Beth McClelland Wrote This Facebook Post On Fighting The Monster That Is Suicide

Peterborough's Beth McClelland wrote a powerful Facebook post about depression and suicide, and how she equates "overcoming the idea of suicide to be a greater accomplishment than winning an Olympic medal."

With her permission, we're sharing her post with you here on World Suicide Prevention Day (September 10th). Here it is:

"I think about suicide almost every day..but I've learned over the years that's not always a bad thing. In my own life I've had two very real, painful, unforgettable encounters with the monster under the rug that is suicide. On great days, I pull the rug off the monster and tower over it. I think about how thankful I am to have not chosen suicide.

I think of overcoming the idea of suicide to be a greater accomplishment than winning an Olympic medal. On those days I am glad to think of suicide. On bad days I think about the fear I will forever associate with suicide. On these days I don't like thinking about suicide and I worry the monster will pull me under it's rug...but I need these days too.

They remind me of how important my mental health is and they make me stronger. On really bad days I feel like I'm under the rug, deep in the monsters grasp, but my ability to think about suicide rationally on a regular basis reminds me to reach out for help and that I'm not fighting this monster alone.

These days are rare and more terrifying than I can explain, but they've made me who I am. On days where my friends struggle, I think about suicide. I think about helping them beat the crap out of their own monsters.

As a society I think we're doing an awesome job of pulling the rug out from under the mental illness monster...but I think we're still pretty in the dark when it comes to suicide. September 10 is World Suicide Prevention Day. I want to ask my friends to do me a big one and join me, even if just that one day in thinking about suicide.

If it's a monster that haunts you, know I'm here, that I know how ugly it can be and that I'm not afraid or uncomfortable to talk about it. Let's all pick up our swords against this one."

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