You don’t know how much you’re loved.
“And until then, I’ll smile and hide the truth.”
First of all, I’d like to stress I am safe. I have several safety measures and professional psychological help as support right now. And the reason I’m even sharing this is not to worry people, although I understand it will. I’m not looking for attention, more just trying to tell people it’s ok to talk about this, and to be honest to several people. In British culture there’s a saying ‘have a stiff upper lip’; our society sees admitting struggles as weakness. Saying this as a general internet post is easier, because it’s like shouting into the void. I’m not going to be ashamed to admit how things are, because people should be allowed to admit when times are tough. And right now they’re fucking awful . (Also apparently September is suicide awareness month or something so.. here’s some relevance.)
On the 27th of August, I wrote a suicide note. This was the result of several severe dips in mood over the previous month or so. I coasted until the next and tried to keep myself happy and productive, but every dip brought me lower. (Now, this isn’t the first time I’ve had thoughts of suicide, they were very frequent in 2014/15 (although for different reasons), but they’ve never been so graphic or encouraging). After writing the note I was ashamed to admit I’d even stopped that low, got to that point – in some ways I actually still am very scared to admit that. On the 29th I confessed to my oldest friend over skype, because I trusted her. She’d been there for me in the past, and she was there for me that night. We made lists of reasons I cant kill myself yet – and I’d like to say, your reasons for being alive don’t have to be extraordinary. I decided I had to stay alive to watch the grand prix the following Sunday, my friend was going to send me a letter soon and I had to be alive to read that. I had to do at least one day at school with the new education level (which, if I’m posting this on September 4th, is tomorrow. Eek) I had to live until December when my friend turns 18 so we can buy mango vodka and get absolutely fucking wasted together. And we kept extending it. Having a reason to live even just until tomorrow is good enough, even as small as ‘I want to see the sunrise tomorrow’.
On September 2nd, I had a counselling session and finally admitted to a professional exactly what I’d done. She told me to bring my mum into the room from the car and she explained what the situation was to my mum. I’d already let mum know I was feeling suicidal about a month ago, and her response was only support and concern.. but I just felt too ashamed to tell her this ‘update’. I couldn’t look her in the eyes. I couldn’t look at my counsellor. But they told me I was brave for sharing it, and mum asked to see the note when we got home.
I re-read the note myself, and then gave it to her. I left the room while she read it, and I went back in when I heard her crying. And something I will never be able to ever forget is standing in a doorway and seeing my mother sobbing over a suicide note written by her child. I just went over to her and held her, and she hugged me tight, sobbing. She said things that touched me very deeply, but it was the sheer amount of pain I could see she was in that got to me. I realised that if that was for real, I’d never get to comfort her. It was like being a ghost, watching the pain I’d cause if I died. And you have no fucking idea how much people love you until you see them crying over your suicide note. No idea how much you’re loved. No idea the vast effect you taking your life would have on people you love. That moment made me decide that I had to live, I just had to. I had to survive, no matter how hard things got.
If for nothing else, simply just to never ever let that situation be because I’m really dead.
After that, I ripped up the note, then cut it into tiny shreds into my bin. That was symbolic for me; I had destroyed any justification I’d written to die. I’d destroyed the risk.