Submit a #LiveOn Letter for Suicide Awareness Month

September is suicide prevention month. Research has shown us that disabled people are at increased risk for suicide, due to social stigma and discrimination they face that their nondisabled counterparts do not. (Joiner, et al., 2002) The #LiveOn Movement was created to address these issues and bring to the table a topic that is often hard to discuss.

All of the risk factors that can affect non-disabled people, including social exclusion and financial instability, are things many disabled people struggle with throughout much of their lives. Other factors, such as stigma and oppression based on race, sexual orientation, gender, ethnicity, and gender identity can compound on these risk factors when they intersect with disability. The media, our peers, and greater society influence whether we hear that our lives have value and worth. As a result, we sometimes internalize these oppressive narratives and come to believe our bodies are not worthy of life.

What was it like growing up without anything to counter the negative stigma? This month, we urge you to share a letter to other disabled people – young, old, newly diagnosed, longtime disabled but struggling. What would you tell them about being disabled? What would you tell them about living and their self-worth? What would you have wanted to hear in a time when you were struggling?

Please share your letter in a Facebook post, and make sure to use the #LiveOn hashtag, so we can share it, as well!

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[1] Joiner, T. E., Pettit, J. W., Walker, R. L., Voelz, Z. R., Cruz, J., Rudd, M. D., & Lester, D. (2002). Perceived burdensomeness and suicidality: Two studies on the suicide notes of those attempting and those completing suicide. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 21(5), 531-545.