While we’re on the topic of National Suicide Prevention Month, let’s discuss these ridiculous images that get attached to every article about #suicide ever. They’re called “head clutchers.”

In short: DON’T USE THEM.

#bethere #nspm20 #suicideprevention

They’re ridiculous. They’re unnecessarily sensational and dramatic, and evocative of all those sad, scary, crazy people in asylum imagery we’ve been fed every Halloween, and in horror movies, for years and years.

#bethere #suicide #suicideprevention #nspm20

Those images in our heads we call up when we’re looking for thumbnails for our articles on suicide? All those crazy people? Those people were forcibly restrained, lived in filthy conditions, were medicated beyond belief, experimented on, sterilized. #suicideprevention #bethere

Those images we call up are of people who were harmed by a system that was supposed to care for them. Those images we call up are outcomes. #suicideprevention #bethere

When we're writing about #suicide prevention, we're trying to avoid a certain outcome—not just death, but trauma, like what's shown in those images. So, beyond attempting to elicit a sort of fear reaction in readers, there's zero reason to use those head clutchers. #bethere

Remember: impact > intent. What is your intention when you choose to use a head clutcher as a thumbnail/image in your article about #suicide prevention? Is it to harm? I'm guessing no. Choose another image. #bethere #nspm20 #suicideprevention

Is your intention to transmit a meaning about what suicidal people look like or act like? Do you want your readers to be alienated from #suicidal people? No? Choose another image. #bethere #suicideprevention #nspm20

If you interpret these images to mean sadness or #depression (and not the things I discussed above), is it your intention for your readers to believe that sadness is abnormal, or that depression is the only experience that leads to #suicide? No? Choose another image. #bethere

If a picture is worth a thousand words and you're writing a quick little blog post, are your words more powerful than the image you chose thoughtlessly because you needed a header/thumbnail and a head clutcher was an easy choice? Probably not. Choose another image. #bethere

What does it feel like to be #suicidal? What does a suicidal person look like?

Sure, sometimes we look like those head clutchers, but dig deeper. What's the visual representation of this experience?

Impact > intent.

#suicideprevention #suicide #bethere

Diana is smiling in this photo. What do you think of when you look in her eyes? Does she look like someone who attempted #suicide?

https://livethroughthis.org/diana-cortez-yanez/ #bethere #nspm20 #suicideprevention

Pam is smiling in this photo. Does she look like someone who struggled with infertility for years and then, when she finally had a child, experienced PPD and attempted suicide?

Here's her story: https://livethroughthis.org/pamela-northrup/

#bethere #nspm20 #suicideprevention

Ken is thoughtful and quiet. He sounds like an amazing dad. Does he look like someone who attempted #suicide?

Here's his story: https://livethroughthis.org/ken-gordhamer/ 

#bethere #suicideprevention #nspm20

When I met Jack, he was an Ivy League student. He's originally from Korea. After Madison Holleran died by #suicide, he turned himself into a one-person crisis line. Does he look like someone who attempted suicide?

Here's his story: https://livethroughthis.org/jack-park/ 

#suicideprevention

Cei is a poet and a chaplain in the midwest. I first met him at a performance poetry event in Kansas City after a conference. Does he look like someone who attempted #suicide?

Here's his story: https://livethroughthis.org/cei-loofe/ 

#bethere #suicideprevention

Shayda and I bonded over a mutual love for Persian food and Girl, Interrupted. Does she look like someone who attempted #suicide?

Here's her story: https://livethroughthis.org/shayda-kafai/ 

#bethere #suicideprevention

Vanessa—or Lagemas (her Tlingit name)—speaks poetry. You should hear her talk about what hope means to her: her son's laugh, fresh fry bread, sea air. She lives in AK. Does she look like someone who attempted #suicide?

Here's her story: https://livethroughthis.org/lagemas-george/  #suicideprevention

Pam is tall, tall, tall. When we met, she had this fire red hair. She's one of the funniest people I know. She rides a motorcycle. Does she look like someone who attempted #suicide?

Here's her story: https://livethroughthis.org/pamela-drake/  #bethere #suicideprevention

Cleo is a combat veteran and a masterful storyteller. I met her in Phoenix. Her tattoos and her scars tell her story. Does she look like someone who attempted #suicide?

Here's her story: http://livethroughthis.org/cleo-deloner/ 

#bethere #suicideprevention

Dave is a screenwriter, a dad, a husband, an ex-Mormon. (He's the first person to agree to let me interview him, and the 91st person I interviewed.) Does he look like someone who attempted #suicide?

Here's his story: https://livethroughthis.org/dave-jenkins/  #bethere #suicideprevention

Y'all, I could do this all night, but I'm hoping I hammered my point home: suicide is multi-dimensional. WE are multidimensional. Don't reduce us to head clutchers. We deserve more than that, and if your goal is to make an impact, so do your readers. #bethere #suicideprevention