suicidal ideation 2.0, queer community leadership, and staying alive anyway

One of my friends said, what should we do? Should we have regular red flag check ins with each other, the way we do about relationships? Should I go up to you and ask, Have you been thinking about killing yourself lately? And I thought, if anyone came at me saying, HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT KILLING YOURSELF LATELY?, I'd automatically lie and say hell no. The way I have to every single doctor, social worker and most therapists in my life.  I don't want anything I can prevent on my permanent record, and I definitely don't want Danger to Self or Others. I've been fighting this my whole life, and I've seen the oppression and hardness that that label can mean to folks in my life who've had it.

But if you normalized it. Because it is normal. This secret. That so many of us wrestle with suicidality. Then maybe, maybe just maybe I'd tell you where it was at. 

And maybe we could map the terrain of those ideation places better.

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Source: The Icarus Project - Navigating the Space Between Brilliance and Madness - December 17, 2012 Category: Mental Illness Authors: Icarus Project Tags: Community Source Type: blogs