If I had no sense of humor, I would long ago have committed suicide.” Mahatma Gandhi
In 1999 I studied a multimedia certificate four at Crow’s Nest TAFE. It was an advanced course and my computer skills were basic but I got in as I had just completed a Masters Degree in Visual Arts at COFA. At the end of the course, we had to make a CD Rom either in a group or on our own. I chose to make one on my own and it was titled: Youth Suicide Prevention and I researched the issue online and from my own experience of losing friends to suicide but they weren’t teenagers but young adults.
This is a great web resource to overcome youth suicide in Australia, called the youth suicide prevention project:
https://headspace.org.au/assets/Uploads/Centres/Ballarat/headsapce-Quote-Pocket-Book.pdf
This is the statistics of suicide rates in Australia:
“What is the male suicide rate in Australia?
18.8 deaths per 100,000 population
Of the over 3,000 lives lost to suicide each year, approximately 75% are men. Statistics on male suicides are released annually by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. In 2022: A total of 2,455 men died by suicide (18.8 deaths per 100,000 population), compared to 794 women (5.9 per 100,000).”
I feel that those most in resorting to suicide in Australia are youths and returned soldiers. I feel that particularly in Australia there is a stigma about being weak especially amongst men if you open up to friends, counsellors and doctors about the severe anxiety and suffering that those in danger of committing suicide suffer but if they do open up then the danger goes down to zero.
“Suicide may seem like the only way out. But in the end, it’s not just you that you are hurting but those who love and care about you. It takes strength and power but you are so much stronger than you know. There is a reason you are still here.”
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I personally have been pushed to the edge of suicide several times but over the past fifteen years when I felt edgy and saw the warning signs I would open up to friends, psychologists and shrinks. I love being alive and now not just striving for good mental health but also good physical health so I can live as long as possible.
While I am writing this essay, I am listening to Nirvanas MTV Unplugged on vinyl and it’s amazing. I feel so sad that Kurt Cobain took his own life. Imagine if he was still alive now making beautiful music.
