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 https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt="">
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 https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable=" title="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 https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt="">">
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 https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable=" title="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 https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt="">">
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 https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable=" title="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 https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt="">">
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 https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable=" title="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 https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt="">">
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 https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt=""> #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 https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt=""> #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 https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt=""> #bethere
When we& #39;re writing about #suicide prevention, we& #39;re trying to avoid a certain outcome—not just death, but trauma, like what& #39;s shown in those images. So, beyond attempting to elicit a sort of fear reaction in readers, there& #39;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& #39;m guessing no. Choose another image. #bethere #nspm20 #suicideprevention https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt="">
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 https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt=""> #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& #39;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& #39;s the visual representation of this experience?

Impact > intent.

#suicideprevention https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt=""> #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/">https://livethroughthis.org/diana-cor... #bethere #nspm20 #suicideprevention https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt="">
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& #39;s her story: https://livethroughthis.org/pamela-northrup/">https://livethroughthis.org/pamela-no...

#bethere #nspm20 #suicideprevention https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt="">
Ken is thoughtful and quiet. He sounds like an amazing dad. Does he look like someone who attempted #suicide?

Here& #39;s his story: https://livethroughthis.org/ken-gordhamer/ 

https://livethroughthis.org/ken-gordh... href="https://twtext.com//hashtag/bethere"> #bethere #suicideprevention https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt=""> #nspm20
When I met Jack, he was an Ivy League student. He& #39;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& #39;s his story: https://livethroughthis.org/jack-park/ 

https://livethroughthis.org/jack-park... href="https://twtext.com//hashtag/suicideprevention"> #suicideprevention https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt="">
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& #39;s his story: https://livethroughthis.org/cei-loofe/ 

https://livethroughthis.org/cei-loofe... href="https://twtext.com//hashtag/bethere"> #bethere #suicideprevention https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt="">
Shayda and I bonded over a mutual love for Persian food and Girl, Interrupted. Does she look like someone who attempted #suicide?

Here& #39;s her story: https://livethroughthis.org/shayda-kafai/ 

https://livethroughthis.org/shayda-ka... href="https://twtext.com//hashtag/bethere"> #bethere #suicideprevention https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt="">
Vanessa—or Lagemas (her Tlingit name)—speaks poetry. You should hear her talk about what hope means to her: her son& #39;s laugh, fresh fry bread, sea air. She lives in AK. Does she look like someone who attempted #suicide?

Here& #39;s her story: https://livethroughthis.org/lagemas-george/ ">https://livethroughthis.org/lagemas-g... #suicideprevention https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt="">
Pam is tall, tall, tall. When we met, she had this fire red hair. She& #39;s one of the funniest people I know. She rides a motorcycle. Does she look like someone who attempted #suicide?

Here& #39;s her story: https://livethroughthis.org/pamela-drake/ ">https://livethroughthis.org/pamela-dr... #bethere #suicideprevention https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt="">
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& #39;s her story: http://livethroughthis.org/cleo-deloner/ 

https://livethroughthis.org/cleo-delo... href="https://twtext.com//hashtag/bethere"> #bethere #suicideprevention https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt="">
Dave is a screenwriter, a dad, a husband, an ex-Mormon. (He& #39;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& #39;s his story: https://livethroughthis.org/dave-jenkins/ ">https://livethroughthis.org/dave-jenk... #bethere #suicideprevention https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt="">
Y& #39;all, I could do this all night, but I& #39;m hoping I hammered my point home: suicide is multi-dimensional. WE are multidimensional. Don& #39;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 https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt="">
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