WARNING: this blog post is of the opinion of my own. I am not a licensed physician. I do not give out any medical advice. If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts or self harm call 911 or contact The National Suicide Prevention Hotline at (800) 273-8255.
Introduction
Hello all you wizards of words, today’s blog post is inspired by my tweet rant. October is breast cancer month, although I am sympathetic to anyone who been stricken with any type of cancer mental health is just as important. On October 1st all social media outlets, daytime talk show an news outlets showed their support in solidarity by wearing pink and or wearing the pink ribbon. Not once in all of September the month for National Suicide Prevention did any of these outlets wear the ribbon or the color in show of support.
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What Color Are You?
September is National Suicide Prevention Month. It’s a time for those who supports those who are suffering from mental health illness disorder or those who struggles with thoughts of suicide or self harming by reaching out. Giving people who feel their only option is suicide a chance to seek help in a healthy environment. It’s a beautiful community that I’m grateful to be apart of because I make no apology for sharing my and my family struggles with mental health. As I discovered, each illness comes with a ribbon as a symbol of solidarity and support. I showcase below what some of the ribbon and colors represents;
YELLOW represents “Prisoners of War” (POWs)
RED represents “blood cancer” and “heart disease”
BLACK represents “in mourning” or “fallen officer”
GREEN represents “bipolar” or “mental illness”
For Awareness Ribbons and their symbolism
Purple represents National Suicide Prevention which is the subject of this blog post.
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This Angers Me
I am damn angry that National Suicide Prevention Month didn’t get the same spotlight as Breast Cancer is getting right now. Everyone has shown support by wearing the color pink and the ribbon. The View, Ellen, Wendy Williams, The Talk, The Real, CNN, MSNBC, Fox, ABC, NBC, CBS, Iheartradio, Google, Facebook, AT&T and Amazon show an ounce of interest. These outlets didn’t wear the green ribbon for mental health nor the purple ribbon for national suicide prevention nor have any survivors or people struggling at any tapings nor had any information added to their websites or social media.
This is disturbing because the minute a child gets bullied into suicide or a celebrity who is struggling take the final step, then all these people will be on social media crying about how sorry they are and wish they could do something in which case I find to be very hypocritical. Suicide is becoming the number one cause of death. In a few years suicide will over take cancer, heart disease and diabetes as the leading deaths among Americans. At this point it seem like we’re continually putting our heads in the sand until….
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A Shocking Reminder
Here’s a list of celebrities and ordinary people who became famous as a result of their death. I did not add Chester Bennington, Chris Connell, Kate Spade, Marilyn Monroe, Robin Williams or Kurt Cobain because yes their unfortunate untimely deaths are tragic however they are well known. In other words, their names are sonomonist with suicide. My goal is to remind you of the people who aren’t so well known.
If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts or self harm call 911 or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
1 Stuart Adamson 43, musician “Big Country” suicide by hanging (2001)
2 Gia Marie Allemand 29, Reality TV celebrity suicide by hanging (2014)
3 Avicii 28, DJ & music producer suicide by self inflicted injuries (2018)
4 Simone Battle 25, constant on “The X Factor” suicide by hanging (2014)
5 Jadin Bell 15, teenager victim of bullying suicide by hanging (2014)
6 Anthony Bourdain 61, TV personality & chef suicide by hanging (2018)
7 Jonathan Brandis 27, Child actor suicide by hanging (2003)
8 Herman Brood 54, Musician & Painter suicide by jumping (2001)
9 Capital Steez 19, Rapper, musician suicide by jumping (2012)
Steez tweeted his friends & family “I love you” his final tweet “the end”
10 Charlotte Dawson 47, Australian TV personality suicide undisclosed (2014)
11 George Eastman 77, Founder of Eastman Kodak suicide by gunshot (1932)
George suicide note reads “To my friends my work is done, why wait”
12 Mark Fisher 48, Blogger “K-Punk” suicide undisclosed (2017)
13 Keith Flint 49, musician “The Prodigy” suicide by hanging (2019)
14 Ryan Freel 36, sport baseball “KCR” suicide by gunshot (2012)
15 Spalding Gray 62, Actor “Beaches” “Gray’s Anatomy” suicide by jumping (2004)
16 Richard Jeni 49, Comedian suicide by gunshot (2007)
17 Mindy McCready 37, Country music artist suicide by gunshot (2013)
18 Alexander McQueen 40, Fashion designer suicide by hanging (2010)
19 Phoebe Prince 15, Teenager victim of bullying suicide by hanging (2010)
20 David Reimer 38, Transgender reassignment suicide by gunshot (2004)
21 David Foster Wallace 46, Writer suicide by hanging (2018)
22 Lee Thompson Young 29, Actor “Friday Night Lights” suicide by gunshot (2013)
23 Tony Scott 68, Director “Top Gun” suicide by jumping (2012)
24 Jean Stein 83, Author & Editor suicide by jumping (2017)
25 Jon Paul Steuer 33, Actor “Quentin Grace Under Fire” suicide by gunshot (2018)
for full listed referenced in this blog “List of Suicide In The 21st Century”
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I Wear Purple Ribbon
These people are twenty-five out of a thousands plus, a list that continues to grow. As you sit and read this blog one out of five people are contemplating suicide. It’s important to keep spreading the word and breaking the stigma of mental health until there’s no more suicides. I will wear my green ribbon as a reminder to those who lost the battle. I will wear my purple ribbon in solidarity to those left behind. The truth is it doesn’t make much of a difference what ribbon you wear as long as you wear them all. Because these ideas are good bringing light to something as painful. It’s important to represent them ALL!
So, what color are you?
Me, I’m the rainbow.
I wear my Purple and Green ribbons along with Yellow, Black and Pink.
All of them are a presentation of humanity. I wear them all for YOU!
Until Next Time….
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