Making September Less Blue: HAPI & The Collective on World Suicide Prevention Day 2022
| Feature by Venise Alexandria Taboada of the September Collective
September 10 is World Suicide Prevention Day!
Often, it can be so difficult to care about the world we live in. Our experiences and surroundings — living with PCOS; failing in school; struggling to make friends; or living with a cold, distant family — can shape us in permanent ways. Like a clay pot, we’re extremely susceptible to crumbling under the wrong pressure. We are defiled, traumatized, oppressed, by a world that doesn’t seem to balance our misfortune with good — and it becomes too easy to turn an act of love into an act of violence.
Suicide is a delicate topic that we, Filipinos, have allowed to fester under the rug for too long. When we lose someone to this violence, we are shaken deeply, so deeply that it becomes too painful to talk about, and we fear that we might understand why — or that we may never understand at all. But our silence has only allowed the numbers to rise: approximately 33 million of us are depressed according to a report from the World Health Organization in 2019, and more than 27 million learners and educators are greatly affected (UNESCO, 2020) by suicidal thoughts, either personally or vicariously by witnessing someone close to them struggle with it.
Schools endeavor to help their students by creating mental health awareness programs, yet 2.2 in every 100,000 of us commit suicide (World Bank, 2019) because we Filipinos are afraid of being ostracized if we talk about our thoughts and feelings (WHO, 2019). However, it is gravely important to create a space where this stigma is absent, because to save someone, we have to reach out. To save ourselves, we need the courage to scream for help.
Disconcerting as it may seem, we encourage you to use your voice to shed light on the topic and through this, help cultivate what is good, what is kind, and what is loving. We urge you to participate, not only during WSPD, but every single day afterward. Over 33 million of us are silently suffering from the lack of meaningful discussions and heart-to-heart talks about the things which bother us, hurt us, and crush us.
Moreover, there are women with PCOS whose lives are further hindered and even endangered by the condition they live with. Several studies have confirmed that women with PCOS are more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety (Lin, et al., 2021) and are more at risk to do self-harm and commit suicide. In fact, “suicide attempts were seven times more common for women with PCOS compared to age-matched controls.” (Williams, Fido, & Sheffield, 2022).
Especially in September, the general anxiety of the population rises as the year enters its gloomiest period. Local residents may wrestle with the “September blues”, or for those of us living abroad, the “winter blues”. These may worsen existing feelings, so there is a more pressing need to pay attention to every moment — the sad, the mundane, and even the little good. Because the problem can’t be solved by simply saying ‘Your life matters’ or ‘You’re not alone.’ The world doesn’t need any more sweet nothings — it needs sweet everythings.
World Suicide Prevention Day is meant to help people realize who matters to them, because we often forget that we can harness the greatest capacity, the greatest energy to love those around us. Please, you never know whose heart you can save with the smallest acts. So speak up. If you think someone is dressed prettily today, tell them. If you think someone is having a hard time, ask them “How are you? I’m here to listen.” Smile at someone today. Say hello. Open the door. Live in the moment, love in the moment, because this is how we stay alive.
