A lot of suicide prevention has to be community based though.
Affordable housing, accessible and good quality mental health services, career development programs… some people are suicidal because their situation legitimately sucks.
For all the talk about ending stigma, I also think there needs to be a discussion about the way suicidal people are treated. In the US, involuntary holds can be hell and fucking expensive - especially when we consider how many people are suicidal because of finances. Lose your job because the 72 hour hold, during which you get to see a psychiatrist once. (From my personal experience, no guarantee they got a great score on their TOEFL).
988 is a great idea, but patchy in execution and assuming a lot of other systems are already in place. It’s a can of fix a flat when you haven’t changed your oil in so long it’s starting to look like tar.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with seeking help; I just think we really need to recognize that help is not always readily available. It’s not free, appointments aren’t always readily available, and you can end up with really bad providers. Services like BetterHelp are preying on that gap too, and have cooped the destigmatization of mental health into their ad campaigns that are uncomfortable.
A lot of suicide prevention has to be community based though.
Affordable housing, accessible and good quality mental health services, career development programs… some people are suicidal because their situation legitimately sucks.
For all the talk about ending stigma, I also think there needs to be a discussion about the way suicidal people are treated. In the US, involuntary holds can be hell and fucking expensive - especially when we consider how many people are suicidal because of finances. Lose your job because the 72 hour hold, during which you get to see a psychiatrist once. (From my personal experience, no guarantee they got a great score on their TOEFL).
988 is a great idea, but patchy in execution and assuming a lot of other systems are already in place. It’s a can of fix a flat when you haven’t changed your oil in so long it’s starting to look like tar.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with seeking help; I just think we really need to recognize that help is not always readily available. It’s not free, appointments aren’t always readily available, and you can end up with really bad providers. Services like BetterHelp are preying on that gap too, and have cooped the destigmatization of mental health into their ad campaigns that are uncomfortable.