family members, a religious leader, a counsellor maybe or just anyone you may think would help.

Let’s be there for one another.

I’d like to leave it at that and let you ponder on this. In whatever you do remember, my life matters and so does yours.
I mean – a simple question like

“Are you Okay ?” can be life-saving.