Jay Walkers
When my son, Jay, died by suicide six years ago, I felt hopeless and helpless for so long. I was heartbroken, lost, and completely confused about how my son, who was smart, funny, and charming with an incredibly bright future ahead of him, could end his own life.
I was stuck in that place for a very long time. But eventually, like many grieving mothers, I felt a fire begin to burn within me. That fire was a deep desire to do something, anything, to prevent teen suicide. But how could I prevent suicide?
Suicide is a notoriously ambiguous phenomenon. No two suicides are the same. For every 100 people who die by suicide there are likely 100 different factors, or constellations of factors, that contributed to their deaths. And sometimes, contributing factors can’t be identified at all. This makes suicide prevention a particularly daunting task
One thing we do know to be a significant contributor to suicide is stigma. Stigma is defined as “a mark of disgrace.”
That disgrace is either imposed on individuals by society (public stigma) or self-imposed out of a fear of being disgraced by others (perceived public stigma). Whichever way it materializes, stigma stands in the way of people getting the help they need.
I know stigma prevented Jay from asking for the help he knew he needed. And I know stigma prevents others from speaking up as well. Stigma drives people who need help into silent suffering and loneliness. However, there is something we can do to combat stigma.
Each and every one of us has the ability to break down stigma. All we need to do is have open and honest conversations. We need to talk about the topics that are most stigmatized – including suicide.
This is why we at This Is My Brave have started Jay Walkers, a 30-day challenge to take place during the month of September, which is designated as Suicide Prevention Awareness Month.
Jay Walkers Virtual Challenge
We are challenging Jay Walkers to walk 2,200 steps a day, which corresponds roughly to the number of lives lost worldwide each day to suicide. Jay Walkers can form a team and strive to walk 800,000 steps by the end of the month.
In doing so, teams will walk a step in memory of every life lost worldwide to suicide each year. While you walk, we encourage Jay Walkers to talk about suicide in order to normalize conversations and break down the stigma associated with it.
The vision of This Is My Brave is that one day we will live in a world where we won’t have to call it “brave” to talk openly about mental illness, substance use disorder (and other topics like suicide), we’ll simply call it “talking.” Jay Walkers will contribute to this vision by walking the walk and talking the talk for suicide prevention this September!
Join us and become a Jay Walker for Suicide Prevention Awareness Month!
RegisterResources
If you or someone you know needs help, reach out 24/7 to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing or texting 988 or using chat services at suicidepreventionlifeline.org to connect to a trained crisis counselor.
You can also get crisis text support via the Crisis Text Line by texting STORY to 741741.
For additional help, please visit our resource page.
