I’m not saying suicide isn’t serious, but I do think these aren’t good reasons for someone to want to die. Then again, that could be the reason why the author wrote the book, to show people that logic isn’t a factor in suicide, people kill themselves because they believe it is their only option. After a few years, I’ve come to understand it a little better. However, if you are suicidal please don’t allow the things on this list to be a reason to choose suicide.
1. Blaming others
I was once told a story of two bothers that had a drunk and abusive father. When they grew up, one of the boys ended up a lot like his father and claimed it was his father’s fault that he acted this way. The other grew up to have a successful company and live a happy life. I’m not saying bad things in life aren’t bad, but whether you overcome them or not is your choice and no one else’s.
2. “A lot of you cared, just not enough.”
People do care about you, especially your family, but you should care about yourself more than anyone else. It is your responsibility to make sure no one treats you like a door mat, so many people are using others these days it’s hard enough to get them off our back, let alone someone else’s.
3. She clings to the past
Listen, if you’re a teenager like me remember, we are young, we’re probably making more mistakes than most people and that’s okay. We have little experience with this world and for most of us this is only one sixth of our lives. Give the world a better chance, give yourself a better chance. Eventually people heal and although the scar might still be there it’s still good that it’s over right? Some things that helped me stop clinging to the past were deleting texts from people that were negative. Deleting my facebook account so I didn’t have to deal with all the negative stuff people post.
4. She never got mad
Although the author might have told us when Hannah was mad, I don’t think she ever expressed her anger with other characters in the book. I think had she gotten mad at one of the antagonists at least once, her life might have been completely different. She might have realized she had power, power to let people know the truth, but she never did. I guess what I’m trying to say is don’t give up your fight. If someone has wronged you then let it be known even if you think no one would care. Sometimes all it takes is just to say something.
5. She made others suffer
Clay,- the person who listens to the tapes in the book – forces himself to listen to this tape. Had she forgotten that he was her friend? A friend that clung on to every word on those tapes and stayed awake during the night listening to them. I believe he already cared about her and she made her death even more saddening by sending those tapes to him. If you think others don’t care about you remember, your not in their mind. You might think that they think bad about you, but in reality they might really like and respect you.
6. She let some of this stuff happen…
I won’t spoil exactly what happened, but I will say she allowed some bad things to happen to her to make her hate herself even more. Don’t ever think so negatively about yourself that you just don’t even care what happens to you. You are a human being and don’t deserve to be treated badly.
7. What about her family?
My family cried when my cousin(who was only sixteen at the time) died in a car crash. It still bothers them to this day and they still talk about him a lot. They loved him and cared about him. They kept his room clean for years and had funeral flowers in his room and set his PJs on his bed. When a family member dies young it drives your family mad with sadness. My cousin would be twenty-seven today if it hadn’t been for the crash.
8. She never told anyone straight up, that she was depressed.
Hannah was always subtle when she used her way of ‘telling’ others she thought of suicide. Here’s the problem with this: if you aren’t straightforward with someone they might never know what your thinking. We can’t read minds, if you’re depressed tell someone it doesn’t have to be a therapist, if your too afraid to tell your friends tell a stranger. Strangers have encouraged more people to live than we might think.
Don’t ever let anyone degrade you if you let them know that you’re having negative thoughts. Nobody in this would is happy and giddy all the time. We have our bad times too and sometimes people will even be able to relate to yours well and you can both talk about how unjust it was and comfort each other.
9.“Everything seemed good, but I knew it had the potential to be awful.”
She looked at the glass as half empty and not half full, I know we do think this way every once in a while, but Hannah was diving too deep into this. If she had looked for something positive, even just a little thing, it could have flipped her life around. If things seems really bad then analyze what’s going on in your life. Think: what can I do to change my life to make it better? Should I eat healthier? Should I go for a run or workout? Should I go to an animal rescue and pet some dogs to get some animal therapy?
10. She didn’t have many goals
I’m an ambitious person, and I think Hannah might have had a few goal here and there, but not many. I think goals are important and they help give someone a reason to live no matter how small or big it is. It gives a person something to do other than dwell on their depression. Even if those goals aren’ completed it gets people to think about doing something other than trying to die. Maybe you want to cook something, maybe you want to read a book, or go for a hike some where.
11. She let fear take over her
No one should let fear control them, we are humans, the top of the food chain, one of the most intelligent species on planet earth. What do we have to fear? Sometimes I think it is not fear that controls us, but the power we have within us to do great things.
12. She hung out with the wrong people
Hannah stuck with bad people, people who I would block out of my life and act as though my phone was more interesting than them whenever they got near me. Some of the people Hannah met I would try to block out of my life and make sure they knew it.
13. She… was… LOVED
Not matter how helpless she might have felt, people still love her even though she was fictional. We are not robots, we are people, people who have feelings for others and even things that aren’t our species. We have therapists and doctors and dentists and donors. Why? Because we care about what happens to people. However, it you find yourself surrounded by people who just hate on you then I highly recommend you get out of there -if you can. I think looking into things like emotional intelligence might help to understand why people might act that way.
Please click here for the suicide prevention hotline.
I see what you’re saying but like you said I think part of the point is to show that everyone handles things differently. Yes she was loved and her family and loved ones were devastated but when someone is contemplating suicide they often think that they are doing others a favor and that their better off without them. You were able to think rationally about the situation but when someone is struggling with mental health it isn’t always that easy
I agree that when someone is struggling with metal health it isn’t always easy, but nothing in life is ever truly easy, we have to work hard to reach our goals and we can’t let the world win.
Not everyone is capable of thinking of it that way. Some people do still work hard, and even reach their goals and still commit suicide