Taking a Stand Against the Shame

By Nicole AudetteSeptember 11, 2015

The truth is I used to hate the word suicide. I used to think it was a cop-out for putting in the hard work. I thought it was a word people threw out when they didn’t want to deal with the consequences of their actions. It was a threat I’d heard too many times to believe. I used to say there was no forgiveness for something that selfish. There was no grace for that kind of end.

Three years ago, however, I realized how wrong I was. I witnessed the kind of pain it takes to push someone to that word, to that attempt. I saw the kind of brokenness that keeps closing in, covering every glimpse of light in a life. I watched hopelessness become a reality. I saw the most important person in my life begin to lose the battle.

I watched doctors try to medicate her. I saw her ripped apart by the evil things in this world. I listened to her say there was nowhere to go, no one to understand; she believed no one could ever possibly overcome her kind of pain. I heard her sobs of loneliness even though I was right there. I heard her desire for love that I couldn’t alone fill. I saw her will to fight, and then I saw her strength disappear.

I wish I had been able to save her. I wish I had been able to love her back. I wish I could have made her see no one else can play her part. Despite my own fight, that day, that most painful day, came. She was gone.

I wasn’t angry. I didn’t blame her. I didn’t think of her as selfish. I didn’t think of her as a coward. Instead, I just missed her. I just wished the world had taken her in its arms sooner. I wished we all wouldn’t have been too busy, too tired, or too afraid to put in the hard work. I wished we had been able to pour into her, to make her believe she mattered, and to find the people who could help her. I wished we had validated her and tried harder to see life through her eyes. I wished suicide wasn’t part of our story.

But here I am, more than two years later, putting this word to paper for the first time since that day.

Suicide.

There is a part of me that believed it wouldn’t be real as long as I didn’t say the word. That part of me said to keep moving; it wanted me to say she died of cancer. Cancer doesn’t often bring the judgment that losing someone to suicide does. Cancer isn’t a choice; there’s no one to blame. You can’t be held responsible for cancer. Cancer doesn’t mean the image of perfection that was falsely built up around you comes shattering down thanks to the rumors of a small town. I let that part of me allow the shame that led to her suicide live on in me. In a way, I convinced myself to be ashamed of her story.

But today I am taking a stand against that part of me because even though I didn’t choose suicide, it is part of my story now. It is part of my journey, and I will not continue to be ashamed of my mother’s story. Instead I am ashamed that we as a society run away from this word, as if we don’t all have a role to play in its existence. I am ashamed that we don’t fight harder to protect those battling the reality of mental health issues. I am ashamed that we don’t choose love.

So, as I continue with this journey, I hope I can use our story to bring light into other people’s darkness. I hope I can show others that they are not alone. I hope I can inspire others to pour out love, grace, and compassion. And I hope that the world will see that suicide doesn’t have to be part of anyone else’s story.

 

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Comments (12)

  1. Macki

    I have to say Thank you for writing this. My mom was my rock, my best friend and my whole world. She too suffered thru this. Each day I seem to miss her more. This helps so thank you!

    Reply  |  
  2. Allyson

    So. Well. Written.

    Reply  |  
  3. bellla

    I’m so sorry to hear about your beautiful mother
    I’m sorry for your pain
    I’m proud of you and your heart.
    God bless

    Reply  |  
  4. Sara

    Incredible, it really helped me a lot to be able to read that.

    Reply  |  
  5. TJ

    Hello,

    I just wanted to let you know, this story helped me today. I suffer from extreme drug sensitivity and am in the process of withdrawing from prescription poisons. The withdrawal symptoms are terrible. I suffer from being in the mental health system, and the stigma. I also most likely have a rare disease that science cannot identify. I am sick, very sick, two weeks out of each month. I consider suicide often. I also, though I am ashamed to admit it, have often thought recently that wouldn’t it be nice if I had a disease that the doctors could identify, like cancer. This post has helped me have the strength to keep looking for a doctor who can help me, even when it seems no one can help me. I will not give in. Thank you for your story. Thank you for sharing your pain, it has helped lift mine a bit tonight.

    TJ

    Reply  |  
  6. Tim

    I didn’t expect to cry today, but i did. I’m proud of you.

    Reply  |  
  7. Becca

    Thank you for writing this. Your story is so similar to mine. My mom’s story ended when I was a teenager and I felt like I was the only person to ever feel the kind of loss I was/am feeling. Grief and suicide are both things people don’t talk about yet it needs to be because our grief can help others! Thank you for the reminder that I am not the only one grieving the loss of my mother and that I need to continue to find the courage to share my story to give hope to others.

    Reply  |  
  8. Estelle

    i’m struggling with that same shame you’re talking about, thank you for putting your thoughts into words, it helps a lot.

    Reply  |  
  9. Freedom

    My mother committed suicide when I was 17 and I found her. I was the last one in our family to soak to her. I lived with those regrets all my life. No one knows what it is like to live with mental illness except sunshine who does…. I’m 49 yrs old….now I truly know myself….I struggle with it everyday, the stereotypes render you extremely cautious of who to share your down side to….. Thank you for sharing my story…. Because that’s what it felt like as I read every word…. And now by the grace of God I struggle to keep this from being my child’s story…. And because Of Jesus ur won’t be.

    Reply  |  
  10. Jeanette Mitchell

    Your message was perfect, beautiful, brave, and compassionate….and inspiring..
    Thank you;;;;;;;

    Reply  |  
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  12. Krystal

    I love you.

    Reply  |  
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