For anyone who feels alone and suicidal, there are resources just a click away that you can access with internet speed. Recent stories in the news about teens who committed suicide after being bullied about being homosexual pointed us to resources specifically for young people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered or questioning.
One project is The Trevor Project, where teens can call the hotline or get support via live online chat. It was started by people behind the production of the HBO short film “Trevor” about a young man who could use a resource like this one.
Then on YouTube is the It Gets Better Project, started by a columnist from Seattle in response to one of the teen suicides. “I wish I could have talked to this kid for five minutes. I wish I could have told him that however bad things were, however isolated and alone he was, it gets better.”
In his own video, he says words that be helpful to anyone at some point in their lives:
“However bad it is now, it gets better. And it can get great, it can get awesome. Your life can be amazing, but you have to tough this period out and you have to live your life, so you’re around for it to get amazing. And it can, and it will.”
He’s invited people to tell their stories about how it gets better, and even celebrities have joined in, including Neil Patrick Harris (in conjunction with MTV), Ellen DeGeneres and the cast of the 2nd touring company of the Broadway musical Wicked.
For those who are burdened by suicidal thoughts for other reasons, a search for “suicide hotline” will bring up several choices, including Suicide Prevention Lifeline.org, and Hopeline.com.