In the last few weeks I was invited to speak at suicide prevention events. The queer community has some of the highest self-harm rates in comparison to other demographics, especially youth. It’s important that we talk about issues surrounding mental health and self-harm. Part of the problem is the deeply rooted social stigma attached to mental health and the common usage of abilist language in the everyday vernacular. These elements drive mental-health issues into the shadows where people suffer in silence.
I regard my mental health everyday. Sometimes I am unsure if I will make it through my day in the same condition I started in. I smile a lot and exude confidence in public, but in the privacy of my mind I think about the stares, whispers, overheard comments, and ridicule that lure out the deep voices in my mind that whisper the dark thoughts of suicide.
I quickly distract myself with my Rubik’s Cube, mathematics, or sometimes I just cry. I wonder if some day these thoughts will triumph over me in a time of weakness, but I am strong, and I have friends and loved ones who love and accept me without condition.
To solve the issues of suicide we must begin to create accepting environments for everyone to enjoy and manage discourses that encourage discussion of mental health without shame.
This may seem impractical due to our nature to create difference and social hierarchies that are built upon marginalization and clique environments. I have hope that we will evolve socially and intellectually, and abandon primitive ideologies of inequality, as they only serves to harm.