There are two special days today. First, it’s World Suicide Prevention Day, one of the most important ‘special’ days of the year in my opinion. I do not wish to go into names and numbers but I’ll just say that my life has been touched by suicide. I knew, and knew of, people, almost always very good people, who took their own lives. In most instances, I had no idea that these people, some close friends, were likely to take their own lives. Obviously, if I had some idea, I’d have acted to do something about it. More on this in a moment. Second, it’s National Hot Dog day, for which I have seen and heard numerous media references today. There is room for very serious and totally frivolous ‘days’ in our calendar but one of the main aims of the first much surely to be to ensure it does not become a one day wonder as the second.
First some statistics. In 2024, 5,579 suicides were registered in England. That’s a huge number and it really shocked me. That’s 11.1 suicide deaths per 100,000. If that hasn’t shocked you, then how about the worldwide figure. Sit down before I tell you it’s 726,000 people. Enough to fill Wembley Stadium eight times over. Now add to that horrific number family members and friends. It’s going to be millions, many millions.
The theme for the next three years of World Suicide Prevention Day is, “Changing the Narrative on Suicide” with the call to action “Start the Conversation”. You can read more detail by clicking here. It’s not rocket science. We need to talk about our feelings and encourage others to share theirs. The stigmas of poor mental health are still there, ingrained into our national psyche, not least because of the actions and words of populist politicians who routinely belittle what can be very serious medical conditions, like the loathsome former prime minister Rishi Sunak. If you find it hard to talk about your depression, as I did for most of my life, then how on Earth would you find it easy to talk about suicidal thoughts? Read this from The Samaritans website:
“A recent poll found that only 45% of people feel comfortable talking to family and friends about suicidal thoughts, compared to 74% who said they feel comfortable talking about mental health.”
The latter, I would suggest, is a big improvement on the good old days, yet still more than a quarter of us bottle up our feelings. The former, meaning that 55% of people feel uncomfortable talking about suicidal thoughts to loved ones, is shocking.
I have had suicidal thoughts all my life, but thankfully I have always managed to find something in life that was worth living for. Somewhere, I would imagine, there is a line that once you cross means that suicide becomes a real option, things have become bad, at least in your head, that you’d be better off dead and the world in general and your loved ones in particular would be better off without you. If I have always found some way to carry on, I know too many people who didn’t.
I am no psychotherapist, but some of my best friends certainly were, and they talked me down, metaphorically, from the high building, stopped me standing in front of an express train. If my black dog has not been put down – sorry, dog lovers – his bite is less likely to be fatal than it used to be.
We need to reduce the number of suicides around the world and at home. I would say an acceptable number would be none and that’s a figure we should aim towards. Because one suicide, and all the broken lives that lie in its trail, is one too many. And to that end, World Suicide Prevention Day matters, but not if it only lasts for one day and we then move on and forget about it, as we surely will National Hot Dog Day. It doesn’t much matter to anyone but Hot Dog sellers if we quickly forget about their national day, but it matters to the best part of three quarters of a million people a year, as well as their families and friends, if we immediately forget World Suicide Prevention Day.
If things get too bad for you, call Samaritans. Then see a GP and demand action. There can be a better life. And we all need to work for it.
One day a year is still a big thing, but we need to remember for 365/6 days. You are not alone.
