World suicide prevention day
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It’s aimed at starting conversations about a topic that often gets brushed under the rug. Sometimes it takes a bit of encouragement to start difficult discussions. At St. Joe’s that encouragement came in the form of a little puncuation mark. Fifteen years ago, Shirley Davidson lost her close friend to suicide. Recently, she got a semicolon tattoo to remember her and help prevent similar deaths. “If only we had more awareness at that time, maybe the outcome would have been, could have been different.”
On World Suicide Prevention Day, we’re urged to start conversations about mental health and suicidal thoughts that people are often too scared or embarrassed to share. Those discussions can be difficult to start and that’s where the semicolon project comes in. The symbol acts as a conversation starter and a reminder to people who are struggling, that their “sentence” isn’t over.
“It’s a pause. You write a sentence, you put a pause, a semicolon, a pause, and then you continue. And that’s what struck home for me. If only my friend had paused.”
Project Semicolon was started two years ago by a woman in Wisconsin. She used the semicolon to commemorate her father who died by suicide. The symbol has since become a beacon of hope around the world for people with suicidal thoughts and their loved ones.
St. Joe’s Psychiatrist, Dr. Jennifer Brasch says “You see someone with a semicolon tattoo, you can say, what’s that about, of if you know, you know that it means that someone may have made a suicide attempt or that they are supporting or remembering someone who has struggled with suicidal thoughts.”
To mark World Suicide Prevention Day, staff at St. Joe’s have been learning about Project Semicolon and purchasing pins to fund prevention initiatives. And while a pin isn’t as permanent as a tattoo, they hope it starts a lasting conversation. “The sentence is your life. The semicolon means it’s not over yet. You haven’t finished writing everything.”
