Suicide Prevention is more than a Facebook post, it's political / A.J. Hendry

As a kid I believed that if a person died from suicide they were going to hell.

As I went through my own battle with depression and daily suicidal ideation this belief filled me with intense shame, and prevented me from reaching out for help, or even being real about what I was going through.

Because, if I had depression it would mean that I was weak, that I'd failed myself, my whanau, my God.

Mixed up with this twisted view of the Divine, was a messed up and unhealthy understanding of what it meant to be a man.

This combination, along with just the reality of depression, prevented me from coming to terms with what I was going through and stopped me from getting the help I needed.

Today is world suicide prevention day.

On days like this you can expect to see the obligatory posts telling people suffering from depression that they should reach out if they need help.

Posts like this - just like teaching that suicide is a sin - put the responsibility on the individual suffering from suicidal ideation to reach out for help, while failing to acknowledge the environmental factors that contribute to a person's ill health.

If you want to support suicide prevention, I want to encourage you to go a little deeper. Take some time today to think about who you're going to vote for. Support parties and policies committed to ensuring every kiwi has access to a safe, warm and stable home. That every young person grows up with enough food to eat. That every individual can access appropriate mental and physical health services.

Suicide prevention looks like promoting communities to be connected and to thrive.

It looks like breaking down stigma around mental illness and addiction, and challenging the narratives that place blame on individuals for what they're expierencing.

It looks like reaching out to whānau who are struggling, and putting feet to your compassion.

It looks like getting involved.

We can put an end to the shameful suicide statistics that exist in this country.

But only if we do it together.

A.J Hendry

P.s Pic is of Wesley and I working together to solve this, and many other important issues. He does great things.

Also, if you are interested I've written further about my experience with depression in the below articles:

How toxic masculinity almost killed me

Is suicide a ticket to Hell?