Youth Suicide Prevention Initiative

Hi everyone. My comments come from years of working with people who may have suicidal ideation; some teenagers but, in my case, usually older people. But there are some general principles that apply universally.

First, each of us is a valuable individual in our own right. I'd go so far as to say that there is no such creature as a bad person. The problem is not in the person themself but in their behaviour, and there are unending examples of bad and/or hurtful behaviour.

Secondly, what is often known as the Alcoholics Anonymous prayer; a summarised version of this is, "May we have the strength to change what we can change, the serenity to accept what we can't change and the wisdom to know the difference." Far too many of us (and I count myself in this group) spend far too much time trying to change what we can't change. In practice, all we can change is ourselves; trying to change other people is a waste of time.

Thirdly, acceptance. Oh boy, this is hard. The willingness to accept something that may be painful and that we wish we could change can be hugely challenging. But, look at it this way. Let us suppose that we have a pain that we cannot get rid of. We've been to doctors, physiotherapists, psychologists and all the healing professions, but the pain persists. What to do? Well, if we can't fix it, we are inevitably stuck with it, and the harder we struggle to get rid of the pain, the worse the pain will get. This is especially the case with emotional pain, with depression and anxiety. We need to face that pain and accept it for what it is, a construct of our own minds. Once we can do that (and again, this is not easy), we can start to come to terms with that pain.

Enough. I wish us all the peace and tranquility that we can find in our own hearts. But I will be back

Very best wishes

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