I don't mean to go off on a rant here, but ...
... I do hope that this recent trend of suicide prevention messaging lasts beyond just the celebrity endorsement stage so that all of us stay involved.
And let me clearly state that the above sentence does not mean to diminish any of the powerful effect of the "It. Gets. Better." campaign. Bringing the issue of extreme bullying to the fore for youths feeling alone and struggling with acceptance at a key time in their formative years is exactly what is needed to spotlight the unacceptable behavior of individuals whose intolerance leads to intense taunting and teasing that makes other give up hope and see no future.
Now juxtapose that hot topic with the announcement of a report from an independent task force documenting that more than 1100 members of the armed forces killed themselves from '05 to '09, and that the prevention programs they created just didn't work as well as they could have. There's certainly collateral damage when engaging in the business of war, but with 3821 official fatalities during those 4 years in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflagrations, adding in those lost through suicide, we've raised the total irreplaceable human damage by nearly a third!
So when the buzz fades, what's left for each of us? Reach out to others, build community, take the time to ask how someone is doing, support your veterans, pressure your politicians to buttress the support system for the active men and women of the military. Finally, if you're being bullied, recognize that the tag line for the current campaign works because it is powerful in its simplicity -- it does get better. And if you're the one doing the bullying, knock it the f*** off!
IT GETS BETTER PROJECT:
http://itgetsbetter.org/default.aspx
CASUALTY COUNT:
http://icasualties.org/
ONE SUICIDE EVERY 36 HOURS:
http://iava.org/blog/1-suicide-every-36-hours
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