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"i've never spoken so openly about suicide. i didn't know this existed.
it's an incredible relief."
-everyone living w suicide during their first alternatives to suicide call
because of what's done to people living with suicide, we've had to find alternatives.
suicide is more than a 5-10 minute crisis to survive. it’s an experience of suffering unique to each individual living with it.
suicide is a consciousness i gained after touching death during domestic abuse. for me, suicide doesn't go away; it fluctuates in intensity.
there is no “cure,” “fix,” or “treatment plan” to eliminate suicide.
talking about suicide does not cause suicide.
suicide prevention is not done by others to a person struggling with suicide.
confiscating sharps, strings, and cords is not suicide prevention.
locking up guns and people is not suicide prevention.
clinicians and pharmacists do not dispense suicide prevention.
eliminating symptoms is not suicide prevention.
suicide prevention isn't bought or sold.
suicide rates increased 37% between 2000-2018 and decreased 5% between 2018-2020 (covid). rates returned to their peak in 2022. (source: https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/facts/data.html)
current standards of “care:”
licensed clinicians are legally and ethically restricted from talking about suicide without forcing interventions like involuntary admission to a locked facility ("hospitalization"), high risk psychological pharmaceuticals, crisis services, or terminating "care."
acute resources like 988 and crisis services offer brief, limited help and present the additional risk of law enforcement involvement as 988 is connected to 911 geolocation through georouting.
law enforcement is not an appropriate response to suicide. handcuffs do not prevent suicide. involving law enforcement does harm not only to the person living w suicide but also to the officers that respond. law enforcement personnel have a significantly higher suicide risk compared to the general population. professional exposure and resulting normalization of suicide leaves these officers at greater risk of suicide themselves.
evidence-based therapeutic interventions/ industry standard treatment for suicide:
dialectical behavior therapy (dbt), cognitive behavioral therapy for suicide prevention (cbt-sp), collaborative assessment and management of suicidality (cams), attachment-based family therapy (abft)
safety planning, lethal means counseling, caring contacts, crisis services
pharmacological and medical treatments (chemical and electrical-temporary and permanent changes to brain chemistry, structure, function)
result: increased suicide rates 2000-2023
suicide prevention is the sole responsibility of the person living with suicide.
suicide prevention is a perpetual practice done with discipline for as many moments as the person living with suicide is alive.
suicide prevention doesn't happen in crisis.
it requires consistency, flexibility, and support.
suicide prevention doesn't get ready; it stays ready.
short of damage to my brain, there’s no “cure,” “fix,” or “treatment plan” that will eliminate my understanding of suicide. denying suicide as part of myself and my life is denying reality. after my experience of abuse, i understand the harm denial does to health.
people living w suicide have been historically silenced with the threat of “care” that’s objectively shown to do harm and increase suicide rates. the full arsenal of "treatment programs" and "resources" for people living with suicide were designed in this void by providers, loved ones, and “experts.” suicide awareness and prevention resources lack an understanding of the needs and experience of people living with suicide. the practice of executing “care” without understanding or consideration of needs, consent, and harm-reduction has resulted in increased suicide rates yearly.
a note on "hospitalization:" suicide rates after discharge from psychiatric facilities (locked behavioral health facilities, includes individuals admitted without suicide):
“the post discharge suicide rate was approximately 100 times the global suicide rate during the first 3 months after discharge and patients admitted with suicidal thoughts or behaviors had rates near 200 times the global rate. even many years after discharge, previous psychiatric inpatients have suicide rates that are approximately 30 times higher than typical global rates." source: national library of medicine (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/pmc5710249/)
result: "hospitalization" increases suicide rates (including for people admitted wo suicide)
is there a solution?
living with suicide:
suicide is rooted in abuse, nutrition, housing, education, employment, discrimination, loss, disability, grief, and suffering.
across the spectrum of mental health needs (crisis to maintenance), communities of people with shared mutual experience can provide profound, flexible, specific and consistent support centered in consent and harm reduction.
these are safe spaces free of risk assessment, crisis services, or elevated "care" held exclusively for those of us who live with suicide.
while a seemingly simple solution, alternatives to suicide calls are anchored in profound depth and complexity, consent, and harm reduction.
there’s healing in reflection of shared suffering and support in community.
health is rooted in community. healing requires suffering; it hurts.
i did not choose to live w suicide.
i do choose between suicide and any other alternative.
i will not choose to live in harm through “care,” a “cure,” or being “fixed.”
i find health and support for living with suicide in the communities below.
there are alternatives to suicide calls every day. there is no cost or pre-registration required for participants. accommodations to meet accessibility needs are available.
community can provide support beyond healing that includes validation, resonance, understanding, help with accessing systems, services and resources, and opportunities for housing, employment, and education.
antidote health:
antidote health believes the solution to suicide defies systems and can’t be monetized.
antidote offers support directly FROM members of our community TO members of our community of people living with suicide. each individual is equal. we give when we can and take when we need to with the goal of preserving and balancing the space for each other as an alternative to suicide.
our facilitators are volunteers from within the community. if you’re living with suicide and interested in providing support, please contact antidote health to get involved. this work happens one moment at a time. every moment given to people living with suicide by people living with suicide is suicide prevention.
antidote calls are scheduled with fluidity to echo the experience of living with suicide (outside normal business hours) and are based on the availability of facilitors. please check meeting times often as we test and refine our scheduling to best fit needs. if you’re struggling at a time a meeting isn’t offered, there is 24hr/day peer support available through wildflower alliance's discord channel.
antidote calls are centered in consent and harm reduction, opposed to carceral "care," and averse to clinical pathologization. participants are encouraged to share accessibility needs, join and leave openly, and participate as desired (mic and camera optional). these calls provide space wo "trigger warnings." joining requires self-awareness, consent, and capacity. guidelines and values that are upheld: click here.
(antidote zoom meetings are set to end to end encryption)
national empowerment center:
https://power2u.org/crisis-alternatives/
directory of peer respites (short term stay):
https://power2u.org/directory-of-peer-respites/
directory of peer warmlines:
https://power2u.org/peer-run-warmlines-resources/
wildflower alliance:
https://wildfloweralliance.org/
peer warmline:
phone number: (888) 407-4515
monday - thursday 7pm-9pm (eastern time US)
friday - sunday 7pm-10pm (eastern time US)
alternatives to suicide calendar: https://wildfloweralliance.org/alternatives-to-suicide/
discord server (24/7): https://wildfloweralliance.org/discord/
the yarrow collective:
https://www.yarrowcollective.org/
online calendar: https://www.yarrowcollective.org/online-calendar
kiva centers:
peer warmline:
phone number: (508) 688-5898
monday – friday, 8pm–12:00 midnight (eastern time US)
online calendar: https://kivacenters.org/online-peer-support/
sarah broas:
online calendar: https://sarahbroas.com/peer-support-offerings/
resources for people living with suicide:
click here for alternatives to suicide meetings
click here for information on talking about suicide
click here for my emergency plan framework
click here for tools i use to live w suicide
click here to SUBMIT additional support resources
click here to REQUEST additional support resources
in support of people living w suicide, please consider offering support to the independent organizations listed. more info is included on each website.
*antidote is centered in consent and harm reduction and does not support calling 911 for someone living with suicide bc of the harm i've suffered at the hands of law enforcement/911, involuntary psychiatric hospitalization, clinical care, and to my permanent public record. please understand next steps specific to geography if emergency services are contacted on behalf of someone living w suicide.
988 is connected to 911 geolocation through georouting.
human connection
is
suicide prevention.
matthew 11:
28 “come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.