If you or someone you know needs help, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or live chat at 988lifeline.org.
June is Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month and the majority of more than 5,000 deaths by suicide in New York state between 2017 and 2019 were men, according to data from the New York State Department of Health.
Researchers at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Canada said talking about suicide is an important step to overcoming it, and does not encourage people to go through with it. The language we use to talk about it is crucial.
“Language can be wounding,” said Dr. Allison Crawford, chief medical officer at the 988 Crisis Helpline in Canada. “When we speak about something as if it’s wrong or bad or makes someone different, makes them, you know, not part of the common group — like not part of our collective — that contributes to stigma. And stigma is one of the biggest reasons that people don’t reach out when they’re in crisis.”
The CAMH published a mental health language guide. Some of the changes it recommends include rephrasing “commit suicide” to “die by suicide.” The guide said this change makes it sound less like a crime and neutralizes the phrasing, stripping the blame from the person. It also recommends changing the term “suicidal” to “facing suicide.” This is in order to avoid defining someone by their experience with suicide, as they are more than their suicidal thoughts.
Crawford said when it comes to having the conversation, it is less about being perfect and more about being there.
“You don’t have to have all the right answers,” she said. “The important thing is to have that openness and calling 988 as a family member to get some coaching.”