To reduce the stigma that surrounds suicide, Lifeline has launched the Suicide Doesn’t Discriminate campaign, shining a light on the experiences of those with a lived and living experience of suicide and suicidality.
The campaign brings together two pairs of individuals from very different backgrounds to discuss both shared and distinctive parts of their stories on camera.
One of the interviewees, Imbi, has worked alongside her husband for years to shed light on the challenges they experienced when one of their children suffered a life-altering event.
“Our youngest son had a horrendous trauma happen to him when he was 12, and we lived with the fear of him taking his own life,” Imbi said.
“Four years ago, I reached the lowest point in my entire life, where I also didn’t want to live one year longer, and I reached out to Lifeline.
“People would think, you know, how could you have felt like that – and yet I did. It just shows you that it can happen to anyone.”
Lifeline Australia CEO Colin Seery said that real people sharing wide-ranging experiences was an important way of illustrating that a ‘typical’ look doesn’t exist in the context of suicide.
“It’s important to raise awareness around how suicide often doesn’t look how you’d think it would. It is incredibly complex, evidenced by the fact that two people can have the exact same backgrounds, yet have different experiences, and vice versa,” Mr Seery said.
“This campaign is all about amplifying the voices of those who have lived with or continue to live with suicidality and mental health issues. By doing this, we can help reduce the stigma and encourage anyone who needs it to reach out for support.
“It is crucial that no one feels they have to face their struggles alone.”
If you feel you need support, reach out to someone you know or call Lifeline – Crisis Supporters are available on 13 11 14 phone service as well as text and chat channels, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
View videos from the Suicide Doesn’t Discriminate campaign – https://youtu.be/wL5TOqzGLUA and https://youtu.be/Kokd8y3eAJk
Meanwhile, former Australian Rules footballer, star basketballer and Lifeline ambassador Archie Smith has called on people to lace up their shoes and walk 9km on Sunday, September 1-0, for the nine Australians who lose their lives to suicide each day.
The annual Out of the Shadows Walk (outoftheshadowswalk.org.au) will take place all over Australia on World Suicide Prevention Day to remember the lives lost to suicide, and to raise funds for Lifeline to continue to provide vital crisis support and to make sure that nobody has to face their darkest moments alone.
Donations: https://www.outoftheshadowswalk.org.au/event/out-of-the-shadows-2023/donate
