Give Someone the Gift of Another Birthday

Quite by chance, I discovered that in addition to my birthday, today is also World Suicide Prevention Day 2017. This has to be more than just coincidence because I have battled depression and suicidal thoughts since childhood.

Worldwide, 800,000 people die by suicide each year, one person every 40 seconds. That means, in the time it took me to write this, dozens of people have died by their own hands, and in the time it took you to read this, three or four human beings have ceased to exist because the despair was too great to bear, and the abyss too deep.

It is estimated that suicide attempts run TWENTY-FIVE times that number.

The theme of the 2017 World Suicide Prevention Day is, "Take a minute, change a life." If you know someone in crisis, a simple phone call can make all the difference in the world.

You can visit the World Suicide Prevention Day Home Page at:

https://iasp.info/wspd2017/