Some statistics…
It’s a fact that over 1 million people worldwide die by suicide every year.
That’s 1 person every 40 seconds.
Suicide rates have increased 60% in the last 45 years.
In the Netherlands, where I’m from, 5 people die by suicide every day.
With the sad record of 1871 people in 2015.
And these are only the attempts that succeeded.
In the Netherlands, every year about 410.000 people consider suicide and about 94.000 people actually attempt.
I find this shocking and sad and I want to make a contribution to try and change this.
I’m collaborating with a dutch suicide prevention organisation called 113online.
They have a hotline available 24/7 to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress. The line, both chat and phone, supports people who call for themselves or someone they care about.
Their slogan: Suicide? Talk about it.
All around the world there’s organisations working in suicide prevention.
On the IASP (International Association of Suicide Prevention) website, you can find
phone numbers and addresses of crisis centres
all over the world.
In the United Stated there’s the
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
WHAT I DO
Together with the dutch organisation 113online I came up with a plan how to contribute in their work, preventing suicide.
During my travels in the United States and Canada, I will visit similar organisations to see and hear about their work.
What do they do to prevent suicide? What works, what doesn’t?
I also want to talk about it with the local community to learn what they think and how they feel about the subject. What do they know about it? How do they associate with someone who has thoughts of suicide?
And the last group, the survivors. Life after a suicide attempt, what is that like? Are they glad to be alive? If so, what has changed? And what made it change? What could’ve helped them before?
I hope to find an answer to all these questions and once I do I will share them with you through a blog or vlog. My goal is to create awareness and understanding and minimise the taboo and suffering.
I invite you to follow my exploration and to get inspired, share and talk about the subject to others.